# \_\_\_\_\_\_ never plays a villain, except in \_\_\_\_\_\_ **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771 "2009-07-21T20:09:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/1 "2009-07-21T20:09:40Z")
What actors/actresses rarely play villains, but have an exception? I’ll start. Harrison Ford never plays a villain, except in What Lies Beneath, where he is murderer. Tom Hanks never plays a villain, except in The Ladykillers, where he is a con-man and killer. Kevin Costner never plays a villain, except in Mr. Brooks, where he is totally insane. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/2 "2009-07-21T20:21:41Z")
Fred McMurray never played a villain, except in **The Apartment** , where’s he’s a slimy ratbastard. (It could also be in **Double Indemnity** except that he’s more victimized than villain.) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/3 "2009-07-21T20:27:49Z")
Henry Fonda was a great psycho killer in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. He had to be coaxed into playing a villain for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/4 "2009-07-21T20:42:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Fred McMurray never played a villain, except in **The Apartment** , where’s he’s a slimy ratbastard. (It could also be in **Double Indemnity** except that he’s more victimized than villain.) He’s also exposed as the real bad guy at the end of “The Caine Mutiny.” “Once Upon a Time in the West” is the only movie I can think of in which Henry Fonda was an unalloyed villain… but he was also cast agaiunst type in “Fort Apache.” In that one, John Wayne is the thoughtful, peaceful cavalry officer who wants to avoid a fight with Cochise and Geronimo. Fonda is the cold, cruel, arrogant warmonger. Did Jimmy Stewart every play an actual bad guy? His “good guy” characters often showed a hint of anger, violence, cruelty or even madness… but I don’t think he ever played a true villain. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/5 "2009-07-21T20:44:59Z")
I meant to add: Morgan Freeman never plays the villain, except in Wanted, where he manipulating assassins to do kills that are not deemed by fate. I’m watching this movie right now. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/6 "2009-07-21T20:45:48Z")
Treat Williams usually plays good guys, with one notable exception. Except that, if I tell you the name of the movie, it will spoil the ending. Mullholland Falls ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/7 "2009-07-21T20:46:05Z")
Gregory Peck–the only villain role I can think of is Josef Mengele in Boys from Brazil. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/8 "2009-07-21T20:47:19Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Treat Williams usually plays good guys, with one notable exception. Except that, if I tell you the name of the movie, it will spoil the ending. Seemed pretty obvious to me that he was the bad guy in the Phantom. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/9 "2009-07-21T20:49:17Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Did Jimmy Stewart every play an actual bad guy? His “good guy” characters often showed a hint of anger, violence, cruelty or even madness… but I don’t think he ever played a true villain. He did in one of his earliest film roles: In _After the Thin Man_, he plays a murderer who kills the husband of the girl he’s in love with, and then tries to frame her for the killing to get back at her for not marrying him. Even here, though, he’s a sympathetic characters for most of the film, and even after it’s revealed that he’s the killer, he’s so obviously deranged that you still feel sorry for him. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/10 "2009-07-21T20:51:27Z")
The only Sam Jackson villain role I can think of is “Lakeview Terrace,” and the only Danny Glover one I can think of is “Shooter.” ETA: Also, Michael Keaton in “Pacific Heights.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/11 "2009-07-21T20:53:41Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > The only Sam Jackson villain role I can think of is “Lakeview Terrace,” and the only Danny Glover one I can think of is “Shooter.” _Jackie Brown_ and _Witness_, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/12 "2009-07-21T20:57:00Z")
How about that sweet, motherly Angela Lansbury? Except for _The Manchurian Candidate._ ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/13 "2009-07-21T21:00:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He did in one of his earliest film roles: > > In _After the Thin Man_, he plays a murderer who kills the husband of the girl he’s in love with, and then tries to frame her for the killing to get back at her for not marrying him. Even here, though, he’s a sympathetic characters for most of the film, and even after it’s revealed that he’s the killer, he’s so obviously deranged that you still feel sorry for him. In the same way, he’s revealed as… well, a guy with a serious crime in his past, in “The Greatest Show on Earth,” but he’s still far from a villain. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/14 "2009-07-21T21:01:53Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > The only Sam Jackson villain role I can think of is “Lakeview Terrace,” And also Unbreakable ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/15 "2009-07-21T21:02:18Z")
Tom Cruise in Collateral. I wish Tom Cruise would play villains more often. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/16 "2009-07-21T21:04:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > How about that sweet, motherly Angela Lansbury? Except for _The Manchurian Candidate._ Oh, she hardly counts for this thread, after all the people she offed in _Murder, She Wrote._ What, you think it’s just a coincidence that all those people die violently whenever she’s around? Cabot Cove had the highest murder per capita rate in the world, approaching nearly 1:1. Don’t tell me she wasn’t behind that! Tom Bosley was probably an accomplice. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/17 "2009-07-21T21:05:30Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > The only Sam Jackson villain role I can think of is “Lakeview Terrace,” and the only Danny Glover one I can think of is “Shooter.” > > ETA: Also, Michael Keaton in “Pacific Heights.” Jackson was a scary junkie whose father had to kill him, in “Jungle Fever.” And Glover was a rare black serial killer, in “Switchback.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/18 "2009-07-21T21:09:42Z")
Michael J. Fox never seemed to go any darker than “jerk who learns a valuable lesson” in his film and TV roles. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/19 "2009-07-21T21:11:27Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Henry Fonda was a great psycho killer in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. He had to be coaxed into playing a villain for the first time. Leone sold him on it by describing the opening scene. “The camera whirls around and shows the villain’s face and the entire audience yells ‘Holy shit! That’s Henry Fonda!’” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771/20 "2009-07-21T21:56:54Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Michael J. Fox never seemed to go any darker than “jerk who learns a valuable lesson” in his film and TV roles. So…the exception…is? 😕 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/______-never-plays-a-villain-except-in-______/503771.md?page=2)