Categories: Books

Dwight Yoakam: From Country Boy to Bad Boy

Dwight Yoakam is a country mega-star. He burst on the scene in the late 1980’s with such hits as Honky Tonk Man and Little Sister. He’s had success covering songs such as Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds. He’s a two-time Grammy winner, and his style of country infuses rock and roll with honky tonk music. But did you know that Dwight also plays one mean villain?

One movie that Dwight’s acting especially stands out in is 1996’s Sling Blade. Dwight brilliantly plays badass Doyle. Doyle is a drunk who is physically and verbally abusive to his girlfriend Linda and verbally abuses Linda’s son, Frank. He is crude and cruel, and has a mouth like a sailor. At the end, Doyle gets a well-deserved sling blade through the head by Karl. When I saw this movie, I didn’t realize it was Dwight Yoakam playing the character of Doyle. The character is so off from Dwight in real life that it is hard to realize it is Dwight Yoakam playing that particular character.

Panic Room is another movie Dwight Yoakam has a role in. Although he isn’t a star, he has an active role in the movie. In the movie, Dwight plays Raoul, one of the three robbers that break into the apartment in which the panic room, and a whole lot of money, resides. His character is ruthless, and does not hesitate to turn the trigger on his partners when things get chaotic. He first murders Junior, the man who recruited him for the heist, then he beats another character to a pulp, and threatens a third with a sledgehammer. Again, this goes far from Dwight’s good country boy image.

A final movie in which Dwight Yoakam plays a villain is 2006’s Bandidas, starring Selma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. In this movie, Dwight plays the character of Tyler Jackson, an evil baron who works for the New York Bank and Trust and takes over the banks in this particular area of Mexico. He murders Hayek’s character, Sara’s, father, and steals the deeds from the landholders that her father use to handle. He then murders the landholders so he can illegally acquire these poor Mexican peasants land. His character has creepy looking black wavy hair and a constant sneer on his face. If I didn’t like Dwight Yoakam so much, I’d hate him after seeing the character he played in Bandidas.

Of course, Dwight has several roles where he doesn’t play the villain, but still delivers. Those movies include Crank, where he plays Doc Miles, and he has a small part in Wedding Crashers. Either way, Dwight Yoakam proves that not only is he a country boy, but he can play the role of a bad boy, and delver as well.