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23 Actors Who Have Mastered The Art Of Playing Villains
Sometimes, actors only hit it big after playing a villain or two, and some actors go their whole careers without ever once playing a bad guy. Others, though, kind of make playing bad guys their whole deal, and they are often really good at it. Whether they're versatile actors who have played a little of everything - including some iconic bad guys - or the kind of actors who play characters you love to hate pretty exclusively, this collection features some of the top actors known for playing villainous parts.
Yet these aren't actors who keep their light under a bad guy bushel. We've got Oscar winners aplenty here - and some of them won their awards for playing villains - so vote up your favorite actors who are so good at being bad...
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The Villains: Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK, Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Stansfield in The Professional, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg in The Fifth Element, Drexl Spivey in True Romance, Dr. Smith in Lost in Space, Mason Verger in Hannibal, et al.
The Actor: Gary Oldman has played, well, pretty much everybody at one point or another. He's been Pontius Pilate and Commissioner Gordon, punk rock legend Sid Vicious and Winston Churchill and Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. He's been a wizard, a spy, a rabbi, numerous scientists, and the devil. He's also played lots and lots of villains. His breakout performance for mainstream audiences was probably in Francis Ford Coppola's baroque 1992 adaptation of Dracula, where Oldman played the eponymous count under old age makeup, Victorian dress, and even several monstrous transformations. He even went toe-to-toe with one of cinema's most iconic villains, Hannibal Lecter, when he played (under acres of prosthetics) the sadistic Mason Verger in Ridley Scott's Hannibal.
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The Villains: Hans Gruber in Die Hard, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, et al.
The Actor: While many modern viewers may know him best as the conflicted Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series, whose definition as a villain is questionable, Alan Rickman already had a well-trod reputation for playing nefarious, reptilian roles long before he donned the robes of Hogwarts' master of potions. In fact, his breakout role came more than a decade earlier, when he played one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history - the terrorist mastermind Hans Gruber in John McTiernan's original Die Hard.
- 31,430 VOTES
The Villains: Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet, Cardinel Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, Walter Keene in Big Eyes, Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, et al.
The Actor: Already an established thespian in his native Germany, Christophe Waltz burst onto the American movie scene with the role of the villainous Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's World War II opus Inglourious Basterds. The part nabbed him his first Academy Award, and led to a swell of roles in English-language films, most often playing villains. In 2015, he even took on the mantle of perhaps James Bond's most famous nemesis, Blofeld, in Spectre, a role he reprised in the climactic film of the Daniel Craig era, No Time to Die.
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The Villains: Jack Torrance in The Shining, Daryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick, the Joker in Batman, Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in A Few Good Men, Frank Costello in The Departed, et al.
The Actor: Jack Nicholson broke into the business working with Roger Coman all the way back in the 1960s, in horror films like Little Shop of Horrors, The Raven, and The Terror. By the time he appeared as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's legendary adaptation of The Shining, he had already won an Oscar for his lead performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Jack Torrance changed the trajectory of Nicholson's career, however. Always someone who played outsiders and rebels, he began playing villains with increasing frequency, perhaps most notably when he took on the role of the Joker in Tim Burton's first Batman movie in 1989.
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The Villains: Dracula in the many Hammer Dracula films, Lord Summerisle in The Wicker Man, Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, Saruman in Lord of the Rings, Count Dooku in Star Wars, et al.
The Actor: Has anyone played quite so many of cinema's most famous monsters and villains as Sir Christopher Lee? The imposingly tall Englishman has been Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, and many others. He's played the evil wizard Saruman and the Sith Lord Count Dooku. He's been the devil, a cult leader, and more vampires than you can shake a cross at, played parts as varied as Fu Manchu and Rasputin, and gone up against the likes of Hercules and James Bond (and even Captain America, in an ill-starred TV movie from 1979). And that's only counting the villainous roles in his prolific and lengthy career, which spans nearly 300 films.
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The Villains: Max Zorin in A View to Kill, Frank White in King of New York, Max Shreck in Batman Returns, Vicenzo Cocotti in True Romance, Bobby Cahn in Wayne's World 2, the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow, et al.
The Actor: With his unmistakable voice and mannerisms, Christopher Walken was already a star before he ever played a major villain, having received an Academy Award for best supporting actor in 1978 for his role in The Deer Hunter. His first big villain role was opposite Roger Moore as 007 in A View to Kill, where he played Max Zorin, a deranged tech entrepreneur and the result of Nazi medical experimentation with a plan to destroy Silicon Valley. He went on to play countless mobsters, hitmen, and other criminals, not to mention sleazy record execs and even a headless horseman or two...
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The Villains: Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Darkness in Legend, Pennywise in It, Hexxus in FernGully, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, et al.
The Actor: Few actors are as synonymous with villain performances as Tim Curry, who has carried on the mantle of charming purveyor of nightmares once held by the likes of Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. Curry's breakout role may have been in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but he has also played the devil more than once, the sewer-dwelling clown in the TV mini-series version of Stephen King's It, and many others. With more than 200 credits in his filmography, Curry is also one of the most prolific actors around, even while many of his credits are voice roles, including plenty of cartoon villains who have gone up against everyone from Scooby Doo to Jedi knights.
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- 81,096 VOTES
The Villains: Felix Reyes-Torrena in Collateral, Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, Silva in Skyfall, Captain Salazar in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, et al.
The Actor: Anyone who has ever played a villain in a Bond film is a likely candidate when you're thinking of actors known for playing bad guys, and Javier Bardem certainly played a memorable one in Skyfall. Before that, however, he had already vaulted into mainstream awareness with one of the most iconic villain turns of the 21st century in the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, with Bardem winning an Academy Award for his portrayal of laconic hitman Anton Chigurh.
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The Villains: Agent Smith in The Matrix, Megatron in the Transformers films, the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, Thaddeus Valentine in Mortal Engines et al.
The Actor: Distinctive British actor Hugo Weaving has played Elrond in The Lord of the Rings, the eponymous masked vigilante in V for Vendetta, and provided the voice of a sheepdog in George Miller's Babe. Yet for most of us, he will always be Agent Smith, the staid antagonist of The Matrix. Smith proved to be Weaving's breakout role, and since then he has issued memorable villain turns in the MCU and Michael Bay's Transformers series, where he provides the voice of Megatron, not to mention non-villainous roles in films like The Wolfman, Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, and even performing Shakespeare in the 2019 version of Measure for Measure.
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The Villains: Sardo Numspa in The Golden Child, Benedict in Last Action Hero, Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones, Alan Jonah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, et al.
The Actor: Long before he played the ruthless patriarch of House Lannister in TV's Game of Thrones, Charles Dance already had a reputation as a villain. In fact, there's a joke about it in Last Action Hero, from all the way back in 1993. And at more than 70 years old, he shows no signs of stopping his villainous on-screen antics, having recently appeared as an eco-terrorist in the new Warner Bros. Godzilla flicks.
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- 111,121 VOTES
The Villains: Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter franchise, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, et al.
The Actor: Having already attained critical success and an Academy Award nomination (for her role in The Wings of the Dove), Helena Bonham Carter broke into the mainstream with her appearance as Marla Singer in David Fincher's Fight Club. She quickly became Tim Burton's latest muse, appearing in seven of the director's films. Perhaps her most memorable villain turn is as the deranged Bellatrix Lestrange in the long-running Harry Potter franchise, but around such "quirky" parts she has also continued a string of critically acclaimed performances, including a turn as Queen Elizabeth in The King's Speech, which netted her another Academy Award nomination and a BAFTA Award.
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The Villains: The Frankenstein monster in Frankenstein, Imhotep in The Mummy, Hjalmar Poelzig in The Black Cat, John Gray in The Body Snatcher, and far too many more to name.
The Actor: Born William Henry Pratt, the man who came to be known as Boris Karloff was, by all accounts, a consummate professional who appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows in his day. Most famous for his near-silent portrayal of the Frankenstein monster in James Whale's 1931 classic and its 1935 sequel, Karloff was by no means limited to unspeaking roles. Indeed, he played countless scientists, aristocrats, and characters both villainous and benevolent. In addition to his long list of horror films, he also hosted television shows, and played in other kinds of pictures, including displaying a refreshing sense of humor about his own reputation, which he often lampooned in films and TV appearances.
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- 13855 VOTES
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The Villains: Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers, Professor Henry Jarrod in House of Wax, Frederick Loren in House on Haunted Hill, Prince Prospero in The Masque of the Red Death, Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General, Dr. Anton Phibes in The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Professor Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective, just being Vincent Price, etc.
The Actor: With his unmistakable voice and charming charisma, few actors have ever become as cozy with the macabre as Vincent Price. Besides starring in an array of horror flicks over the years, he also notably provided the spoken-word portion of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," narrated audio books, appeared on countless television shows including The Muppets, and hawked wares like shrunken apple heads and games of Hangman in the back of comic books. If anyone was ever an ambassador for the genre of horror - making it palatable and even welcoming to mainstream audiences - it was Price.
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The Villains: Beverly & Elliot Mantle in Dead Ringers, Scar in The Lion King, Simon Gruber in Die Hard with a Vengeance, Profion in Dungeons & Dragons, Adrian Veidt in Watchmen, et al.
The Actor: British actor Jeremy Irons was already an established presence on stage and screen, having appeared in films from directors like David Cronenberg and Steven Soderbergh and taking home an Academy Award for his turn in Reversal of Fortune, before he lent his unmistakable voice to the nefarious Scar in The Lion King. While The Lion King was a big break into the mainstream for the actor, it also typecast him into villain parts for a while. He played Hans Gruber's brother in the third Die Hard film and an evil mage in the unfortunate Dungeon & Dragons movie from 2000. More recently, he took on the role of Adrian Veidt, the "smartest man in the world," in the TV mini-series version of Watchmen.
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- 15587 VOTES
The Villains: Dracula in Dracula, Sayer of the Law in Island of Lost Souls, Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, the Frankenstein monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, "Ghoul Man" in Plan 9 from Outer Space, and many more.
The Actor: Perhaps no other single performance of a villain character has left as indelible a stamp on popular culture as Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the eponymous count in Tod Browning's Dracula. Unfortunately, Lugosi's life was not so charmed as some of his contemporaries, and though he played many other memorable villains on screen, his career was hampered by a variety of factors - no few of his own making. He passed away at the age of 73, by which time he was appearing primarily in the films of legendary schlock movie-maker Ed Wood. Nonetheless, at his peak, few could compete with Lugosi, who often acted with little more than his piercing gaze.
- 16730 VOTES
The Villains: Piter de Vries in Dune, Chucky in the Child's Play series, the Gemini Killer in The Exorcist III, Grima Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings movies, et al.
The Actor: Few performers can cite as varied a filmography as veteran character actor Brad Dourif, who got his start all the way back in 1975, playing opposite the likes of Jack Nicholson in the Oscar-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He's since been in films both large and small, beloved by critics and audiences alike, and he often plays bad guys. Perhaps most significantly, Dourif may be the only one of the actors to bring to life one of the major members of slasher royalty who has also enjoyed a substantial mainstream career, even if his longstanding role as Charles Lee Ray/Chucky in the Child's Play series is usually limited to providing the voice of the homicidal doll.
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- 17778 VOTES
The Villains: Michael Corleone in The Godfather series, Tony Montana in Scarface, Big Boy Caprice in Dick Tracy, John Milton in The Devil's Advocate, Willy Bank in Ocean's Thirteen, et al.
The Actor: Al Pacino made his career turning villains into leading characters. In both the Godfather saga and Scarface, he took on roles as the head of an organized crime syndicate, the kind of part that would usually be the end bad guy in an action flick, and brought them to life as complex, human figures. He was also more than willing to go over-the-top, as he did in Warren Beatty's four-color comic book opus Dick Tracy in 1990 or, years later, going up against George Clooney and company in the third film in the Ocean's saga. Naturally for someone like Pacino, he was going to play the devil sooner or later, portraying him as a smarmy yet charismatic head of a legal firm in The Devil's Advocate, opposite Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron.
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The Villains: Roy Batty in Blade Runner, John Ryder in The Hitcher, Lothos in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kurt Barlow in Salem's Lot, Cardinal Roark in Sin City, Joseph Peach in Channel Zero, et al.
The Actor: What more can be said about Rutger Hauer? His breakout role in Blade Runner produced one of the most eloquent and tragic movie villains of the modern age, and he continued to play a variety of deranged, dynamic, or simply damaged characters for a lengthy and prolific career. He's played a vampire more than once, including a couple of turns as Dracula and one as Van Helsing. He's been a serial killer and the cop who catches them, a gladiator in a post-apocalyptic sport, a blind samurai, and so many more roles that it would be impossible to even scratch the surface of them all.
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- 19646 VOTES
The Villains: Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction, Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in Dangerous Liasons, Cruella DeVil in 101 Dalmations, et al.
The Actor: Glenn Close already had three Academy Award nominations under her belt by the time she hit mainstream fame with her role as an obsessed stalker in Fatal Attraction - a role which also nabbed her fourth Oscar nod. She would snag a fifth, also playing a villain, the following year for Dangerous Liasons. In fact, Close is the fifth-most nominated actress of all time, with a whopping eight Academy Award nominations in her storied career, though she's never actually taken home the statue. Her most iconic villain role never got so much as a nomination, however. When Disney opted to make a live-action version of 101 Dalmatians, Close stepped into the fashionable shoes of villain Cruella DeVil, and made the role her own.
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The Villains: Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown, Elijah Price/Mr. Glass in Unbreakable and Glass, Stephen in Django Unchained, Preston Packard in Kong: Skull Island, Richmond Valentine in Kingsman: The Secret Service, et al.
The Actor: Today we may know him better as Nick Fury, but there's nothing about even Nick Fury that doesn't suggest that Samuel L. Jackson can't occasionally be one heck of a villain, when he puts his mind to it. Whether that was low-key roles like the nefarious Stephen in Django Unchained or hitmen and gun smugglers like Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown or even comic book super villains, like his turns in Unbreakable, Glass, The Spirit, and Kingsman.
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- 21411 VOTES
The Villains: Dracula in Dracula, Skeletor in Masters of the Universe, Dawg Brown in Cutthroat Island, Boris Balkan in The Ninth Gate, Arlington Steward in The Box, et al.
The Actor: If a performer hit it big playing Dracula, you can pretty much bet they've played a few villains in their day. But even actors as dignified as Langella need to eat, which is why you can also find him essaying villain parts in some less distinguished fare, such as playing opposite Dolph Lundgren in the 1987 version of Masters of the Universe or chewing some scenery as a vicious pirate in the notorious box office dud that was Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island.
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- 22360 VOTES
The Villains: Hans Beckert in M, Doctor Gogol in Mad Love, Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon, Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace, and many others.
The Actor: No one else looked quite like Peter Lorre, whether you caught him when he was young and dashing or older and dissolute. This helped him play a series of villains, henchmen, and other slimy characters so distinctive that they inspired a Looney Tunes character, beginning with his breakout role as a child-slayer in Fritz Lang's legendary film, M. Like many of his contemporaries, Lorre had a sense of humor about his reputation for the macabre, as evidenced by an appearance in the 1960s TV series Route 66, in which everyone is terrified of him even when he's just being himself.
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- 234 VOTES
The Villains: Reinhard Heydrich in Holocaust, Jack the Ripper in Time After Time, Evil Genius in Time Bandits, Gul Madred in Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Chain of Command"), Dillinger/Sark in Tron, Spicer Lovejoy in Titanic.
The Actor: With his refined British accent and lean face, the Shakespeare-trained David Warner is perfect for a certain type of intelligent, slightly posh movie villain. He'd have made a great Imperial officer in the Star Wars movies, but never happened to work in that franchise (though he played two different, non-evil characters in Star Treks V and VI). Trek fans may remember him better for his villainous work as the Cardassian torturer Gul Madred, who torments Captain Picard in the TNG episode “Chain of Command.”
Warner likely was seen by the most viewers in his turn as Spicer Lovejoy, the thuggish valet who does the dirty work of villainous rich boy Cal Hockley in Titanic. But by then he had been playing villains for years – from the ruthless SS mastermind Heydrich in the TV movie Holocaust, to the double role of Sark and Dillinger in Tron, to a time-traveling Jack the Ripper in Nicholas Meyer's underrated sci-fi thriller Time After Time. As the Evil Genius in Time Bandits, Warner combined malice with a deft comic touch, providing some of the film's funniest moments.
Warner appears to have been somewhat less villainous in reality. According to this AV Club interview, he would apologize to Mary Steenburgen after every take in which he attacked her with a knife, and he was so troubled by playing Heydrich that after the day's shooting, “I was so upset that I would take it off, put it on the ground, and stamp on it.”
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