Charles Fleischerisn’t a name that will automatically leap out to many people, even though he’s been a steadily working actor for over 30 years. Buthe will forever be etched in film history as the voice of Roger Rabbit inWho Framed Roger Rabbit, the zany pastiche of every classic cartoon character rolled into one insane package. It’s a more impressive performance than it’s given credit for in its emotional range and potential to be screechingly annoying, but one word that would never be used to describe it is “creepy.” Fleischer spent most of his career relying on his comedic skills, butDavid Fincherhad a curveball up his sleeve when he cast him in a small yet important role in his true crime classic,Zodiac.
Who Is Charles Fleischer in ‘Zodiac’?
Robert Graysmith’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) increasingly paranoid journey down a rabbit hole to find the Zodiac killer has led him to the home of Bob Vaughn (Fleischer). Graysmith is convinced that the Zodiac could be a cinephile who worked in a theater as a projectionist and poster designer, andVaughn claims to have material that could help him. Vaughn brings Graysmith to his allegedly empty home in the middle of a dark and rainy night in an area Graysmith isn’t familiar with. At this point, Graysmith is convinced that a man named Rick Marshall is the one who drew posters that hold connections to the Zodiac untilVaughn drops the bombshell that he’s the one who designedall the posters. Graysmith freezes, tenses into a slump, regretting asking to see Vaughn’s basement, but Vaughn insists on it, which leads to an extended standoff in the shadow-drenched basement. It’s a masterclass in turninga journalistic thrillerinto the most sweat-inducingly terrifying scene that isn’t ina proper horror film, andit wouldn’t be so effective without Charles Fleischer.
David Fincher Devilishly Manipulates Charles Fleischer’s Performance
Fleischer’s performance being used as the centerpiece of a scene like this is a prime example of howa director can manipulate all the surrounding elementsto make a character seem like far more than they actually are. It’s David Fincher’s staging of the scene, Gyllenhaal’s wide-eyed drippiness, the camera choices that put you too close to Graysmith and Vaughn,the sound designthat makes you never forget the torrential rain and every little creak of wood, that makes Vaughn seem like a threat.There’s really nothing about Vaughn that’s all that suspicious or uncomfortable, but Graysmith is so lost in his paranoid obsession that he rewrites his behavior as notable. Fleischer plays Vaughn as emotionally guarded, direct, and forthcoming in the information he gives Graysmith, but with a hint that there’s something too…comfortable about him. In contrast to an earlier interrogation with prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), who made himself seem as guilty as possible while feigning innocence, Vaughn is too non-performative to be anything other than a random guy put into an unexpected situation.Zodiacis less about the thrill of solving a mystery thanthe pitfalls of getting lost in your own headcanon,and Charles Fleischer’s brief appearance is one of the many nails in the film’s dutifully constructed coffin.
Charles Fleischer’s Roger Rabbit Background Was a Happy Accident
Despite his Roger Rabbit background, that allegedly didn’t play any factor in Fleischer being cast as Bob Vaughn.PerThe Ringer, Fleischer auditioned for the role as any working actor would, and he nailed the audition.Fincher apparently leaped at the chance to cast him, both for his audition and because he “was as gleeful as any of us for the cinematic baggage of Charles Fleischer in that role,” which is very on-brand for a guy who once proclaimed that everybody is a pervert. Plus, Fleischer said there was an unexpected synchronicity to him being cast for a scene with Jake Gyllenhaal, since the two had known each other sinceGyllenhaal went to the same high school as Fleischer’s kids.
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The two had a familiarity that was separated by a generation gap, which is a perfect subtext to an on-screen dynamicbuilt around an attempt at understanding that’s fractured by a fundamental disconnect.David Fincher is a director who doesn’t usually go for “stunt casting” in his films (besides castingTyler PerryinGone Girl, I suppose), but he hit on something special here in what’s possibly his masterpiece, and Charles Fleischer got to play a side of him that’s worlds away from his iconic furry clown.
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
