- Oct 9, 1999
- 12,513
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No, I'm not talking about disliking an actor because of their Scientology or uber-liberal views . . . I'm talking 'bout the folks who have made a living being slimy and <booming voice> EEEEEEEEEEEEEvilllllllllllllll <booming voice>. I'm not including guys like Willem Dafoe, who's played bad guys, but he's also played my favorite Tom Clancy character in "Clear and Present Danger."
Here's my own "dirty nine," in no particular order. Feel free to add your own.
1. Alan Rickman - let's see. The wanna-be Aussie gunslinger in "Quigley Down Under", Hans in "Die Hard", Rasputin, and the Sheriff of Nottingham. He does good slime. Professor Snape in Harry Potter didn't turn out to be a bad guy, but he sure SEEMED like it.
2. Jeremy Irons - Klaus von Bulow, Scar the Lion in "The Lion King", The Man in the Iron Mask, Die Hard 3, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Time Machine.
3. John Malkovich - Teddy KGB in "Rounders", Cyrus the Virus in "Con Air", Dr. Jekyll in "Mary Reilly", The assassin in "In The Line of Fire", Kurtz in the TV version of "Heart of Darkness."
4. Christopher Walken - The Prophecy, Sleepy Hollow, Mouse Hunt (the mouse the hero, wasn't he?), Suicide Kings, Last Man Standing, True Romance, A View to a Kill, etc., etc. I think the only good guys he's ever played was in Blast from the Past and Joe Dirt.
5. James Gandolfini - when HASN'T he been a bad guy? (Crimson Tide, A Civil Action, 12 Angry Men).
6. Gary Oldman - Drexl Spivey "True Romance", Dracula, the wacky-ass cop in "Leon" aka "The Professional", "Lost in Space", "The Fifth Element", "Air Force One", "The Scarlet Letter", Lee Harvey Oswald in "JFK", Pontias Pilate, and, of course, the crazy millionaire with the man-eating pigs in "Hannibal."
7. Kevin Spacey - qualifies with only "The Usual Suspects" and "Se7en".
8. (posthumous mention) - J.T. Walsh - the kidnapping truck driver in "Breakdown", "Pleasantville," "The Negotiator," "Needful Things." Didn't really play over-the-top bad guys, just scummy ones.
9. Ian McDiarmid - The Emperor, duh! He was also pretty scummy in "Sleepy Hollow" and "Dragonslayer."
Honorable Mention: Paul Reiser. After watching "Aliens", I never looked at "My Two Dads" or "Mad About You" the same way again.
Here's my own "dirty nine," in no particular order. Feel free to add your own.
1. Alan Rickman - let's see. The wanna-be Aussie gunslinger in "Quigley Down Under", Hans in "Die Hard", Rasputin, and the Sheriff of Nottingham. He does good slime. Professor Snape in Harry Potter didn't turn out to be a bad guy, but he sure SEEMED like it.
2. Jeremy Irons - Klaus von Bulow, Scar the Lion in "The Lion King", The Man in the Iron Mask, Die Hard 3, Dungeons and Dragons, and The Time Machine.
3. John Malkovich - Teddy KGB in "Rounders", Cyrus the Virus in "Con Air", Dr. Jekyll in "Mary Reilly", The assassin in "In The Line of Fire", Kurtz in the TV version of "Heart of Darkness."
4. Christopher Walken - The Prophecy, Sleepy Hollow, Mouse Hunt (the mouse the hero, wasn't he?
), Suicide Kings, Last Man Standing, True Romance, A View to a Kill, etc., etc. I think the only good guys he's ever played was in Blast from the Past and Joe Dirt. 5. James Gandolfini - when HASN'T he been a bad guy? (Crimson Tide, A Civil Action, 12 Angry Men).
6. Gary Oldman - Drexl Spivey "True Romance", Dracula, the wacky-ass cop in "Leon" aka "The Professional", "Lost in Space", "The Fifth Element", "Air Force One", "The Scarlet Letter", Lee Harvey Oswald in "JFK", Pontias Pilate, and, of course, the crazy millionaire with the man-eating pigs in "Hannibal."
7. Kevin Spacey - qualifies with only "The Usual Suspects" and "Se7en".
8. (posthumous mention) - J.T. Walsh - the kidnapping truck driver in "Breakdown", "Pleasantville," "The Negotiator," "Needful Things." Didn't really play over-the-top bad guys, just scummy ones.
9. Ian McDiarmid - The Emperor, duh! He was also pretty scummy in "Sleepy Hollow" and "Dragonslayer."
Honorable Mention: Paul Reiser. After watching "Aliens", I never looked at "My Two Dads" or "Mad About You" the same way again.
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