He’s a 67-year-old veteran of more than 150 film and TV projects, a member of one of Hollywood’s royal families, and the winner of several Emmy and Golden Globe awards. So you might be asking yourself: What the hell is Beau Bridges doing in “Max Payne?”

“I’ve never played [the video game], but I have five kids,” Bridges explained to us recently. “And when I told them that I was going to be in ‘Max Payne,’ they were all excited! They were like, ‘Oh, Dad, that’s awesome. I can’t believe it!’ So I knew it was a game that had a big following.”

Naturally, the big draws of the film are names like Mark Wahlberg, Ludacris and Mila Kunis. But it’s Bridges’ charismatic, borderline-maniacal businessman character who steals several key scenes away from the others, as Payne (Wahlberg) investigates which side he’s on in a bloody gang-vs.-cops war that’s consuming their city.

Much like Ray Wise in “Jeepers Creepers II” or Tobin Bell in the “Saw” flicks, Bridges is a veteran character actor visibly enjoying the opportunity to get unhinged in genre fare.

“I’ve always felt in anything I’ve been in that the play’s the thing, just like Shakespeare said a long time ago,” he told MTV. “And it’s still true.”

Oh, and one more question I had to ask: Since Beau Bridges is playing a character named “B.B.” in the flick, is this another one of those Tony Danza things where they give the character the same name as the actor, either out of respect or to make it easier on everyone to remember the name?

“Total coincidence,” Bridges laughed. “Yeah, it took me a while to even see that myself. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s bizarre. BB.’ But no, I think there’s a character in the game named B.B. too.”

(For more on the film, check out our full “Max Payne” preview, as well as our “Max Payne” interviews with stars Mark Wahlberg and Ludacris.)

Christopher Walken? Alec Guinness? Christopher Lee? What is your favorite performance by a veteran actor in a role you never thought you’d see them play?