So when LaBute was approached to direct "Lakeview Terrace," a mainstream Hollywood thriller about the rising tensions between a black cop and the young interracial couple who moves into his Southern California cul-de-sac, the machismo of the male leads was sure to get full display.
"They fit pretty comfortably in my gallery of rogues," LaBute said in a recent phone interview.
One of his actors, Samuel L. Jackson, was already attached to the movie when LaBute came on board. Jackson plays Abel Turner, an LAPD beat cop trying to maintain order over his two kids when the Mattsons, Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa (Kerry Washington), move in next door.
"His is a real power struggle," said LaBute, who started his writing career as a graduate student at Brigham Young University. "He wants a kind of respect, and when he doesn't get it, he takes action."
On the other hand, Wilson's Chris Mattson is a white man who is "put off his game a little bit" by Turner, LaBute said. Even his wife, Lisa, comments that Chris acts differently around powerful black men - such as Turner and Lisa's businessman father (Ron Glass) - "which is a bit of racism as well," LaBute said.
LaBute considered casting Eckhart - a fellow BYU alum with whom he had worked in "In the Company of Men," "Your Friends and Neighbors," "Nurse Betty," "Possession" and even a cameo in "The Wicker Man." But the actor, who recently received accolades as the scarred DA Harvey Dent in "The Dark Knight," wasn't available.
Looking back, though, LaBute thinks Wilson (who played another suburbanite in "Little Children") is a better choice. "Just naturally, Patrick seems a more boyish, more open guy," the director said. "It's great to watch the growth of this character [as] he finds his inner caveman."
"Lakeview Terrace" may be both a victim and a beneficiary of current events. The characters' arguments over property may not seem important when many people worry about foreclosure. But in an election year when one of the two presidential candidates is African-American, LaBute said, "race seems to be more on the table."
"It's become more common conversation," LaBute said. "It's meant to be this big issue in America, but it's not always shown in our movies and TV."
