If you haven't checked your side and rearview mirrors recently, look now because Peter Sarsgaard is approaching. The 33-year-old actor, who plays a bisexual research assistant in Kinsey, the new Liam Neeson-fronted biopic about sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, has been nailing quality supporting roles for almost a decade, perpetually on the brink of becoming a ubiquitous name. Sarsgaard has played both murderer and murderee: His film debut was as one of Sean Penn's victims in Dead Man Walking, and four years later Hilary Swank was Sarsgaard's victim in Boys Don't Cry. Most recently he's been attracting attention for supporting roles in Zach Braff's ode to Jersey, Garden State and the bad-ethics biopic Shattered Glass.
Despite the stream of success, however, Sarsgaard still has to fight for the big-time roles. He says there are at most 10 available each year, and he's got a shot at fewer than half of them. "Jude Law is going to play six of them, so there's another four left," he calculates, with a trace smile. "Ed Norton will play another one. There's a lot of competition for [the] best roles." Sarsgaard had to push Kinsey's writer/director Bill Condon (who also did Gods and Monsters) to land the role of Clyde Martin, Kinsey's collaborator, surrogate son and constant companion.
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