We don't know which movies he's turned down (do we?) so how do we know thay are good?
I've heard him say that in interviews, but I don't take it too literal myself.
As you say,
some of his roles have been pretty straight forward and could be played by plenty of people. He may have taken them because it gave him more experience of the movie business, because he knew someone involved in the project and wanted to work with them. A job might have presented itself which paid well and fit into his schedule nicely without any hassel, or he might have just done a certain job just because it sounded like fun.
The last one being the best reason there is.
But there have been some roles that Meat brought a lot too, and really left his stamp on the character.
For instance..........
Rocky Horror - Eddie (Classic).
Roadie - Travis W Redfish (Leading man status. Coolest entrance in movie history
).
The Squeeze - Titus (small part, but Meat put his mark on it).
Motorama - Vern (more like a cameo, but a nice bit imo).
To Catch A Yeti - Big Jake Grizzly (Not a great movie, but decent screen time and a good performance).
Black Dog - Red (Meat's at his best when he brings the crazy).
Outside Ozona - Floyd (small, understated, but kind of nice. Not a role you'd expect from Meat Loaf).
Crazy In Alabama - Sheriff Doggett (Not a nice guy, but well played).
Fight Club - Bob (His name is Robert Paulson
).
The Outer Limits - Col Devine (Good screen time and a very believable performance).
Trapped - Jim (Decent screen time, and Meat gets to be the hero).
Focus - Fred (A good guy from the neighbourhood, quite likeable, until he comes under the influence of some dangerous ideas from some dangerous men. It would be easy to overplay this guy as a complete dick, but to play a slow burn through the film as Fred gets more involved, while also keeping the character (in his own mind) as a well meaning guy from the neighbourhood is no easy trick. Fred could be held up as example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. One of Meat's best).
51st State - The Lizard (Did I mention Meat's at his best when he brings the crazy?
).
Tenacious D - Bud Black (OK, Jack Black wanted him from the very start, but I think the fact that a lot of the press focused on Meat and Jack, and leaving Kyle Gass on the sidelines speaks a lot for what Meat brought to a pretty small role).
Masters Of Horror (Pelts) - Jake (The guy is a sleazeball. I can't think of another Meat character like him. Think Meat did a very intense job playing him).
I haven't listed all his roles here because there are some that could have been played by anybody (such as Dennis in Spice World, or Tiny from Wayne's World) and there are some movies i've not seen.
The ones above though are roles that I feel were improved by Meat's input.
I've not seen any of the films he's made in more recent years, so I can't comment on the roles he's played, but he's certainly been busy with music, releasing HCTB, touring for it, then working on HIHB, now touring for that.
He's also done his share of TV the last couple of years. Pop Star To Opera Star and Celeb Apprentice.
With all that on his plate, it's hard to see how he could dedicate the time he'd need to play a big movie role.
Maybe he's not getting the offers, perhaps he's getting them and having to turn them down, Meat's the person who can answer that
I haven't seen Hole In One of Blacktop, but i'd like too.
The most recent movie i've seen Meat in was Burning Bright (A small role at the start of the film. Nothing that needed him to show off great acting skill) and the most recent movie i've seen him really kick ass in was Pick Of Destiny.
Not if I can help it
