Orlando Sentinel

Feb 07 2003

By Noel Holston | Staff Writer

Vincent D'Onofrio's character in NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent is one
of the most idiosyncratic on television, a homicide cop with Sherlock
Holmes-like deductive powers and an interrogation style that goes way beyond
"in your face." More like "in your nose." Detective Robert Goren pops up
suddenly, like Horton hearing a Who.

But sometimes he's just not odd enough for D'Onofrio, who's played
everything from a freaked-out Marine (Full Metal Jacket) to an intergalactic
terrorist (Men in Black) to a despicable chemist/drug dealer (The Salton
Sea). He has villain-envy.

"Sometimes we have criminals that I want to play so badly," D'Onofrio says.
"Fred Berner, one of our producers, is basically in charge of our casting.
And he always brings in these really good actors. Once they start
performing, I think, Well, OK, he's going to do it. He's going to do it
great.' I better stop worrying about it because I ain't ever going to get
there on our show."

He takes comfort in knowing he can satisfy his urge to play weirdos in films
when he's on hiatus from the series.

"I'm never going to stop being a character actor," he says. "I'm never going
to stop having my imagination. You know, my good friends think that every
choice I make, I make it to destroy my career. It's actually just because
I'm interested in that far-out stuff -- you know, sometimes. And sometimes
I'm interested in just everyday men that I could play."