Would you go so far as to say he was a Bad Motherfucker?
Owen Wilson was great as an amiable serial killer in The Minus Man.
Vince Vaughn was also great as a charming amiable serial killer in Clay Pigeons. (but then, well, he also played Norman Bates in the Psycho remake)
I don’t remember Keanu Reeves playing a bad guy too often, but he was one scary fuck in The Gift (always my recommendation for people who say he can’t act).
Brad Pitt made a frightening spree killer in Kalifornia (again my choice for people who say he can’t act). No, wait, he looks like an irredeemable asshole in the upcoming Inglourious Basterds. Jesse James, Tyler Durden and Rory Devaney (The Devil’s Own) were also bad guys. Never mind Pitt, but damn, his Early Grayce in Kalifornia needed mentioning anyway. That character’ll give you nightmares.
It may not fall into everyone’s definition of ‘villain’, but Matthew Broderick’s character in Election is the only dark themed role I can think of him taking on.
Kostner was also the villian in 3000 Mile to Graceland
One Hour Photo and Patch Adams*
*OK, well maybe not Patch Adams.
Freeman was also the “sort of” bad guy in Gone Baby Gone.
Lithgow also played a villain in Raising Cain
Keanu Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing
He played a hit man in Nurse Betty.
There’s not really a villain per se in Levity, but Morgan Freeman does play a criminal.
Regarding Henry Fonda - Once Upon a Time in the Old West was far from his first bad guy role. Even if you toss out his playing robber Frank James in Jesse James and The Return of Frank James because he was a nice bad guy, he was a bad guy in both Firecreek and There Was a Crooked Man (OK, given you did not know he was a bad guy until the end in Crooked Man) but both were before Once Upon a Time.
And as the Strangelovian professor talking about nuclear war being winnable in “Fail Safe”.
Another add to - This one for James Stewart. It was in the Nelson Eddy/Jeanette McDonald musical** Rose-Marie**. It is one of my favorite Stewart roles. He played McDonald evil/sleasy little brother who was a murderer or something. And my memory could be playing tricks on me but didn’t he turn out to be the bad guy in Spencer Tracy’s Murder Man?
I don’t know if you can really call him the villain in that film though. He was cold and heartless,yes, but I don’t know if he really achieved villain status like he definitely did in “Charade”.
Andy Griffith, in “Murder in Coweta County.” Yep, Andy’s the murderer. Do I win the thread?
No, because Andy Griffith was also the villain in A Face in the Crowd.
And a bit less menacingly in Rustler’s Rhapsody.
Andy Griffith played a nasty trial judge in a 1985 made for TV movie called Crime of Innocence. He locks up two teenage girls for breaking curfew or some other minor charge, and one of the girls ends up being raped by a guard.
Lithgow is a bad guy in Buckaroo Bonzai.
Michael J Fox is not very nice reigt now on Rescue Me.
Jet Li in Lethal Weapon 4.
Michael Keaton was also pretty villainous in Desperate Measures.
seems like there should be more chicks in this thread…
Doris Day ever go evil? Julie Andrews? Gwyneth Paltrow? Julia Roberts? hmmm…
Angela Lansbury is a great pick for this. We were watching Manchurian Candidate not long ago. My son was in the room, but not engaged by the film. He did notice some scene and I said “That lady is Mrs. Potts!” She wasn’t a villain, but wasn’t completely sweet in Gaslight.
In The One, he plays both the hero, and his own evil, extra-dimension twin.
I haven’t seen it, but I think he was also the villain in Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. At least, the IMDB lists him as playing “Emperor Han” in that one. Could have been more than one emperor in the film, though.
Has Jackie Chan ever played a villain?