William Forsythe Cast on 'The Mentalist'

[Brian Damage]

Talk about perfect casting: Notorious film villain William Forsythe has been tapped to play yet another heavy on CBS' The Mentalist, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.

Forsythe, perhaps best remembered as Flattop in Dick Tracy, will play Steve Rigsby, a career criminal and the biker father of the CBI's own Wayne Rigsby (Owain Yeoman). One thing's for sure: Forsythe's character — described by series creator Bruno Heller as "a clever and charismatic outlaw with an edge of violence, leavened by mercurial charm" — wasn't exactly the best father.

"[He's] selfish, arrogant and ruthless," Heller tells TVGuide.com. "He made a very poor father to Rigsby, who remembers mostly drunken abuse and long absences and his mother's tears."

Making matters worse, Rigsby's dad also has some problems with his son's chosen profession. "Steve is outraged that any child of his would join the police," Heller says. "He sees it as a personal betrayal, a rejection of Rigsby family tradition."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Mentalis...ileid=breaking