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The Real Reason Inside Job's Christian Slater Enjoys Dark Roles - Exclusive

Fans may recognize Christian Slater from playing dark roles in films like "Heathers" and "Interview With the Vampire," but the actor has a few more twisted tricks up his sleeve with the new Netflix series "Inside Job." When he's not tearing a few teenagers named Heather away from their croquet, he's playing Randy Ridley and working at Incognito in the animated show. So, what's Incognito? Oh, just a secret cabal in "Inside Job" that controls the narrative for what all of humanity believes about conspiracies. Of course, in the show, almost every conspiracy you could possibly think of is true. Just another day at the office of a cabal. And who's to say there can't be more than a few daddy issues smattered in with Lizzy Caplan's Raegan and Randy?

During an exclusive interview with Looper, Christian Slater discussed why he gravitates toward darker roles and which of his iconic '80s movies he wants "Inside Job" to parody sometime during the show's run.

A fan of dark humor

On why Christian Slater enjoys these darker roles, and if any of those projects help inform your direction on "Inside Job," he said, " Well, I definitely enjoy playing characters that are more outrageous. I think I find them therapeutic." While Slater himself finds these characters therapeutic, so do fans. The actor continued, "This type of character, Randy, is certainly a guy who's living on the edge. He thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. He doesn't really know how to connect with his daughter. He does the best that he can. There is, I think, a genuine love. As much as that relationship is frustrating to Reagan, there is a love between these two characters."

Yet filming during the pandemic is no easy task, as Slater attested. "So this whole experience, even doing it during COVID and having to be creative and set up my own recording studio inside my living room, was a fun challenge. The whole thing was nuts," he said. "And by the time I would come out of my own personal recording booth, I'd be sweating and have really delved into this character so deeply that it was fun. I love the whole world of animation. I mean, that's a world that I love to play in, and I think it's just a very creative space with a lot less pressure, and you can really let yourself go." Just ask Clark Duke (Brett Hand): Animation is a whole new ball game for movie magic.

Could there be a Christian Slater-themed crossover?

As most fans know, Christian Slater came up as an actor in the '80s. However, he didn't get a chance to go to the '80s town during the thematic episode of "Inside Job." We asked Slater which nostalgic moments stood out to him and if he has an older project that he worked on that he'd love the show to parody. Slater responded, "Wow, great question. I love that episode. I thought the '80s episode was hilarious." He added, "It was fun to see ... what is that game? Simon Says. Just all the little toys and things that they were playing with were great. I did a movie called 'Heathers.' That would be fun for them to parody. I think that could be interesting. Yeah, that's all I can think of right now." It's safe to say that fans of "Heathers" and "Inside Job" would kill for that homage.

Fans can now tune into Netflix to watch the first ten episodes of "Inside Job."