10 Actors Who Play Surprisingly Great Villains (2024)

"Typecasting" is an entertainment term that every actor dreads: it means that a performer has become so synonymous with one role or type of role that producers and directors tend not to give them opportunities to play other characters. Think of Tom Hanks as a hero in movies like Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan; he's so good at it that it might be hard for audiences to convincingly buy him as anything else, especially a villain.

Indeed, villain roles bring out entirely different qualities from actors and can be rich and rewarding roles to play and observe. However, navigating from one archetype to the next can be especially difficult if viewers are used to seeing someone as a hero. Still, fans can be surprised when an actor decides to break bad in a movie. These actors are shockingly good at being evil, playing memorable villains that often rank among their best roles against all odds.

10 Julia Roberts

Notable Villain Role: 'Mirror Mirror' (2012)

Known as "America's Sweetheart," Julia Roberts rose to fame in the late '80s and early '90s with breakout roles in hugely successful films like Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman. Her signature smile and ability to portray heartfelt emotion made her the highest-grossing rom-com actress and earned her multiple awards. She has been nominated for four Academy Awards and won for her role in Erin Brockovich.

Roberts stepped outside her norm and played the Evil Queen in 2012's Snow White remake, Mirror Mirror. In the role, Roberts personified vanity. Her self-centered and narcissistic take on the Queen showed that not all villains have cruelty for the sake of brutality in their minds; sometimes, they simply want what they want, and everyone else can cower, submit, or get out of the way. Roberts' glamorous and understated take on evil brings believability to the character and is a joy to watch.

Mirror Mirror

PG

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Where to Watch

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Release Date

March 15, 2012

Director

Tarsem Singh

Cast

Julia Roberts , Lily Collins , Armie Hammer , Nathan Lane , Jordan Prentice , Mark Povinelli

Runtime

106 minutes

Writers

Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm , Melissa Wallack , Jason Keller , Melisa Wallack

9 Pom Klementieff

Notable Villain Role: 'Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One' (2023)

Pom Klementieff is perhaps best known for bringing Guardians of the Galaxy's empathetic and endearing character of Mantis to life. Klementieff has been in the performing arts since the early 2000s and has played a number of intelligent and nuanced roles.

Most of Klementieff's characters were heroine types until 2023's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. A complete countertype to Mantis, the character of Paris is torpid, deliberate, and intense. Klementieff's ability to give sincere emotive empathy to Mantis and then to completely remove feelings to portray the methodical and psychotic Paris shows her tremendous range as an actor. Hopefully, audiences can look forward to Klementieff playing any role she likes.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Thriller

Release Date

July 12, 2023

Director

Christopher McQuarrie

Cast

Tom Cruise , Hayley Atwell , Rebecca Ferguson , Simon Pegg , Ving Rhames , Pom Klementieff , Henry Czerny

Runtime

163 Minutes

Writers

Christopher McQuarrie , Bruce Geller , Erik Jendresen

8 Cary Elwes

Notable Villain Role: 'Kiss the Girls' (1997)

Cary Elwes' illustrious career in the movie industry spans four decades. He has done everything from TV to feature-length films to live performances and voice-overs. Elwes began his journey in the early 1980s and largely played dashing hero types due to his good looks and natural charm. The actor soon proved that he was keen not only to play the hero but the bad guy, too, and sometimes the really scary and malicious guy as well.

From a demented serial killer in Kiss the Girls to fairy tale villains in Ella Enchanted, Elwes displayed his talent for going to the dark side and playing characters that are the very definition of evil. He is great in the roles because his unassuming countenance and generally pleasing disposition throw suspects and would-be victims off. Elwes plays the underhanded, devil-in-disguise characters very well, a career path that no one would have predicted from a classic leading man.

Kiss the Girls

R

Crime

Drama

Mystery

Where to Watch

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Release Date

October 3, 1997

Director

Gary Fleder

Cast

Morgan Freeman , Ashley Judd , Cary Elwes , Alex McArthur , Tony Goldwyn , Jay O. Sanders

Runtime

115 Minutes

Writers

James Patterson , David Klass

7 Sarah Michelle Gellar

Notable Villain Role: 'Cruel Intentions' (1999)

Sarah Michelle Gellar will forever live in the hearts of fans thanks to her role as Buffy Summers in the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The ultimate hero, the inspiring and relentless Buffy defended not only her small town of Sunnydale from evil but saved the entire planet from the forces of hell several times.

Those who knew her as Buffy or for her roles in a few popular horror movies of the '90s were pleasantly surprised when Gellar played the seductive, bitter, manipulative, and devious Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions. Gellar was phenomenal as the duplicitous Kathryn, who presented as unassuming while keeping her true destructive motives hidden. Geller proved that she could not only play a virtuous femme fatale but a vicious one, too, cementing her place as one of the undisputed icons of the late '90s.

Cruel Intentions

R

Drama

Romance

Teen

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Release Date

March 5, 1999

Director

Roger Kumble

Cast

Sarah Michelle Gellar , Ryan Phillippe , Reese Witherspoon , Selma Blair , Louise Fletcher , Joshua Jackson

Runtime

97 Minutes

Writers

Choderlos de Laclos , Roger Kumble

6 Leonardo DiCaprio

Notable Villain Role: 'Django Unchained' (2022)

A rare case when a child actor achieves great success as an adult in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio began his career at 17 in the 1991 creature feature Critters 3. He received his first Academy Award nomination only three years later for his portrayal of Arnold in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. He has been nominated for eight Oscars so far and won in 2016 for the role of Hugh Glass in The Revenant.

DiCaprio has predominantly played leading roles and relatable, misunderstood characters. However, the despicable Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino's hard-hitting and stylized Django Unchained left nothing to interpretation. The entitled, brutal, and unhinged slave owner is a character that everybody can easily hate. DiCaprio brought realism to the persona, making the villain feel authentic and not like an exaggeration. In one famous scene, Calvin explodes in anger and smashes his hand onto a dinner table. DiCaprio accidentally punctured his hand on a glass during one of the takes and kept going, adding a visceral layer to the scene.

Django Unchained

R

Adventure

Drama

Western

Where to Watch

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Release Date

December 25, 2012

Director

Quentin Tarantino

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio , Jonah Hill , Samuel L. Jackson , Jamie Foxx , Kerry Washington , Christoph Waltz

Runtime

165

Writers

Quentin Tarantino

5 Emma Stone and Emma Thompson

Notable Villain Role: 'Cruella' (2021)

A powerhouse of fashionable toxic energy, the 2021 film Cruella stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson in the leading roles. Disney's live-action adaptation, inspired by the 1961 animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, offers insight into one of its most distinctive characters, the fiendish Cruella De Vil (Stone). In the film, Stone plays the young and ambitious Estella, who keeps her friends close and her enemies closer when she becomes protégé to the successful and selfish Baroness von Hellman (Thompson).

Both two-time Oscar winners, Stone and Thompson had principally played heroines throughout their careers, so seeing them as devious and deceitful rogues is thrilling. Thompson's cold, calculated, and classy take on evil is the antithesis of Stone's hot-tempered, irrational rage. Fleshing out both characters was superbly done, with Stone and Thompson offering multiple angles on villainy that make evil look better than ever.

Cruella

PG-13

Adventure

Comedy

Crime

Where to Watch

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Release Date

May 28, 2021

Director

Craig Gillespie

Cast

Emma Stone , Emma Thompson , Joel Fry , Paul Walter Hauser , john mccrea , Emily Beecham

Runtime

134 minutes

Writers

Dana Fox , Tony McNamara , Aline Brosh McKenna , Kelly Marcel , Steve Zissis , Dodie Smith

4 Michael B. Jordan

Notable Villain Role: 'Black Panther' (2018)

Talented and handsome actor Michael B. Jordan is an easy cast for leading man roles, especially heroic ones. He literally played a superhero in 2015's Fantastic Four and revitalized the Rocky franchise in the Creed films. In 2018, Jordan got the opportunity to play the villainous Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, and his dynamic performance proved that he can offer more than protagonist roles.

Single-minded and relentless, Killmonger proved he would stop at nothing to sit on the throne and rule Wakanda as king. Jordan's dedication to the character manifested in a controlled portrayal, exploding when the character needed to and holding back when it served him best. His infusion of sympathy into the antagonist's plight allowed audiences to understand why Killmonger made the choices he did, raising questions about whether motives and means justify an end.

Black Panther

PG-13

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Superhero

Where to Watch

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Release Date

February 16, 2018

Director

Ryan Coogler

Cast

Chadwick Boseman , Michael B. Jordan , Lupita Nyong'O , Danai Gurira , Martin Freeman , Daniel Kaluuya

Runtime

134 minutes

Writers

Joe Robert Cole , Ryan Coogler , Jack Kirby , Stan Lee

3 David Tennant

Notable Villain Role: 'Jessica Jones' (2015)

David Tennant is instantly recognizable as The Tenth Doctor from the beloved British TV series Doctor Who. After 50 episodes on the iconic show, Tennant left to pursue other opportunities, and his subsequent film and television roles continued to exemplify his abilities as a performer.

One example that stands out among the rest is the possessive and inhumane Kilgrave in the television show Jessica Jones. Kilgrave's ability to control other people's minds gives the character almost infinite power, which, coupled with obsessive, perverted tendencies, makes for a chilling and horrific persona. Tennant's portrayal of the villain was well done, blending egocentrism with megalomania to round out the malignant and merciless Kilgrave. It was a polar opposite to The Doctor and showed his range as a performer.

Marvel's Jessica Jones

Superhero

Where to Watch

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Not available

*Availability in US

Release Date

November 20, 2015

Cast

Krysten Ritter , Rachael Taylor , Eka Darville , Benjamin Walker , Sarita Choudhury , Jeremy Bobb , Carrie-Anne Moss

Seasons

3

2 Heath Ledger

Notable Villain Role: 'The Dark Knight' (2008)

Heath Ledger made a name for himself in Hollywood by appearing in such movies as A Knight's Tale and 10Things I Hate About You. His charisma and dedication made him an almost-instant success, mostly playing leading roles as "good guys" with superficial story arches. So, when he was cast as the complex and unhinged villain Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight, many were skeptical about his ability to capture the essence of the role.

However, Ledger proved all the cynics wrong and delivered a gritty and riveting performance as the infamous comic book crook. He brought an undercurrent of brooding turmoil to the Joker's deceptively playful exterior and explored his complex bond with Batman. Ledger developed the Joker's quirks carefully, adopting a method approach to the role. The result is a timeless and profoundly influential performance that changed the character's course and redefined the potential for the superhero genre.

The Dark Knight

PG-13

Action

Crime

Thriller

Superhero

Where to Watch

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Release Date

July 18, 2008

Director

Christopher Nolan

Cast

Christian Bale , Heath Ledger , Aaron Eckhart , Michael Caine , Maggie Gyllenhaal , Gary Oldman

Runtime

152 minutes

Writers

Jonathan Nolan , Christopher Nolan , David S. Goyer , Bob Kane

1 Colin Farrell

Notable Villain Role: 'The Batman' (2022)

The use of prosthetics can either inhibit or enhance an actor's performance. Silicone appendages and adhesives can limit facial movement, making emotive ability more difficult. In rare cases, they can provide a flesh-like smoke screen, allowing an actor to become invisible. With all semblances gone, the performer can disappear and fully integrate into the role. For Colin Farrell in The Batman, the amazingly photo-realistic special effects makeup gave the famous entertainer a chance to step out of preconceived notions and into a true character performance.

Completely unrecognizable as The Penguin, Farrell changed his Irish tonation to a Brooklyn-type accent and delivered a remarkable performance. Without audiences identifying him, Farrell let his talent speak for itself and drive the performance. Part hard-hitting mob boss, part flamboyant socialite, Farrell's take on The Penguin respects the character's essence while still adding a refreshing tone, earning him a spinoff series that is due to air on Max sometime in the near future.

The Batman

PG-13

Superhero

Action

Crime

Thriller

Where to Watch

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Release Date

March 4, 2022

Director

Matt Reeves

Cast

Robert Pattinson , Colin Farrell , Paul Dano , Andy Serkis , Peter Sarsgaard , Zoe Kravitz

Runtime

176 minutes

Writers

Peter Craig , Bill Finger , Bob Kane , Matt Reeves

NEXT: The 10 Most Underrated Action Movie Villains, Ranked