Paul McCrane reveals why playing jerks became his calling card

Paul McCrane says he deliberately shifted his career toward playing antagonistic characters after growing frustrated with being cast as sensitive roles early on.

The actor, best known for playing Dr. Robert Romano on ER and villain Emil Antonowsky in RoboCop, reflected on his career during the Feb. 9 episode of Still Here Hollywood with Steve Kmetko.

The 65-year-old actor gave his justification when host Steve Kmetko observed that McCrane had built much of his career playing deeply unlikable characters.

McCrane explained that early in his career, he was frequently cast as sensitive or fragile characters, including his breakout role as Montgomery MacNeil on Fame in the early 1980s. While theater allowed him to explore a wide range of roles, film and television quickly boxed him into a narrow lane—something he admits he initially resented.

In his 20s, McCrane made a deliberate decision to push back and told his representatives he no longer wanted to audition for gentle, vulnerable roles and instead wanted to play villains. Despite warnings that it was a risky move, he began turning down auditions and soon landed his first major “bad guy” roles.

That shift led to his role in RoboCop, where his character meets a gruesome end, and later to ER, where Dr. Romano became one of the show’s most notorious villains. Originally meant as a brief guest role, it grew into a long-running character as viewers reacted to the onscreen cruelty.