# Post actors who play great bad guys **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064 "2007-11-19T19:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/1 "2007-11-19T19:02:05Z")
[img][http://www.nndb.com/people/680/000022614/williamForsythe.jpg[img]](http://www.nndb.com/people/680/000022614/williamForsythe.jpg%5Bimg%5D) William Forsythe [img][http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/24/53/71/10f.jpg[img]](http://ia.imdb.com/media/imdb/01/I/24/53/71/10f.jpg%5Bimg%5D) Ben Foster I broke the links because I think this forum also has the two click rule, right? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/2 "2007-11-19T19:05:33Z")
Jason Isaacs. Brilliant actor, and his eyes are ice-blue (always a plus in the villain arena). ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/3 "2007-11-19T19:06:15Z")
[QUOTE=diggleblop] I broke the links because I think this forum also has the two click rule, right? [/QUOTE] 😕 Not to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/4 "2007-11-19T19:08:07Z")
My choice for best bad guy actors would be Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, and [Brian Thompson.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Thompson_%28actor%29) ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/5 "2007-11-19T19:09:33Z")
Sir Anthony Hopkins. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/6 "2007-11-19T19:09:56Z")
Don’t see him around much anymore, but Rutger Hauer is pretty great at playing someone you would NOT want to mess with. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/7 "2007-11-19T19:10:23Z")
I just spent a minute trying to figure out what a “post actor” is. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/8 "2007-11-19T19:11:15Z")
The two-click rule only applies to links with Not-Safe-For-Work (NSFW) content. Your links would be fine ‘n’ dandy. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/9 "2007-11-19T19:12:10Z")
The one, the only,[Christopher Lee](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000489/) for Vampire/Evil Wizardness. John Lithgow played a pretty good psychopath in Ricochet & Cliffhanger, too. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/10 "2007-11-19T19:13:08Z")
Robert Carlyle - Begbie in \*Trainspotting \*, Football psycho in _Cracker_ and Hilter. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/11 "2007-11-19T19:13:13Z")
[G.W. Bailey](http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/0/02/250px-G.W._Bailey.jpg), petty authoritarian [Wolf Kähler](http://wolf-kahler.tier8.net/wolf-kahler-m.jpg), Nazi superman [Lance Henriksen](http://www.melofanas.lt/katalogas/images/goods/32511_Lance_Henriksen.jpg), enigmatic psycho ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/12 "2007-11-19T19:13:18Z")
I’m totally confused by this thread so far, but Christopher Lee is a great choice. Ian McKellen is great at anything, and his Richard III was a great villain. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/13 "2007-11-19T19:14:39Z")
Gary Oldman in [_Leon_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_%28film%29) (a.k.a. _The Professional)._ But Oldman plays a great **anything.** ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/14 "2007-11-19T19:16:43Z")
Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/15 "2007-11-19T19:17:11Z")
[Peter Lorre](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000048/) played many great bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/16 "2007-11-19T19:17:42Z")
And of course we can’t let this thread pass without mention of Christopher Walken. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/17 "2007-11-19T19:27:37Z")
I want to second Alan Rickman, and add Tim Curry. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/18 "2007-11-19T19:30:17Z")
Can’t forget the evil of Ronny Cox: > **[Ronny Cox | Actor, Writer, Producer](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001074/)** > > Known for: RoboCop, Total Recall, Deliverance Damn you Jellico! ---
**Author:** ![Kuboydal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@Kuboydal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kuboydal)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/19 "2007-11-19T19:30:53Z")
No thread should pass without Christopher Walken. Orson Welles is particularly chilling in Touch of Evil. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064/20 "2007-11-19T19:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash] John Lithgow played a pretty good psychopath in Ricochet & Cliffhanger, too. [/QUOTE] [Bah](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0018816/photogallery-1). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-actors-who-play-great-bad-guys/427064.md?page=2)