Any movie with a central antagonist needs a great actor in the role. An actor that can provide an intimidating, menacing, or downright horrifying performance can help to elevate any film to the next level. These 10 actors specifically are able to play the bad guy so well, that it can be difficult to imagine them acting as any other kind of character.
While these actors have certainly not only played villains throughout their careers, these actors have all either done numerous villain roles or are most well known for their villainous performances. Here are the top 10 actors that seem like they are always playing the bad guy.
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10 Willem Dafoe
A24
Most well-known for his role as the maniacal Green Goblin, the main antagonist in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, Willem Dafoe has the perfect voice, body language, and especially facial expressions to play just about any villainous character. This range as an actor has led Dafoe to play as numerous other villains throughout his career, such as Thomas Wake in The Lighthouse, Bobby Peru in Wild at Heart, Raven Shaddock in Streets of Fire, Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire, and many more.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
9 Anthony Hopkins
Orion Pictures
Anthony Hopkins is such a good villainous actor that his performance as serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs has led the character to becoming one of the most iconic villains in cinema history. The accuracy of how he was able to portray a truly deranged, cannibalistic man horrified viewers, but also left their jaws on the floor with how incredible of a performance it was. Hopkins has also gone on to portray the villains of Robert Ford in the Westworld TV series, Ted Crawford in Fracture, Sir John Talbot in The Wolfman, along with more.
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8 Hugo Weaving
Village Roadshow Pictures
Most recognizable as his role of Agent Smith in The Matrix series of movies, Hugo Weaving is an incredibly underrated actor, especially as the villain. He portrayed Agent Smith incredibly, and has also gone on to play numerous villains of all different kinds, such as Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger as well as V in V for Vendetta. Weaving has even lent his voice to portray a menacing villain when he was the voice of Megatron in the first three films in the Transformers series.
7 Javier Bardem
Scott Rudin Productions
Anyone that has seen No Country For Old Men knows about the terrifying performance of Javier Bardem as psychopath Anton Chigurh. Terrorizing Texas while tracking down Josh Brolin’s character in the movie, Bardem played a man that will stop at nothing to get what he’s after. His performance was so excellent, that it allowed him to go on and portray Raoul Silva, the main antagonist in Skyfall, as well as Armando Salazar in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, plus more.
6 Ralph Fiennes
Warner Bros. Pictures
Mainly known for his role as the infamous Lord Voldemort, Ralph Fiennes has taken his acting to new heights and has portrayed numerous other intimidating villains. Fiennes has played as Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List, Hades in Clash of the Titans, and even most recently as Chef Julian Slowik in The Menu, along with multiple other roles that show why Fiennes is such an incredible actor.
5 Mads Mikkelsen
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Mads MIkkelsen is an actor of incredible range, but is mostly known for his times playing the bad guy in film. One of his most famous examples is his portrayal of Le Chiffre in 2006’s Casino Royale, as well as his role of Kaecilius in Doctor Strange. Mikkelsen is an actor of such incredible range, that he took his talents to video games as well as animated movies, portraying the secondary antagonist Cliff Unger in the game Death Stranding, as well as using his voice in the Danish versions of Cars and Monster’s Inc., voicing Chick Hicks and Randall Boggs respectively.
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4 Giancarlo Esposito
AMC
An actor that has mainly kept his villainous roles to the television screen, Giancarlo Esposito is easily most recognizable for his role as Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Esposito has played as intimidating villains in other series, such as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian as well as Stan Edgar in The Boys. Esposito has also expanded his resume to video games and animated shows, playing as Anton Castillo in the video game Far Cry 6 as well as the voice for Faraday in the English translation of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
3 Christoph Waltz
Image Credit: Universal
Another actor with an iconic and intimidating performance, Christoph Waltz is easily known for his role in Inglorious Basterds as Colonel Hans Landa, also known as the Jew Hunter. Making such real threats while maintaining a casual, nonchalant energy truly makes this character one of the scariest put to film. Waltz has also portrayed Ersnt Stavro Blofeld in Spectre and most recently was the voice to Count Volpe in Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio. Even his voice is scary enough to make an amazing villain.
2 Alan Rickman
20th Century Studios
An actor of incredible ability, Alan Rickman is mainly known for two villainous roles. First, he portrayed Hans Gruber in Die Hard and then later in his career portrayed Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series, even though Snape turns out to actually be a good guy by the time the series ends. Despite that, Rickman’s amazing performance is what made Snape such a good anti-hero type. Rickman’s acting abilities also allowed him to play multiple other notable villains throughout his career.
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1 Christopher Lee
20th Century Fox
Easily the most iconic example of an amazing actor that always seemed like he was playing the bad guy, look no further than Sir Christopher Lee. Lee has played memorable characters in numerous famous franchises, whether he’s Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones, Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, or Saruman in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises, Christopher Lee will always be remembered for his incredible performances throughout film, but especially as the villain.
