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Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

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Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

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Old 06-13-24 | 07:12 AM
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Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Kevin Bacon...can do bad like in Hollow Man, The River Wild, Sleepers, X-Men: First Class, but then plays good guys really well in most other things. I think he is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.

Ben Mendelsohn is another who does both so well.
Old 06-13-24 | 07:54 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Originally Posted by OldBoy
Kevin Bacon...can do bad like in Hollow Man, The River Wild, Sleepers, X-Men: First Class, but then plays good guys really well in most other things. I think he is one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood.

Ben Mendelsohn is another who does both so well.
Yeah Kevin Bacon is THE first one that came to mind.
Old 06-13-24 | 07:56 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Jesse Plemons. Can be a normal guy or a complete psychopath, sometimes without the audience knowing which.
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Old 06-13-24 | 09:01 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

^ that's a good call.
Old 06-13-24 | 09:17 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

John Lithgow is the king actor of this. Everyone else comes second.
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Old 06-13-24 | 10:19 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Originally Posted by Spiderbite
John Lithgow is the king actor of this. Everyone else comes second.
As a kid I went from knowing Lithgow from Harry and the Hendersons to watching him in Ricochet with my parents. I was traumatized.
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Old 06-13-24 | 10:38 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Viggo Mortensen
Old 06-13-24 | 12:00 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Robert Ryan
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Old 06-13-24 | 12:29 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Gary Oldman
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Old 06-13-24 | 01:54 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Sean Bean
Old 06-13-24 | 01:57 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Javier Bardem
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Old 06-13-24 | 02:29 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

with his versatility, i know he hasn't played a lot of bad guys, but Christian Bale was the standout in Thor 4.
Old 06-13-24 | 03:39 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anthony Hopkins, Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Gene Hackman

Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Glenn Close, Faye Dunaway, Emma Stone, Charlize Theron, Annette Bening, Amy Adams, Kathy Bates, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis

Just to name 25
Old 06-13-24 | 03:42 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Nic Cage

How many actors can go from playing the main villain to playing the main hero after one surgical procedure in the same movie?
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Old 06-13-24 | 04:14 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Originally Posted by Perkinsun Dzees
Nic Cage

How many actors can go from playing the main villain to playing the main hero after one surgical procedure in the same movie?
I can think of at least one other actor who can do that.
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Old 06-13-24 | 04:31 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Peter Cushing
Old 06-13-24 | 05:36 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

John Lithgow
Tom Cruise
Old 06-13-24 | 07:39 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

I also thought of John Lithgow. A loveable goofball in 3rd Rock from the Sun. Pure evil in season 4 of Dexter.
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Old 06-13-24 | 09:43 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Neal McDonough

Idris Elba

Old 06-13-24 | 10:16 PM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Paul Giamatti is the one.

Cue Chris Rock joke: he can portray a slave trader in 12 Years a Slave and the manager for N.W.A. in Straight Outta Compton.

Old 06-14-24 | 04:55 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?
















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Old 06-14-24 | 08:42 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Nicolas Cage was my first thought, too. What about Uma Thurman?

Halle Berry & Sandra Bullock have both won Oscars and Razzies.
Old 06-14-24 | 08:43 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Bill Cosby
Old 06-15-24 | 06:02 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Originally Posted by Vipper II
Tom Cruise
wasn't he only in one bad guy role, Collateral?
Old 06-15-24 | 06:04 AM
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Re: Which actors can play good and bad roles well?

Vincent D'Onofrio


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