Actors That Have Made a Career Out of Playing Villains

It can be really fun for any performer to get to act out a truly evil character on a day-to-day basis. Some actors love it so much and are so good at it that they almost exclusively play the bad guy.

Let’s take a look at some of our favorite performers who are the villain of the story almost every time.

Giancarlo Esposito

'Breaking Bad'Credit: AMC

Esposito absolutely did not get his start in the roles that we best know him for. A veteran of the films of Spike Lee, he played memorable roles in Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, where he absolutely was one of the antagonists.

We know him best today as Gustavo “Gus” Fring in the groundbreaking television series Breaking Bad and its equally beloved prequel Better Call Saul. The quiet gravitas that Esposito brings to the character as he desperately tries to uphold a friendly public persona has left an indelible mark on people’s impression of him. So much so that he’s brought that exact same energy to other roles, like his supporting turn on Amazon Prime’s The Boys and Disney’s The Mandalorian. What’s most funny about all of this is that he seems like a genuine joy to be around in real life. Sometimes the coolest people make the best fictional baddies.

Mads Mikkelsen

'Pusher II'Credit: Nordisk Film, Magnolia Pictures

Despite some of his most recent roles signaling more of a departure from a villain typecast, Mikkelsen has still contributed so much to the art of the bad guy. Getting a solid warm-up round in Nicolas Winding Refn’s first two Pusher films, Mikkelsen burst into the mainstream villain scene in 2006, when he played the chilling patsy baddie Le Chiffre in Casino Royale. Since then, he’s played villains in the first Doctor Strange film, the Fantastic Beasts and Indiana Jones franchises, and even had a multi-season run as the title cannibal character in the television series Hannibal. Also, fun fact: he voiced Randall in the Danish dub of Monsters, Inc.

Similar to Giancarlo Esposito, Mikkelsen brings a mellowness to his villains, only bringing out the rage and violence when absolutely necessary. The eerie coldness present in all of his roles makes him one of the most memorable performers we’ve got.

Christopher Lee

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’Credit: New Line Cinema

There really isn’t anyone out there who holds a candle to Christopher Lee in terms of the number of iconic villains he’s portrayed. He’s Count Dracula, Count Dooku, and Lord Saruman for God’s sake. You can’t beat him. Many a story has been told about how impossibly cool the man’s life was, with Lee being the step-cousin to Bond author Ian Fleming, among many other things. This part is only mentioned because he played the big bad in the Bond film, The Man with the Golden Gun.

Not to mention his more underrated villain roles like Lord Summerisle in the original folk-religion horror film, The Wicker Man. Lee lived a long, full, impossibly rich life, and the roles he has blessed us with are some of the best we’ve ever gotten.

Ralph Fiennes

'The Menu' CREDIT: Searchlight

When you have an actor like Ralph Fiennes who is so astronomically famous for a big villain role like Voldemort in Harry Potter, some other equally compelling performances can tend to get lost in the shuffle. But Fiennes’ versatility as a performer, both as a villain and not, is one that should always be credited.

He played the real-life Nazi commandant Amon Göth in Schindler’s List; he played a brutal serial killer in Red Dragon, a secretly murderous chef in The Menu, and the literal God of the underworld in Clash of the Titans. Even in his darkest, most sadistic film roles, his ability to bring flashes of vulnerability and tenderness to the monsters he portrays is what makes him truly memorable.

Christoph Waltz

‘Spectre’Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing

For Christoph Waltz, it’s quality over quantity. He absolutely exploded out of obscurity in 2009 when he played the now iconic role of Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, and he has been careful with the roles he chooses ever since. But the amount of villains in that mix is highly concentrated. He’s reimagined Blofeld for the Daniel Craig Bond era in Spectre, he played the real-life Léon Rom in The Legend of Tarzan, and a despicable, manipulative husband in Big Eyes.

Waltz’s versatility in how his warm appearance manifests in all his villain roles is what really sets him apart. He can be outwardly happy, bubbly, or quietly mellow. But when it’s time to flip that switch, the people in the room with him better hide wherever they can.