# Actors who do a good job of playing evil or dark characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [August 31, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527 "2024-08-31T19:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/101 "2024-09-07T22:08:32Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > > [@GailForce](#): > > > > Also qualifying him is the role he plays as James “MAGA FOREVER” Woods in real life, of course. > > Say it isn’t so, Joe… James Woods is MAGA? 😢 Severely MAGA. For a few ladies that are good at sinister characters, I’d like to nominate Marcia Gay Hardin as Mrs. Carmody in _The Mist_, and Laura Linney in _Mystic River_, _Ozark_, and _Primal Fear_. Yeah, in _Primal Fear_, she was technically a “good guy,” but she was perfect as the prosecuting attorney. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/102 "2024-09-08T13:14:19Z")
Tom Hardy. He was great as both Kray brothers in “Legend”, and his Alfie in “Peaky Blinders” was so good they kept bringing him back after they killed him off. His whole sequence of deciding & convincing his companion to leave DiCaprio behind in “The Revenant” was excellent too. And looking back, Bane is better than the attitudes at the time gave him credit for. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/103 "2024-09-08T17:07:16Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Severely MAGA. [A 2018 Newsweek article going into some detail](https://www.newsweek.com/everything-james-woods-has-said-about-donald-trump-1525113) I’m sure it’s only gotten worse since then. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/104 "2024-09-09T23:44:41Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Tom Hardy. He was great as both Kray brothers in “Legend”, and his Alfie in “Peaky Blinders” was so good they kept bringing him back after they killed him off. He’s currently my favorite actor. Absolutely mesmerizing. You can’t take your eyes off of him, Alfie being a terrific example. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/105 "2024-09-15T20:54:05Z")
> [@GailForce](#): > > Has the name James Woods been invoked yet? Also, Byron De La Beckwith, just skin crawling performance. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/106 "2024-09-17T04:37:54Z")
Edward Norton. Just watch _American History X_ or _Primal Fear_. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527/107 "2024-09-17T14:32:07Z")
Vladek Sheybal Raymond Massey in “Arsenic and Old Lace”. 😆 😆 😆 Ian Holm in “Alien” Martin Sheen in “Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane” Louise Fletcher in “…Cuckoo’s Nest” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-do-a-good-job-of-playing-evil-or-dark-characters/1006527.md?page=5)