# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/21 "2016-03-04T01:09:10Z")
[Craig Parker](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0662164/?ref_=tt_cl_t9) plays a delightful bad guy. > [@Sattua](#): > > Willem Dafoe, obvy. Has he ever played a \*good \*guy? **Boondock Saints** ---
**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, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/22 "2016-03-04T01:13:32Z")
Plus: Body of Evidence White Sands Mr. Bean’s Summer Vacation Funny, I don’t remember seeing a movie with Dafoe as the baddie. Oh wait, Spiderman 1. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/23 "2016-03-04T01:20:01Z")
James Woods. One of my favorite episodes of SNL is the one where he hosts and the joke during the monologue is that everyone is terrified of him. They have snipers in the balcony ready to fire if he attacks. The three British supervillains from the Jaguar commercial are pretty good: Ben Kingsley, Mark Strong, and Tom Hiddleston. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/24 "2016-03-04T01:32:27Z")
Vincent Price (re: William Dafoe–he was more or less the good guy in [The Hunter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1703148/)) ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/25 "2016-03-04T01:40:48Z")
J.T. Walsh ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/26 "2016-03-04T01:48:52Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > 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://youtu.be/GlhOUyy4wbs](https://youtu.be/GlhOUyy4wbs) Without looking, is it the Pax Bisonica? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/27 "2016-03-04T01:52:35Z")
Darn, it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/28 "2016-03-04T04:28:52Z")
Has Ray Liotta played anything besides a mobster? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/29 "2016-03-04T04:41:24Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Well, he did play [Jesus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_97) once… [Twice](http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1171523.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Platoon) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/30 "2016-03-04T04:46:29Z")
Frank Langella has played several evil characters. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/31 "2016-03-04T06:03:19Z")
Tim Curry ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/32 "2016-03-04T06:09:41Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Has Ray Liotta played anything besides a mobster? Field of Dreams? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/33 "2016-03-04T07:04:52Z")
Oh. I supposed if I watched that movie I would have known that. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/34 "2016-03-04T11:51:21Z")
Remember, it’s FUN to play the bad guy. And no one’s mentioned Tom Hiddleston yet? He essentially MADE the first round of Marvel movies with a great villain. And maybe it’s [a Brit thing](https://youtu.be/gdXlevfK8a4). ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/35 "2016-03-04T15:08:54Z")
Charles Dance Gary Oldman David Warner Camryn Manheim (specifically on _Person of Interest._) ---
**Author:** ![here\_and\_there](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@here\_and\_there](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/here_and_there)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/36 "2016-03-04T15:15:32Z")
Miguel Ferrer ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/37 "2016-03-04T15:39:22Z")
> [@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. And he’s even more of an a-hole in _ **“Water for Elephants”** _ and douchebag in _ **'Carnage"** _ ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/38 "2016-03-04T15:45:34Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Remember, it’s FUN to play the bad guy. John Carradine (who is another good candidate for this list) once explained that he loved playing villains because “they’re the active ones. Leading men are acted _upon_, but the villains are the ones who _do things_!” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/39 "2016-03-04T15:48:34Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Fred MacMurray > Glenn Close > Christopher Plummer > Ed Harris > Gary Oldman > Marian Mercer > > My all-time champion: > Katherine MacGregor Well, to be fair, Fred MacMurray only played non-likable characters three times. He played a manipulated douche in _ **"Double Indemnity** _, a sniveling coward in _ **"The Caine Mutiny** _ and a narcissist womanizer in _ **“The Apartment”** _. The story goes, that one day in 1961, while enjoying a day at Disneyland with his family, a woman came up to him and yelled (may even have struck him) about what a horrible person he was, because of _ **“The Apartment”** _. It was at that moment that he told his wife that he’ll only play good/nice characters from now on. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865/40 "2016-03-04T15:54:33Z")
How about [Kurtwood Smith](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001748/) (Clarence Boddiker in the original _RoboCop_, but also Red Foreman on _That 70’s Show_) and [Sid Haig](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0354085/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1) - Haig _always_ plays the big baddie! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-actresses-always-play-really-good-bad-guys/747865.md?page=3)