12 Actors That Only Ever Get Cast As Bad Guys - The Guys You Love to Hate
1. Javier Bardem
It’s all in his eyes, man. Those dark, deep-set eyes. He just looks like he’s killed people, doesn’t he? This Spanish actor’s resume is chock-full of villain roles. From the rogue MI6 agent, Silva, in Skyfall to the crazy, undead pirate Captain Salazar in the most recent Pirates of the Caribbean flick, he even won an Oscar for his role in No Country for Old Men.
2. Mads Mikkelsen
When I think of movie bad guys, this is the face that comes to mind first. He’s got the look of a Russian mobster who’s got a trunk full of machine guns in his car. You’ve seen him in Doctor Strange, Hannibal, Charlie Countryman, and Casino Royale. Don’t cross him because he looks like he’s a handful of guys he could call do take you out. Yikes.
3. William Fichtner
To be totally honest, I didn’t know this guy’s name, and I bet you didn’t either. But you sure as hell recognize him as an asshole, don’t you. He’s played soft-core villains in comedies like Date Night and Blades of Glory, but he’s also been hardcore villains in movies like The Dark Knight and The Lone Ranger. He’s the kind of bad guy that looks like he comes from Wall Street.
4. Alan Rickman
From Hans Gruber to Professor Snape, here is a villain we love as much as we hate. He gives off the vibe that he thinks he just better than you and if he wanted, could crush you under his thumb, look at the mess he’s made, then flick away your remains as if you were a booger. Not a fella to be messed with.
5. Anthony Hopkins
When you see the iconic Hannibal Lecter, you are automatically overcome with the feeling that your life is suddenly at stake. He is a charming man not to be trusted. Just looking at him gives me the heebie-jeebies.
6. Crispin Glover
Okay so my strongest memory of this guy is when he played the creepy thin man in Charlie’s Angels so my first instinct is to guard my hair because this dude WILL cut off a lock and keep it in his pocket to play with because he’s just kind of fucked up in the head. He also plays a pretty epic villain in American Gods.
7. Willem DaFoe
While it’s true, he doesn’t always get cast as the bad guy, but the times he has have been memorable. How could you forget him as the Green Goblin from back in the Toby McGuire-Spiderman days. Side note: what is Toby McGuire up to these days?
8. Kevin Spacey
Now here’s less of a murderous bad guy and more of a psychological, don’t-fuck-with-me kind of villain. If you’ve ever seen his character in House of Cards, you know what I mean. He’s been doing it for ages, like back in Se7en and The Usual Subjects, but he’s still tormenting the Big Screen in films like this summer’s Baby Driver.
9. Cillian Murphy
Have you seen the movie Red Eye? If so then you’ve experienced the creepiness that is this dude. He is of the pale-skinned, blue-eyed, breed of bad guy whose lip skin kind of melds into the rest of his face and makes him terrifying even when he smiles. He was Scarecrow in The Dark Knight and is also the lead character in Peaky Blinders, in which he’s not necessarily evil. I only mention it because if you haven’t seen it, you should definitely watch it.
10. Ralph Fiennes
It’s Voldemort, guys! Fiennes has also played a number of other very lovable characters but when you play He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you get a spot on the list. He’s also played an SS lieutenant in Schindler’s List and Hades in Clash of the Titans.
11. Ed Harris
He’s a very American-looking bad guy, which is perhaps how he snagged the role of the man in black in Westworld, but let’s not forget that he was also the mind-fucked overlord in the Truman Show. He looks like he may be a kingpin dealing in both drug and human trafficking. Not the kind of guy you’d like to have over for dinner, I’ll say.
12. Iwan Rheon
Don’t you just want to scream “you’re a dick!” to his face? He was so unforgivable cruel as Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones that I don’t think I’ll ever look at him as I did back when he was an unsuspecting superhero he played back in Misfits. Perhaps that’s why he’ll be coming back to the screen as the arch-villain Maximus in Marvel’s Inhumans. Get ready to hate him!
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