# Which actor has the greatest 'bad guy' ratio? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548 "2020-03-15T22:45:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/61 "2020-03-17T04:12:16Z")
Reaching back in time, it has struck me before that I can’t recall a single sympathetic role played by Adolphe Menjou. His roles varied from the completely villainous (Paths of Glory) to the suave but nasty lothario (Stage Door) to the silly and completely unreasonable (You Were Never Lovelier) to the slick and slimy (Roxie Hart) to the neo-Fascist (State of the Union). Perhaps in his younger days he played leading types, I’ve never seen any of those movies. And a case where art imitates life, because apparently we was a thoroughly nasty man who sang like a bird against his fellow actors and others in the movie industry to the HUAC during the red scare in the early 50’s. I don’t think he was a very good actor either, all facade and pretty clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/62 "2020-03-17T04:18:05Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Have any of these characters played bad guys? I mean BAD guys. Not “morally complex characters”, I mean BAD GUYS. If they have, I don’t know about it. But I will admit I haven’t seen literally every single movie they’ve ever made, just the most famous ones. Pacino played the Devil himself in _The Devil’s Advocate_, Roy Cohn in _Angels in America_, and Shylock in _The Merchant of Venice_. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/63 "2020-03-17T04:49:34Z")
Udo Kier has played odd-looking, scarily-intense Eurotrash bad guys many a time: [Udo Kier - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udo_Kier) ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/64 "2020-03-17T07:21:24Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Have any of these characters played bad guys? I mean BAD guys. Not “morally complex characters”, I mean BAD GUYS. If they have, I don’t know about it. But I will admit I haven’t seen literally every single movie they’ve ever made, just the most famous ones. Well, they’ve played bad guys, but I was responding to Alpha Twit’s post, as quoted in my post. My point is that a good actor doesn’t necessarily have to be a scumbag to portray a scumbag. The specific wording is “_a constant stream of selfish and destructive choices behind him_,” and that made me think of several characters portrayed by the actors mentioned: Newman in The Color of Money and Nobody’s Fool, Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy and Pacino in… can’t remember now. Not bad guys, just fuck ups, usually on the road to redemption. So, that was an off-topic detour. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/65 "2020-03-17T08:00:10Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Giancarlo Esposito was definitely a good guy in The Usual Suspects and Derailed. The former is not exactly a low-profile movie. And look at his character in The Player: definitely the antagonist, but the protagonist was a murdering Hollywood scumbag, so… He is a wonderful villain, though! For evil women: Rose McGowan, Sharon Stone and Shannen Doherty played a lot of gals you would not take home to Mama. I guess Sharon Stone was kind of heroic in _Sliver, Diabolique_ and that western she made, but those were outliers. She has awesome “crazy eyes”! ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/66 "2020-03-17T09:03:02Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned Alan Rickman. _Truly Madly Deeply_ _Galaxy Quest_ Hell, even Severus Snape is not exactly _bad_, just rather a dick in a not absolutely unjustified way ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/67 "2020-03-17T11:09:44Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Malcolm McDowell has to be up there. In _Time After Time_ he plays HG Wells, battling the aforementioned David Warner who is playing Jack the Ripper. > [@Hermitian](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned Alan Rickman. > [@Aspidistra](#): > > _Truly Madly Deeply_ > _Galaxy Quest_ [The January Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_January_Man) - he plays a goofy artist as a supporting character. Not your typical role for Rickman. (Not a great film, BTW, but a tolerable one.) ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/68 "2020-03-17T11:22:01Z")
Michael Ironside. He’s played good guys or neutral, but he’s also played a lot of bad guys. Doug Hutchison. He was Eugene Tooms and stalked Nick Stokes on **CSI**. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/69 "2020-03-17T11:22:16Z")
Robert Ryan was usually cast as a creep, or a weirdo, or a psycho, or just a plain bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/70 "2020-03-17T11:47:06Z")
The late Noble Willingham didn’t just play bad guys - he was always the _same_ bad guy, a rich, corrupt hick in a cowboy hat. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/71 "2020-03-17T17:03:10Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > … The specific wording is “_a constant stream of selfish and destructive choices behind him_,” and that made me think of several characters portrayed by the actors mentioned: Newman in The Color of Money and Nobody’s Fool… And _The Verdict_. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/72 "2020-03-17T17:34:44Z")
In _Do the Right Thing_, Buggin’ Out wasn’t actually a bad guy. He just really, really cared about his shoes. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/73 "2020-03-17T17:37:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > And _The Verdict_. There you go. I think there are a few more. Besides Cool Hand Luke. I think he liked those kinds of roles. And if we’re just going to toss out stellar bad-guy performances, how about Ed Harris in A History of Violence? Some kind of reptilian quality. “_Joe-wee_” (brrr). Reminded me of a Komodo dragon. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/74 "2020-03-17T18:18:30Z")
I can only contribute a question: Does Ray Liotta play mostly bad guys, or is that only my perception? Good looking, charming, and engaging- Ray still tends to play double crossing sleazebags in my experience. My experience is pretty limited however, so my question stands- does Mr. Liotta have a high proportion of bad guy roles (or am I basing this on defaulting to GOODFELLAS whenever I think of him)? I have seen him do TV roles where he plays himself and sort of pokes fun at his persona. Also, if Paul Newman is going to be a bad guy – Liotta is out of the running for only attractive and charming villain even if he is eventually determined to be one himself. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/75 "2020-03-17T18:41:42Z")
[Richard Widmark](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001847/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1) played countless bad guys and he always radiated cold-blooded hatred. But given his body of work, I’m sure he played a few good-guy roles. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/76 "2020-03-17T18:47:58Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I can only contribute a question: > Does Ray Liotta play mostly bad guys, or is that only my perception? Good looking, charming, and engaging- Ray still tends to play double crossing sleazebags in my experience. My experience is pretty limited however, so my question stands- does Mr. Liotta have a high proportion of bad guy roles (or am I basing this on defaulting to GOODFELLAS whenever I think of him)? I have seen him do TV roles where he plays himself and sort of pokes fun at his persona. I don’t know if Henry Hill could really be called a “bad guy role.” He’s a bad guy, but he’s not a Bad Guy. Obviously the perception of him is skewed in his favor because he’s the narrator, but he’s not a malevolent presence the same way that Tommy (Joe Pesci) and to a lesser extent, Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) are. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/77 "2020-03-17T21:17:14Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I don’t know if Henry Hill could really be called a “bad guy role.” He’s a bad guy, but he’s not a Bad Guy. Obviously the perception of him is skewed in his favor because he’s the narrator, but he’s not a malevolent presence the same way that Tommy (Joe Pesci) and to a lesser extent, Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) are. True, and now he is just Moke like everybody else! Yes, I suppose he falls way short of a Hannibal Lecter type. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/78 "2020-03-17T22:41:33Z")
He actually died in 2012. Up until that point, he was reported to have been living the rest of his life like a schnook. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/79 "2020-03-17T23:32:38Z")
When I think of Ray Liotta I think of the insane evil cop in _Unlawful Entry_. That was one of the most evil bad guys on film. Ray was fuckin scary in that. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548/80 "2020-03-18T00:57:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > He also was the kick-ass-and-take-no-prisoners assistant U.S. attorney general at the end of _Absence of Malice_ who came in, almost as a _deus ex machina_ character, to mete out judgment. A great scene: [https://www.youtube.com/watchv=btqBJJF2yvE&list=PLVat6AsoeViHndZ0REK\_t29JR3DjlPWor&index=1](https://www.youtube.com/watchv=btqBJJF2yvE&list=PLVat6AsoeViHndZ0REK_t29JR3DjlPWor&index=1) Indeed. I love those kinda scenes where some gnarly old type who intially comes across as disarming or duffer-quaint ends up handing someone’s ass to them on a plate. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Did David Warner ever play a good guy? In the inconceivably execrable _Nightwing_, about bats gone crazy, he plays a bat specialist who helps hunt them down. > [@steepone](#): > > Bruce Dern would have to be up there Definitely not in _Silent Running_. But, as another poster said - mostly crazy (just like the flop _Middle Age Crazy_ he was in with Ann Margaret). For the greatest bad guy ratio, I give you the time-honoured [Henry Silva](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0798328/). One hundred _and one_ per cent baaaaaaad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actor-has-the-greatest-bad-guy-ratio/849548.md?page=5)