James Spader Shares Insights on His Favorite Roles and Career Highlights

Veteran screen star James Spader dropped out of school at age 17, moved to New York, and delivered beef, pork and chicken before launching an acting career and sinking his teeth into meaty roles on “Boston Legal,” “The Practice” and “The Blacklist.” Here are James’ 10 favorite roles and what the 65-year-old actor says they mean to him.

Endless Love (1981)

Even though his role as Brooke Shields’ older brother was small, “Every film you work on is different, and that’s part of what it’s like for anybody who works on a film, is to learn how to work with others.”

Pretty in Pink (1986)

James says his arrogant rich kid character Steff McKee “seemed like he was 10 years too old to be hanging around a high school. It seemed like he graduated or dropped out years ago … which I had.”

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

“You just want to work. I like playing character roles and I do not mind being a real son-of-a-bitch or embarrassing myself. On the whole I have been lucky — I do not look back with a huge amount of distaste for the work I have done.”

Stargate (1994)

“Although it has a science-fiction aspect and it has an otherworldliness about it, it’s very grounded in humanity. That’s the reason why I was able to do it.”

Crash (1996)

In playing a character who becomes sexually aroused by collisions after a head-on crash with another car, James reveals that he wanted to work with director David Cronenberg “very badly. I’m not so sure I would have done it if David wasn’t directing it.”

Secretary (2002)

As a sadomasochistic boss with Maggie Gyllenhaal as his submissive assistant, James notes that “films of a sexually provocative nature end up at my doorstep. The juxtaposition of that to the very sweet love story was so endearing.”

Boston Legal (2004)

“In my personal life, I’m always drawn to the eccentric. All of a sudden, that episode will come along where it mixes just right, and it just becomes a great cocktail, and we all get drunk.”

The Office (2011)

On Robert California, Dunder Mifflin’s scheming corporate branch manager turned CEO: “I guess he was funny and terrifying at the same time. I think he’s misinterpreted — a lot.”

Lincoln (2012)

As flamboyant Southern lawyer W.N. Bilbo: “I imagined him as a dandy in decay. So, he’d have all these expensive clothes, but they’d be a little disheveled. I was told to go as far with that as possible.”

The Blacklist (2013)

James says of his 10-year stint as mastermind criminal turned FBI informant Raymond Reddington, “Red inhabits the whole world. And he loves life. He’s someone who would show reason and caution, but he was never fearful of anything.”