Crispin Glover: the unusual suspect

Whatever the project, maverick Crispin Glover finds a way to stay out of the mainstream.

IN director Robert Zemeckis' film adaptation of the Old English epic poem "Beowulf," Crispin Glover portrays Grendel, certainly the most strange and hideous character of his 26-year acting career. Which is really saying something if you're at all familiar with Glover, a guy known for his bizarro behavior, indelibly weird performances and aesthetic of elaborate hideousness. He has, after all, filled his underpants with cockroaches (in David Lynch's 1990 film "Wild at Heart"), shepherded murderous rats (in the oddball 2004 horror flick "Willard") and tortured snails (in Glover's controversial 2005 directorial debut, "What Is It?"). Although "eccentric" is the description that comes up most frequently in describing the writer-director-author, who is currently in the midst of a career transformation.