'Shadow and Bone' star Ben Barnes 'keeps asking' his agents for a rom-com role after playing several villains: 'It would be nice to play someone you're rooting for next'

• "Shadow and Bone" star Ben Barnes said he doesn't want his next role to be a villain.
• In his last three major TV series roles, Barnes played "manipulative, rageful" characters.

"Shadow and Bone" star Ben Barnes said that he is now focused on finding a nice rom-com role after playing multiple villains and "douchey characters."

While Barnes started off his career playing heroes and starring in lighter movies and TV series, in recent years he has played villains in series such as "Westworld," "The Punisher," and his latest show "Shadow and Bone."

The second season of the Netflix fantasy series, which premieres Thursday, stars Barnes as the Darkling, a morally-gray man who is willing to destroy the world in order to protect his people.

In a recent interview with Polygon, Barnes said he is unsure why he keeps being cast as a villain.

"I keep asking my agents, 'I just want to do a rom-com,'" the 41-year-old actor said. "And then they're like, 'Haven't got a rom-com, but found this psychopath who's killing a lot of young people.'"

Barnes has starred in comedies before, such as 2008's "Easy Virtue" and 2013's "The Big Wedding," and romantic dramas such as 2014's "Jackie and Ryan."

But "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" actor added that a lot of his characters are "these sorts of manipulative, rageful, venomous… or just kind of douchey characters."

Barnes said that he tries to find depth in all his characters and pointed out that the villains he plays do have similarities, despite appearing in different genres.

"Who you are as a person will always seep through in the tiniest ways," Barnes said. "They're all very broken in their own ways. None of the characters I've played have very good relationships with their parents. Even though it's a fantastical universe with magic and nonsense, you can really kind of dig down and try to believe in the broken truth of any character, even if they're the antagonist. Even if they're not the one you're rooting for."

Barnes added: "But it would be nice to play someone you're rooting for next, to be honest."

His "Shadow and Bone" star costar Jessie Mei Li, who was also participating in the interview, interjected: "A nice rom-com in a nice cardigan."

Barnes agreed, saying: "A nice rom-com in a nice cardie."

"Shadow and Bone" season two is available on Netflix.