I tell my students it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself somebody next door who looks like you. What's more difficult is to identify with someone you don't see who's very far away who's a different color who eats a different kind of food. When you begin to do that then literature is really performing its wonders.
I think I'm drawn to more villain-type characters because it's so cool to get to say all the things you want to say. In Hollywood you get to this position where you have to bite your tongue so much. You take all your experiences of not being able to say what you really want to say and channel that through your character.