John Malkovich's type

[Economica]

When I found out that Blackwater has pegged him for an ISTJ I was like and when I found out he was serious I was all but I've watched some interviews and now I'm going .

The interviewers have their work cut out for them. The man is so serious that he makes deadpan seem effervescent and so literal that he makes concrete seem like fudge, offering factual detail in response to any question. If he's an INFP with an attitude problem (as I thought at first), then he's the best actor alive. (But then he would have been on my medium list for that anyway.)

Thoughts from people who bother watching at least one of the following clips would be appreciated.

Talking with ChuckTheMovieGuy
On The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
A red carpet interview

 

[Economica]

... I really uptalked those videos, didn't I?

 

[Sol_]

INFP, ENFJ

 

[Cimarron]

I watched the interviews, and ISTJ sounds believable. Probably more than Natalie Portman, too.

 

[sleuthiness]

My first, second, and third guesses were infp. Both interviews I've seen him in (with a movie guy and Craig Furguson), he's constantly wringing his hands, words sort of ooze out of his mouth, shy, sluggish... adding up to infp, not istj.

 

[Lady_X]

hmmm....someone said intj before...i don't know that i know any intjs so i have no clue. he's very cool though..maybe i'll watch a clip.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

He definitely looks like an I, but ISTJ would be my last guess out of those 8 types. INFP does seem like a pretty decent guess, but I'm really not sure.

 

[Argus]

He's a very interesting INFP.
Or an ISTJ...

 

[Blackwater]

i am curious as to where you guys see the fi? or ne for that matter?

and yes - ive read all the books - dont lecture me please - just the empirical occurances with malkowitch - thanks

 

[BlueScreen]

I think I'm on ISFP. Don't ask me to describe why though.

 

[the state i am in]

the first clip made me think istj. so measured like anthony hopkins. Fi seems buried deep and out-of-touch. i also get the istj Te kobe bryant competitiveness.

his eyes remind me of my istj 6w5 friend very much. but with very little sense of humor, which is terrifying.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

LOL, I know this is going to sound cliche, but I looked into his background and he sounds like an INFJ. My second guess would be ISFJ, but I'm pretty sure he's INFJ.

First I looked at wikipedia and found this:

Malkovich is a political conservative but, contrary to journalistic myth, is not a supporter of the death penalty.

Actor William Hootkins, who worked with Malkovich in BBC Television's Rocket to the Moon, stated, "In fact, he's so right-wing you have to wonder if he's kidding."

My first thought after reading this was ISxJ, but it's not totally out of character for INxJ, and then I looked at some IMBD quotes and these stood out to me (my comments in bold):

"I want to be successful. I would like it to be a success with something that doesn't make me want to vomit all over the screening room after I've seen it."
NF desire for authenticity

I'm not terribly articulate in many ways and particularly when it comes to what I do. And, at the risk of sounding like Holden Caulfield, I don't know if I would talk about it even if I could.
Ni often has trouble finding the right words

I probably have more female friends than any man I've ever met. What I like about them is that almost always they're generally mentally tougher, and they're better listeners, and they're more capable of surviving things. And most of the women that I like have a haunted quality - they're sort of like women who live in a haunted house all by themselves.
Clearly an F quote. Leans more toward NF with the haunting part

I wasn't really raised to be the type of person to have doubts.
Sounds like a J here

I've always felt that if you can't make money as an actor, you`re either incredibly stupid or tragically unlucky.
Another Ni quote

"I'm drawn to a character with a lack of humanity. People give reasons for being cruel or sadistic but I think it is just a lack of humanity and concern for others. I think I'm good at them because I don't like them. Audiences are attracted to them but I hate them. It's strange." - On why he enjoys playing evil characters.
Another F quote

I was born in the West after World War II in a senselessly wealthy country, and I never really had to struggle. Sure, there were years when I didn't have a refrigerator or stove, but that's nothing compared to Rwanda.
More F

We're all going to die, so the death penalty should be called the early-death penalty. And the furor about it strikes me as ridiculous. To make criminals feel what they've chosen to provoke others to feel would be the ideal penalty, but it's impossible to do that. Many of them are psychopaths without conscience. People can debate all this as much as they like, but I really don't care. I'm not a big believer in the judicial system, our laws or our Constitution. All the things Americans rave about as being sacrosanct are to me incredibly deeply flawed.
More Ni

Ok, I'm going to stop there with the quotes even though I could go on. After looking into it I'm pretty sure he's INFJ. All I get from the clips is that he is an introvert. Combining that with what I see from his background, he's INFJ.

 

[the state i am in]

this is so much more Te than Fe and so much more Si than Ni. Ni is metaphoric. when it sounds concrete, it's just lacking conceptual clarity. an infj kid in my class repeats for the third time what's just been said twice, bc he is not aware that his conceptualization (which is different to him) is not actually coming out of his mouth as words. malkovich does NOT seem conceptual, he seems very it is what it is (you fucking idiot!). he has Te anger 100%. not sure what his enneagram type is, maybe 6w5, maybe 1w2?

 

[sleuthiness]

the first clip made me think istj. so measured like anthony hopkins. Fi seems buried deep and out-of-touch. i also get the istj Te kobe bryant competitiveness.

his eyes remind me of my istj 6w5 friend very much. but with very little sense of humor, which is terrifying.

infps and istjs can be really hard to tell apart. Agree: istjs don't get los jokey jokies very well. Disagree: that an observer's perception is absolute in determining sense of humor in another. There is a subtle, but inherent gray line between the two types that takes some time/comparison to highlight without much extra thought. Like any other intro/extrovert pairing (isfp/intj, esfp/entj, istp/infj, etc.), contrasting internal motivations may be interpreted as nearly identical once manifested externally. That said, I don't know what goes on through an istj's head, but the infps I've known who fit this bill seem to smile on the inside even if they don't show it, to keep their vulnerabilities under wraps and a bunch of other reasons I can sense but can't identify.

 

[OrangeAppled]

Yeah, I think he could be INFP. If I were being interviewed, you'd need a crowbar to pry anything out of me, and I'm really dull and non-metaphorical in the spotlight. It's all I can do to think. A camera stuck in my face would make it worse.

I'm not sure what people expect INFPs to be like. We usually do NOT extrovert warmth.

 

[Economica]

I'm not sure what people expect INFPs to be like. We usually do NOT extrovert warmth.

Here are two INFP clips for comparison:

Heath Ledger talking with ChuckTheMovieGuy
Heath Ledger on Ellen
Johnny Depp talking to some interviewer
Johnny Depp on Letterman

Introverted Fi users, sure, but neither of them come close to being interviewer death like John Malkovich. And their Ne shows. Where is Malkovich's?

Edit: I'm not sure he's ISTJ, just not sure he's INFP either.

 

[OrangeAppled]

^ Ledger is pretty damn boring...although Malkovich doesn't gesture quite as largely as those two, but he gestures a little. That seems to be a trend in INFPs....I'm just picking up on that (off to make a thread in the NF forum!).

 

[Blackwater]

gee, eco, if id known that you had such low expectations of ne...

i must have wasted a great deal of twinkle on you throughout the years...

 

[Economica]

gee, eco, if id known that you had such low expectations of ne...

But he plays an N so well! I don't see any director getting performances like this out of Natalie Portman.

And then there's the whole "born theater actor" thing. Antithetical to ISTJ preferences, methinks.

i must have wasted a great deal of twinkle on you throughout the years...

At least all the bubbly wasn't!