Production is underway on Shadowplay from The Bridge co-creator Måns Mårlind, which is touted as a gritty international drama set in Berlin after World War II and has begun to assemble a strong cast with names like Michael C. Hall and Taylor Kitsch creating some buzz about the new project.
However, it's the addition of rising star Logan Marshall-Green that has really piqued interest for Shadowplay, as Marshall-Green has consistently delivered enjoyable performances across a wide range of genres. Today we are going to prepare for his upcoming series with a look at some of Logan Marshall-Green's best roles, ranked.
DARK BLUE
Marshall-Green starred as undercover cop Dean Bendis in the police-procedural Dark Blue, which began airing on TNT in 2009 and ran for two seasons. The series also starred Dylan McDermott, Omari Hardwick, and Nicki Aycox, and followed a team of undercover officers who dealt with the pressures of their covert operations.
Marshall-Green's Bendis perfectly toed the line between cop and criminal during his time undercover, with many of his squadmates, and the viewers, feeling unsure of his true loyalties. Dark Blue showcased Marshall-Green's ability to add depth to his characters on the small screen before his move to feature films.
AS I LAY DYING
James Franco's adaptation of the allegedly unfilmable William Faulkner novel As I Lay Dying wasn't a breakout hit, but it adequately brought the literary classic to life on the big screen and featured an emotional performance from Logan Marshall-Green as Jewel, one of the members of the Bundren family on a trip to bury their matriarch.
The multi-narrative focus of the novel proved a challenge to translate on the big screen, but James Franco managed to give the various voices of the film proper attention, which allowed Marshall-Green to stand out among the rest of the cast. Marshall-Green and Franco would work together again for the Faulkner-adaptation The Sound and the Fury, but As I Lay Dying definitely features the better performances.
DEVIL
The 2010 thriller Devil delivers an interesting premise with a take on a Devil's Meeting in an elevator, where a group of individuals is confined and tested by the Devil. Marshall-Green plays Tony, one of the trapped elevator passengers who are being watched by a detective through CCTV as they are killed off one by one.
While the film doesn't deliver much past the interesting premise, the mystery surrounding Marshall-Green's character Tony pays off in the end twist (the story is by M. Night Shyamalan, after all). Devil is one of many duplicitous roles Marshall-Green has taken over the years, highlighting his penchant for playing hard-to-read characters.
SAND CASTLE
2017's Sand Castle examined the early days of the Iraq War from director Fernando Coimbra from the perspective of a new recruit who never expected to have to serve in the war. While the film itself fails to offer anything really new to the war genre and failed to fully utilize stars like Nicholas Hoult and Henry Cavill, it featured another stand out performance from Logan Marshall-Green.
Marshall-Green's Staff Sergeant Harper led the U.S. Army squad tasked with restoring water to a small town when they encounter hostiles not interested in American help. Marshall-Green's experienced soldier leads his squad as a tough but fair leader while the various soldiers struggle with the moral implications of their place in the failing war.
PROMETHEUS
2012's Prometheus was Ridley Scott's return to the Alien universe he created in 1979, though it wasn't quite what fans were expecting and failed to connect with the original franchise. Those failings can't be put on the head of Logan Marshall-Green, whose role as Charlie Holloway was the biggest of his career at the time.
Holloway is the first of a team exposed to an alien biological weapon and his rapid sickness following intense moments of discovery and defeats perfectly showcased the range of Logan Marshall-Green, whose short time on screen helped elevate the film past some of its trappings.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Another film that features a small amount of screen time that Logan Marshall-Green manages to steal every second of is Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor plays Jackson Brice, who is known in the comics as Montana of the Enforcers, though in the film he is a member of Adrian Toomes/Vultures gang of thieves and gun smugglers.
Brice is also the first Shocker before his death at the hands of Toomes and had even been featured in some leaked set pics wearing a version of the comic-accurate Shocker costume, though those scenes never made it into the film. Homecoming is a good example of how well Marshall-Green works with and is able to shine in an ensemble cast.
QUARRY
Cinemax produced one season of Quarry, which was loosely-based based on the Max Allan Collins book series that focused on Mac Conway, a Marine who returns to Memphis after service in the Vietnam War to be shunned by his friends and family. Logan Marshall-Green portrayed Conway on the short-lived series, where he is forced into the murder-for-hire business.
While the series was canceled after only eight episodes, it was a well-critiqued series that sat well on the back of Marshall-Green, who brought his own unique touch to Max Allan Collins' fan-favorite and long-running character Conway.
UPGRADE
Director Leigh Whannel's 2018 sci-fi Upgrade featured a starring role for Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace, a paralyzed technophobe who is fitted with an advanced AI called STEM that turns him into a living weapon. He uses STEM and his new abilities to track down his wife's killer.
The cyberpunk-influenced film was visually-impressive and marshall-Green's physicality in the film all helps drive the action pieces, which all lead to a surprising twist ending. Grey Trace is another role of Marshall-Green that further examines his penchant for characters struggling with opposing natures.
DAMNATION
Damnation is one of the more recent TV series in Logan Marshall-Green's filmography and was released on the USA Network and Netflix in 2017. Marshall-Green plays Pinkerton detective and strikebreaker Creeley Turner as he deals with his estranged brother who, posing as a preacher, tries to incite a revolutionary strike in a small town.
Marshall-Green's Turner feels like he is pulled right out of the wild west and transplanted into the dirty thirties, which serves the role and the series well. Damnation didn't receive the attention other similar period series at the time gained, but Creeley Turner will go down as one of Marshall-Green's most enjoyable characters to watch.
THE INVITATION
It's hard to explain Karyn Kusama's The Invitation without revealing too much of the film, but it features Logan Marshall-Green as Will as he attends a party hosted by his ex-wife, following the loss of their son a few years back.
Over the course of the film, viewers are forced to deal with the ongoing guilt and pain from Will's son's death as a mystery about the party unfolds, with Marshall-Green's emotional performance distracting from the unsettled atmosphere of the party. The Invitation features an incredible performance from Logan Marshall-Green and is a great example of why we can expect much more from the talented actor in the future.