22 Actors Who Played The "Bad Guy" And Basically Upstaged Everyone Else
Not every actor gets to play the hero. And while the actors who take on a "bad guy" role may not get to play the character everyone is rooting for, they often get to play the more interesting and, frankly, better role. And when they nail it, boy is it impressive.
Warner Bros.
So, when Reddit user u/Danglarsdanglers posed the question, "Which actor managed to nail being the 'bad guy?'" to the r/Movies community, they came back with some truly good responses. Here are the best and top voted choices:
1.Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds
"Manages to pull off the 'I'm not a Nazi, I just work for them', but actually makes it work by showing you what kind of a monster you'd still have to be for the Nazis to like you that much." —Alberts_Hat
"Fun fact, Inglorious Basterds almost didn’t get made (for several reasons), the main reason being that Tarantino couldn’t find the perfect actor for Hans Landa. They met Waltz a week before they were going to decide to call off the project altogether." —conceitedpolarbear
Warner Bros.
2.Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber in Die Hard (and so many other films)
"Hans Gruber is one of the all time greatest villains." —browndog03
"It's crazy that this was his first Hollywood role and then he nailed it so hard it redefined the archetypal movie villain." —dksprocket
20th Century Fox
3.Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery
"The movie that made her a household name at the age of 41, proving all it takes is one breakout performance no matter how old you get." —santichrist
"I've watched some of the craziest shit even before Reddit, but that cobbling scene was a touch too much." —snigglesb
Columbia Pictures
4.Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones
"Say what you will about the rest of the series, but I loathed Joffrey in a way which I don't think I've ever felt about another TV or movie villain. And that's a testament to Mr. Gleeson's skill as an actor, to evoke such hatred from me as the viewing audience. He did his job as an actor with fantastic aplomb." —grumblyoldman
"At least Cersei had a reason for her awful decisions most of the time. I could really believe she was protecting her kids in her own fucked up way. Joffrey was just a psycho kid having fun, I hated him so much." —moves_likemacca
HBO
5.Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris in Training Day
"I wish Denzel had played more bad guys in his career. He completely nailed doing it. And his intensity could've played well to at least a few variations of villains." —Rattybean
"'King Kong ain’t got shit on me!' What a performance, one of my favorite movies. He played a great bad guy redemption arc in Man on Fire as well. Denzel is the man." —deltr0nzero
Warner Bros.
6.Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore
"I’ve always read that he is actually the nicest guy." —paul_having_a_ball
"My favorite story about him was on Reddit, where some guy recognized him at an airport and said, 'Hey! It's Shooter McGavin.' McDonald looked all pissed like, 'Aw, jeez, not this shit...' and the guy who recognized him got all sheepish and embarrassed. McDonald walks away from him, and then, after a few steps, spins around and does the Shooter McGavin pow-pow finger-guns at him. Legend." —hoilst
Universal
7.Robert Patrick as the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day
"Yeah, the dude absolutely nailed the part of an emotionless, robotic, killing machine. I can't think of a single scene where he broke character, his blank facial expression remained the same all throughout the movie."
"His blank expression while he was chasing John on a bike was terrifying. And that's just one of the many moments he had!"
Tristar Pictures
8.Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men
"I read an article that said that psychologists had studied Bardem in that movie and that he personified a psychopath to a T. Scary." —jabbanator
"Yeah. He was out there. The scene in the store when he’s talking about flipping a coin is one edgy moment!!" —Danglarsdanglers
Miramax
9.Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List
"There's just something about him that makes him perfect for playing bad guys." —iMogwai
"It’s funny because at one point in his career it looked like he was going to be a more conventional leading man, with films like The English Patient. I’m glad he chose such a wide array of roles." —borismuller
Universal Pictures
10.Imelda Staunton as Delores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films
"I hated her more than Voldemort for a minute and sometimes I still do. Excellent acting." —TheSilverCrystal
"She is the perfect embodiment of lawful-evil and in real life it’s people like her that should know better than to allow truly horrible people to take power just to have a few benefits for their own life." —actuallyserious650
Warner Bros.
11.Jake Gyllenhaal as Louis "Lou" Bloom in Nightcrawler
"Genuinely the most uncomfortable and scared I’ve ever been watching a movie. It’s so disturbing because his manipulation and complete lack of empathy is pulled off perfectly and believably. You completely understand why people who don’t have the information we do as viewers fall for his manipulations while screaming internally for them to realize what’s happening." —SharkBaitDLS
"The whole movie I had my eyes wide open because of how creepy and dangerous he was. Perfect execution." —thrwwy2402
Open Road Films
12.Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring in Breaking Bad
"He’s a great villain in pretty much every role that he plays." —Gogar1
"On Breaking Bad he shows his ‘nice’ side a few times. That’s one of the things that makes him so great, how he flips that ‘switch’ and becomes absolutely ruthless. And then you look at his mannerisms and realize that what Giancarlo is really doing is playing a psychopath that tried to act ‘normal’ and mild-mannered most of the time." —Gogar1
AMC
13.Anne Ramsey as Mama Fratelli in The Goonies
"She was great. The Fratellis!! I need to watch The Goonies again. I absolutely loved it. Went to the cinema to watch it as a kid. The name 'One-eyed Willie' was lost on me at the time. I couldn’t work out why my dad kept chuckling every time his name was mentioned!" —Danglarsdanglers
"Saw The Goonies at a young age and she haunted me afterwards!" —Central_PA
Warner Bros.
14.J.K. Simmons as Terence Fletcher in Whiplash
"Not my tempo." —Male_strom
"Man he was phenomenal in that. I love that even at the very end, I wasn't sure if I actually hated him or not. Cuz the look on his face at the very end when he realizes he has unlocked someone's full potential (by any means necessary) was...kinda amazing. I mean he was still a total dick tho." —Well_This_Is_Special
Sony Pictures
15.Wesley Snipes as Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man
"Not only was he a great bad guy but he was funny, too." —Rounder057
"Yes! He's one of my favorite movie villains, he's just such a fun bad guy." —doon351
Warner Bros.
16.Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody in The Mist
"Quite possibly the most powerfully detestable character I've ever seen put to film." —Maybe_Marit_Lage
"The only time I have been physically shaking with anger whilst watching the TV. I still can't rewatch till this day, as I don't want to be that mad again." —kiwi_is_gill
Weinstein Company
17.Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
"I have to say that I've never felt more sincere fear for a character, mostly because he made the character feel real. One of the few villains that I felt could actually happen in real life and there was no motivation other than just watching the world burn." —underwear11
"I have a feeling we will still be comparing him to the by then current Joker in our old age." —AssinassCheekII
Warner Bros.
18.Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Operative in Serenity
"I think what really brings home the character of The Operative is the line where he says, essentially, 'No, I don't expect to have any place in the better tomorrow. I've done too many evil things.' God, that really hits home. That's so close to being a heroic, honorable mentality, but it doesn't redeem him." —RoadKiehl
"The fact that he clearly still had a strong sense of morality, albeit pointed completely in the wrong direction made him very compelling." —queen-adreena
Universal
19.Rosamund Pike as Amy Elliott-Dunne in Gone Girl
"Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl was beyond chilling. She did fantastic." —thecheeper
"Very villainous in I Care a Lot, too." —Takver_
20th Century Fox
20.Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith in The Matrix —predditorius
"It became quite obvious how much Weaving made that role when his character was recast for Resurrections." —toylenny
"'Tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?' That was the moment for me. Went from imposing bad guy to main villain instantly." —Unfortunate_moron
Warner Bros.
21.Ben Kingsley as Don Logan in Sexy Beast
"I'm not clear why this isn't at the top." —SignificantGolf9871
"You're the fucking problem you fucking Dr. White honkin' jam-rag fucking spunk-bubble!" —jamesdeansghost55
20th Century Fox
22.Finally, David Tennant as Kilgrave in Jessica Jones
"Easily one of the most disturbing villains I've seen. It made Jessica Jones very hard to watch at times. It probably didn't help that, to me, David will always be the Doctor, so watching him 180 into a horrific villain was wild." —Miniray
"One of the biggest things that stood out was the casualness of Kilgrave in his actions. He doesn't see it as ruining people's lives, abusing people and forcing them to be physically and emotionally subservient to him. For Kilgrave it's just a game, just having fun because he has this power and he likes using it. He has no concept of his evil because he's a complete sociopath." —deknegt1990
Netflix
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
