I don't know if this topic is a repost, I did use the search engine on this part of the forum and I couldn't find any.

There are some actors that I like that play awesome bad guys, they play mostly good guys though in movies, but in my opinion they make great evil characters. Here are some that I like:

1) Robin Willaims - I find when he plays a bad guy very scary, sick, demented just creepy. It's amazing how good of a bad guy he can play. Pulls in one easy which his charm and jokes.

2) Van Damme - Movies like Double Impact (the brother with the slick back hair) and Black Eagle there is another one that I forgot where he hunts down his clone or brother...I think it's Replicant?

Alan Rickman, Tim Curry and Gary Oldman spring to mind.

Gary Oldman

Yeah, that's Replicant. He was very good in a villain role in that one.

Speaking of replicants, Rutger Hauer, also great in The Hitcher, Nighthawks. Robert Shaw too, great Bond baddy, Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The sting, Robin and Marian, etc.

Anthony Hopkins
Lee Marvin
Gene Hackman

Powers Boothe
Sean Bean

Michael Wincott, Billy Drago, Michael Madsen, Lawrence Tierney

Tobin Bell

Willem Dafoe
Kevin Spacey

Ralph Fiennes

Tom Cruise in Collateral was pretty good.

Wish people would use Ray Winstone as a villain more.

Go see the Proposition.

And the definition of an actor ONLY known for super good, white bread All-American good guy roles, but then goes and creates IMO the greatest villain ever is Henry Fonda.

Also two of my all-time favorites that get zero love here. Robert Mitchum & Richard Widmark.

Peter Lorre
Michael Wincott
Henry Silva
Michael Ironside
Orson Welles

John Malkovich

Definately a great character...I loved this movie.

Kurtwood Smith

Another good actor I forgot to mention that plays an awesome scary bad guy...Harry Connick Jr (movie Copycat).

Nice.

I opened this thread to post Fonda.

James Cromwell damn near matched Fonda. He is so good.

Klaus Kinski.

Heath Ledger did a fantastic job.

Sir Laurence Olivier.

Guy Pierce.

Peter Lorre.

There's a few.

I second Ralph Fiennes. He's soo good as the bad guy.

Sean Bean is such a convincing bad guy that even when he isn't, you think he's going to turn bad anyway.

Tim Roth.

Everett McGill, although he was awesome in Twin Peaks as one of the few normal and good people of the town.

Kevin Spacey (Se7en)

Keifer Sutherland (Eye For An Eye)

Edward Norton (Primal Fear)


And my favorite:

Doug Hutchison (The Green Mile, CSI: Las Vegas, X Files, John Doe, Bait)