Last Thursday was Red Nose Day in the U.S., a time when “people across the land can get together and do something funny” to help Comic Relief Inc. combat childhood poverty. Of course, not every famous face is known for its sweetness, which presents a bit of a challenge: Actors gifted at playing scary need to work extra hard to convince us of their good intentions. And how might they do that? Well, nothing’s less threatening than a sweet little song, right? On this night, fellow goons of screen Danny Trejo (Machete), Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), and Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones’ resident sadist Ramsay Bolton) joined voices with a simple, heartfelt message: Don’t hate me because I’m terrifying.
Trejo made the message plain with the gruff opening verse: “Everybody judges me because of how I look/ They assume that I’m a scoundrel, a vandal, or a crook … They assume I’m going to shoot them, pound them, or mug them/ But all I want to do is use my great big arms to hug them.” Cue Ramsay, err, Rheon: “On TV, I play the guy who’s the craziest of crazies/ Yet, I spend all my real life making cakes and planting daisies.” Finally, Buscemi, after acknowledging his fictional misdeeds, insists he’s not a maniac. The whole video is worth a watch—not since Jean Valjean have men so passionately proclaimed the purity of their intentions in song.
