17 Actors Who Were The Bad Guy In Seemingly Every Movie In The '80s And '90s
Are you nostalgic for movies from the '80s and '90s? If so, you will undoubtedly have a special place in your heart for the character actors who played the bad guy again and again during those two decades. Why did the same actors get typecast so often? Hard to say, but there's no denying those eras had a bunch of talented performers who did the villainy thing extremely well. Whenever they popped up on-screen, viewers knew stuff was about to go down.
Every single one of these gentlemen carved out a strong career for himself. That said, none of them are what you would call an A-list star. These are not the Bruce Willises or the Eddie Murphys of their day. They were reliable "that guy" actors who didn't need to be front and center in order to make a huge impression. Let's take a closer look at their distinct abilities, as well as give a brief rundown of some of their most notable performances.
Which of these "bad guy" actors is the most memorable? Your votes will decide.
- 1118 VOTESPhoto: Total Recall / TriStar Pictures
Why So Villainous? Michael Ironside had a professional breakthrough in David Cronenberg's 1981 horror movie Scanners, in which he played a former mental patient trying to assemble a team of people with telekinetic powers for nefarious reasons. The intensity he brought to that role quickly made him an in-demand villain. There's something about Ironside's eyes - he could stare the paint off a car. Although not necessarily physically imposing, those icy looks always signify that he is not someone to be messed with. Combined with the sense of intelligence he projects, the actor is never anything less than chilling when playing jerks with grand schemes.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A corrupt US military officer in Extreme Prejudice, a misogynist intergalactic overlord in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, a ruthless member of the Mars Colony Security Force in Total Recall, a dictator in Highlander II: The Quickening, the leader of a bully fraternity in The Karate Kid III.
- 2106 VOTESPhoto: The Shawshank Redemption / Columbia Pictures
Why So Villainous? Clancy Brown is intimidating. For starters, he's 6 feet 3 inches. Then there's that unmistakable voice, which sounds like a thundering boom even when he's talking calmly. The actor has effectively used those qualities to play an assortment of bad guys over the course of his decades-long career. You can put him toe-to-toe with literally anyone and he makes a credible threat. It's not just his size and voice, though. Brown is a talented actor who knows how to use those things to build characters who are evil or jerkish in different ways. This is best exemplified by his turn as Captain Hadley, the prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption. Here, he uses his skills in a subtle way, to absolutely chilling effect.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: An immoral and violent warrior in Highlander, a reanimated sheriff in Pet Sematary Two, Frankenstein's monster in The Bride, a murderous criminal in Shoot to Kill.
- 3110 VOTESPhoto: The Breakfast Club / Universal Pictures
Why So Villainous? Paul Gleason's specialty was playing characters who got off on their own power. He had a way of suggesting how much the men he played loved wielding their influence or making others bend to his will. Nowhere is this more evident than in his most famous performance, as Principal Vernon in The Breakfast Club. He's completely authentic as an authority figure who loves tormenting teenagers, especially in the scenes where he verbally spars with Judd Nelson's misfit character.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A scheming football coach in Johnny B. Good, a sleazy inside trader in Trading Places, a stubborn and meddlesome police chief in Die Hard, a stern father in Rich Girl, a dirty cop in Money Talks.
- 4110 VOTESPhoto: License to Kill / MGM/UA
Why So Villainous? Robert Davi just looks like a tough guy. Unsurprisingly, he has been cast as a heavy way more often than anything else. His gravelly voice always sounds eerie when issuing threats. And when he plays a mobster? Forget about it! Davi thrives when playing completely immoral characters who don't feel a shred of remorse over ending someone's life. His signature bad guy role is as Felix Sanchez, the drug lord nemesis to James Bond in Licence to Kill. He doesn't even flinch when lowering a guy into a shark tank.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A counterfeiter in The Goonies, a mafia lieutenant in Raw Deal, an FBI agent who makes a bad situation even worse in Die Hard, a psychopath who causes ecological disaster in The Taking of Beverly Hills, a mobster hiding in suburbia in Cops and Robbersons, a sleazy strip club boss in Showgirls.
- 5115 VOTESPhoto: Ghostbusters / Columbia Pictures
Why So Villainous? In Ghostbusters, William Atherton plays Walter Peck, the EPA agent who forces the title characters to shut down their system, thereby allowing New York City to become flooded with supernatural spirits. This could have been a generic bad guy role, except the actor brought such self-righteousness to the character that audiences actively cheered when he got his eventual comeuppance. That's the beauty of Atherton's work. He's at his best playing a creep who's so convinced he's right on any given issue, he refuses to listen to reason. You just love to hate him.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A snooty professor in Real Genius, an obnoxious reporter in Die Hard and Die Hard 2, an unethical scientist in Bio-Dome.
- 672 VOTES
Powers Boothe
Photo: Blue Sky / Orion PicturesWhy So Villainous? Powers Boothe rose to stardom playing cult leader Jim Jones in the 1980 TV movie Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones. It showcased his ability to play bad guys who are multi-dimensional. He brought to life villains who were loathsome, while still showing their human side. Although Boothe was versatile and could do anything, breaking out as he did ensured that filmmakers wanted to cast him as an antagonist as often as possible. Without a doubt, he elevated any movie in which he appeared, thanks to an uncanny ability to dig deep into the psychology of extremely flawed characters.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A drug trafficker in Extreme Prejudice, outlaw "Curly Bill" Brocious in Tombstone, a military colonel who has an affair with another man's wife in Blue Sky, a terrorist leader in Sudden Death.
- 7117 VOTESPhoto: Ferris Bueller's Day Off / Paramount Pictures
Why So Villainous? Jeffrey Jones is largely known for being a comedic jerk. His specialty is playing uptight guys who are kind of stuck on themselves. He has an off-kilter way of delivering dialogue, as well as a rubbery face that makes every expression of frustration hilarious. Nowhere have his skills been more perfectly utilized than as Ed Rooney, the bumbling principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He gets the film's biggest laughs with his uproarious double-takes and slow-burns. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his performance in that hit is one of the best of the decade.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A scheming nitwit in Easy Money, a mad scientist trying to capture the title character in Howard the Duck, a snooty real estate developer in Beetlejuice, a satellite dish salesman literally from hell in Stay Tuned, a kidnapper in Who's Harry Crumb?
- 881 VOTESPhoto: The Silence of the Lambs / Orion Pictures
Why So Villainous?: You probably know Anthony Heald most from his role as Dr. Frederick Chilton, the head of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, in The Silence of the Lambs. He hits on Clarice Starling when she comes to meet Hannibal Lecter. After being rebuffed, he generally acts like a misogynist tool toward her. What makes the actor so potent as Chilton is his skill at playing characters who are priggish and pompous at the same time. It's a very specific kind of thing that not everyone can pull off. Put another way, Heald is the perfect choice to portray a villain who just makes your skin crawl.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A slimy attorney in The Pelican Brief, the lawyer for a crime family in Kiss of Death, a money launderer in Bushwhacked, a cruise ship owner who hires mercenaries to sink a vessel for insurance money in Deep Rising, a lawyer/sleaze merchant in 8mm.
- 971 VOTESPhoto: Good Morning, Vietnam / Touchstone Pictures
Why So Villainous? Cinematic bad guys are often referred to as "heavies." The late J.T. Walsh was a quintessential heavy. He was one of those actors who could generate a sense of menace simply by walking on-screen. His mere presence created an immediate atmosphere of tension. Walsh was even able to infuse his characters with a dark sense of humor that exacerbated their threat. Often cast as either crooks or power-hungry authority figures, he never failed to make a strong impression.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: The abusive, fun-hating Sgt. Major Dickerson in Good Morning, Vietnam, an alderman who commits arson in Backdraft, a lowlife movie studio executive in The Big Picture, a military officer partially responsible for a young soldier's death in A Few Good Men, a bar owner who hires a hitman to take out his wife in Red Rock West, an embezzler in Needful Things, a sexual predator in Sling Blade, a trucker who kidnaps a man's wife and holds her for ransom in Breakdown.
- 1075 VOTESPhoto: Pulp Fiction / Miramax Films
Why So Villainous? Peter Greene is one of those actors you sometimes see and don't recognize. More accurately, he's an actor you see and think is Peter Weller. The two could be brothers. In a weird way, that makes sense, as Greene possesses a bit of a chameleonic nature. He dives into characters so fully that it's a bit surprising to look at his filmography and see how many well-known pictures he's been in. As a villain, he often conveys a warped mind, as though his characters are true loose cannons who could fly into a fit of rage at the drop of a hat. If there's a quintessential Peter Greene role, it would be as Zed, the lowlife in Pulp Fiction who ties up Butch and Marcellus. That supporting role perfectly showcased the actor's anything-can-happen energy.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A drug lord's right-hand man in Judgment Night, a psychopathic Mafioso in The Mask, a mercenary in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, a lecherous guy who turns violent after being rebuffed by Halle Berry in The Rich Man's Wife, a traitorous jewel thief in Blue Streak.
- 1190 VOTESPhoto: Thelma & Louise / MGM
Why So Villainous? Christopher McDonald specializes in a very specific type of jerk. He's frequently cast as one of those slick, manipulative types. You know, the kind of guy you spend two seconds with and then immediately want to punch in the face. Perhaps his signature role is as Geena Davis's controlling, no-good carpet salesman husband in Thelma & Louise. The movie rests, in part, on her character wondering how she ever got together with this weasel. It works because McDonald is so thoroughly weaselly. Beyond that, the actor seems to actually enjoy playing these smug characters. There's a sense of joy in his malice that's always fun to watch.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A preppy, borderline-racist rich boy in Breakin', a disinterested father in Dutch, a self-impressed, egotistical golfer in Happy Gilmore, an uncaring husband in House Arrest, a guy who steals other people's ideas in Flubber.
- 1272 VOTESPhoto: RoboCop / Orion Pictures
Why So Villainous? Ronny Cox started his film career playing a good guy in the classic 1972 thriller Deliverance. In fact, for the longest time, he was known for portraying deeply moral men. Then along came RoboCop in 1987. Cox took on the role of Dick Jones, the ethically challenged senior vice president of Omni Consumer Products, a company trying to militarize law enforcement via the use of robotic police officers. From that point on, people viewed him differently, and more bad guy roles followed. The actor's particular strength is in showing how single-minded his characters are. They become so consumed by their goals that any sense of morality goes straight out the window. There is no rule that wasn't meant to be broken for these men. Tied into his earlier films, though, is the way Cox shows how his villains have their own skewed moral viewpoint and therefore mistakenly believe that they're acting admirably.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: The sinister governor of Mars in Total Recall, a murderous psychiatrist in Scissors. Although not really a bad guy in the end, Cox also played the irritable Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil in Beverly Hills Cop, where he served as a foil to Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley.
- 1380 VOTESPhoto: The Shawshank Redemption / Columbia Pictures
Why So Villainous? As anyone who's seen The Shawshank Redemption knows, Bob Gunton makes one heck of an antagonist. He plays Samuel Norton, the warden of Shawshank Prison. Norton is not only a cruel man, but also one who believes he's morally superior to the prisoners he watches over. There's an old-fashioned quality to Gunton that's perfect for such roles. His overall manner is like a stern grandfather ready to give you a good paddling if you look at him the wrong way. A dependable heavy, he's elevated a number of films with his talent for playing despicable old-school guys.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A company spy trying to disrupt a mine workers union in Matewan, a no-nonsense bureaucrat in Demolition Man, a shady lawyer in Dolores Claiborne, a crime boss in The Glimmer Man, a humorless, by-the-book medical school dean in Patch Adams.
- 1464 VOTESPhoto: National Lampoon's Animal House / Universal Pictures
Why So Villainous? John Vernon's most notable jerk role actually came in 1978, when he played the stern, unsympathetic dean of Faber College in National Lampoon's Animal House. He was so unforgettable in that part that Hollywood couldn't wait to cast him as more creeps. Vernon's specialty is playing dumb guys who have absolutely no clue they're dumb. His characters think they're brilliant and in control, so they become exasperated when they find themselves foiled by the hero. In short, he's great as buffoons. More often than not, he played jerks in comedies because of that ability.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A sadistic prison warden in Chained Heat, a smug sheriff in Fraternity Vacation, the unethical CEO of a mining corporation in Ernest Goes to Camp, a cranky police deputy in Killer Klowns from Outer Space, a crime lord in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.
- 1559 VOTESPhoto: The Warriors / Paramount Pictures
Why So Villainous? David Patrick Kelly's career playing bad guys formally started with his motion picture debut in 1979's The Warriors. He played Luther, the leader of an evil street gang. Luther is the guy who yells the movie's signature line, "Warriors, come out to play-i-ay!" Interestingly, his next big break was also playing a guy named Luther, this one a criminal henchman, in 48 Hrs. Unlike many of the bad guy actors of the '80s and '90s, Kelly isn't physically menacing. He's on the short side, and there's a slight air of goofiness about him. That's what makes him effective, though. The actor has built a career playing live-wire foes whose behavior is completely unpredictable.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A dream-world assassin in Dreamscape, a dictator's henchman in Commando, an assassin named "Dropshadow" in Wild at Heart, a guy literally called "Sam the Sleaze Bag" in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, a gang leader who does away with Brandon Lee's character in The Crow, an Irish mobster in Last Man Standing.
- 1692 VOTESPhoto: Patriot Games / Paramount Pictures
Why So Villainous? Sean Bean has played a bad guy so often that he decided to stop taking roles in which his character dies. He simply got sick of getting bumped off. The actor first came to attention as a villain in Jim Sheridan's 1990 drama The Field, in which he plays a guy who harasses a widow in an effort to convince her to sell her home and land. From there, he was off and running. Playing an Irish terrorist squaring off against Harrison Ford in Patriot Games kicked his career up to the next level. Bean brings a certain suaveness to his roles, so that even when he's the lowest lowlife you can imagine, there is still a seductive quality to his evil.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A violent thug in Shopping, a criminal mastermind being pursued by James Bond in GoldenEye, a duplicitous firearms specialist in Ronin.
- 1773 VOTESPhoto: The Karate Kid / Columbia Pictures
Why So Villainous? William Zabka is a rather unique bad guy. He pretty much had an entire field all to himself, reliably playing the good-looking, athletic, totally stuck-on-himself bully in teen flicks. Of course, his most famous role is as Johnny Lawrence, the narcissistic creep who torments - and ultimately gets kicked in the face by - Daniel Russo in The Karate Kid. That was his first film role, and it went down in history. Imagine having that kind of luck! Of course, Zabka was typecast from that point on - but so what? Watching him do his arrogant teen thing was always a blast.
Notable Bad Guy Roles: A bodybuilding bully in Just One of the Guys, a cheating boyfriend in National Lampoon's European Vacation, an obnoxious college diving team member in Back to School, and, obviously, Johnny again in The Karate Kid Part II.
