# What actors/actresses always play really good bad guys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865 "2016-03-03T21:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/1 "2016-03-03T21:02:24Z")
I was watching Cliffhanger the other day (for about the 40th time) and (not for the first time) I thought about how good a bad guy John Lithgow can play. **Cliffhanger, Raising Cain** , the 4th season of **Dexter** …movies and shows seem to improve by at least eighty percent with him playing a bad guy in them. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/2 "2016-03-03T21:04:31Z")
[Brad Dourif.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000374/?ref_=nv_sr_1) Slam-dunk perfect casting as Grima Wormtongue. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/3 "2016-03-03T21:14:46Z")
Uhhh … do you mean bad guys who are really good beneath their evil exterior, or actors who play bad guys really well? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/4 "2016-03-03T21:16:17Z")
Christopher Lee Peter Cushing Christopher Walken Clancy Brown Gary Oldman ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/5 "2016-03-03T21:25:09Z")
I don’t really like the show _The Blacklist_ but I looooove to watch **James Spader** as “a type of” bad guy. He may not always be a villain per se but he is always an asshole! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/6 "2016-03-03T21:29:25Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > I was watching Cliffhanger the other day (for about the 40th time) and (not for the first time) I thought about how good a bad guy John Lithgow can play. **Cliffhanger, Raising Cain** , the 4th season of **Dexter** …movies and shows seem to improve by at least eighty percent with him playing a bad guy in them. Don’t forget _Buckaroo Banzai_. Hands down, though, the winner is **David Warner**. How bad is he? I’m glad you asked. David Warner was in a movie with Malcolm McDowell (Alex from _A Clockwork Orange_) and McDowell had to be the good guy. As far as I’m concerned, that settles it. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/7 "2016-03-03T21:56:00Z")
Claude Rains ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/8 "2016-03-03T21:57:53Z")
I thought **Alan Rickman** owned this. **Ian McShane** is wonderfully bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/9 "2016-03-03T22:14:12Z")
Christoph Waltz creeps me right the fuck out. He was the Nazi officer in _Inglorious Basterds_. I saw him host _SNL_. He did a good job, but I just couldn’t shake the creeps. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/10 "2016-03-03T22:23:08Z")
Willem Dafoe, obvy. Has he ever played a \*good \*guy? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/11 "2016-03-03T22:37:52Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Willem Dafoe, obvy. Has he ever played a \*good \*guy? Well, he did play [Jesus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_97) once… ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/12 "2016-03-03T22:42:19Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > Christoph Waltz creeps me right the fuck out. He was the Nazi officer in _Inglorious Basterds_. I saw him host _SNL_. He did a good job, but I just couldn’t shake the creeps. He _owns_ the “Faux Affably Evil” trope in that movie. 😉 “Oooh! That’s a Bingo!” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/13 "2016-03-03T22:49:12Z")
Gene Lockhart, who played the judge in \* Miracle on 34th Street, \* played lots of bad-guy roles. Bette Davis played villainesses because, as she said, that was the most demanding role–required more acting ability than any other kind of character. I bet Lionel Barrymore, Mr. Potter in _It’s a Wonderful Life,_ never played a villain in any other movie; Capra cast him against type. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/14 "2016-03-03T23:37:23Z")
I hate 2015 more now, most of the great actors who passed away last year had an affinity and a knack for playing great villains even if they also played the hero on many occasions. Omar Shariff Christopher Lee Alan Rickman David Bowie Leonard Nimoy ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/15 "2016-03-03T23:59:46Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Willem Dafoe, obvy. Has he ever played a \*good \*guy? Have you seen Speed 2? His performance singlehandedly saves the entire movie. In the end I was rooting for his character to win over whiny Sandra Bullock’s character and the charmless not Keanu Reeves. Same thing with Raul Julia in Street Fighter. Truly epic scenery chewing. This scene deserved a much better film: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GlhOUyy4wbs/hqdefault.jpg "Bison remembers Tuesday") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlhOUyy4wbs) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/16 "2016-03-04T00:14:18Z")
Jeremy Irons Russell Crowe (he’s rather impressive in Virtuosity, though the film is otherwise not too remarkable. A pity that he hasn’t played more villains) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/17 "2016-03-04T00:28:33Z")
Peter Lorre and Robert Mitchum did bad good. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/18 "2016-03-04T01:00:44Z")
Boris Karloff, Lee Marvin, George Sanders. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/19 "2016-03-04T01:02:37Z")
Fred MacMurray Glenn Close Christopher Plummer Ed Harris Gary Oldman Marian Mercer My all-time champion: Katherine MacGregor ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/20 "2016-03-04T01:07:19Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Willem Dafoe, obvy. Has he ever played a \*good \*guy? Platoon and Clear & Present Danger. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865.md?page=2)