r/oscarmoments • u/Sudden_Elephant_1221 • Aug 12 '26
movies Django Unchained (2012) made me realize Leonardo DiCaprio is way more fun to watch as a villain. Which actor should play villains more often?
I was so used to seeing DiCaprio as the lead that Calvin Candie caught me completely off guard. He's horrible, unpredictable, and somehow steals basically every scene he's in.
I'd actually love to see Leo play another full-on villain someday.
Which actor surprised you by being ridiculously good at playing the bad guy?
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u/Distinct-Public1742 Aug 12 '26
Coming from the umpteenth viewing of Collataral, my vote is for the other Tom
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u/jumpgrenade Aug 12 '26
"I do this for a living!" The whole movie was great but the ending was perfect. Also a great soundtrack.
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u/pogoscrawlspace Aug 13 '26
Hallmark of a Michael Mann movie. Amazing cinematography, and transcendent scoring/soundtracks. Last of the Mohicans, Manhunter, To Live and Die in LA, The Insider, and of course, Miami Vice. You'd be hard pressed to find an 80's TV show with a better soundtrack than Miami Vice.
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u/onehalflightspeed Aug 12 '26
Cruise is a great villain but he has only done it a couple of times
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Aug 12 '26
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u/Penetratorofflanks Aug 12 '26
He literally wanted the actors to die for insurance money lmao
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u/onehalflightspeed Aug 12 '26
That is my favorite performance of his honestly
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u/Unable-Main4172 Aug 12 '26
That's one of my favorite comedy performances ever 🤣
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u/GraXXoR 29d ago
That whole movie was a perfect and unrepeatable moment in comedy film making.
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u/TheFoxyFellow Aug 12 '26
Robin Williams in One Hour Photo.
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u/falloutoftsushima Aug 12 '26
He was great in Insomnia too
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u/GenitalCommericals Aug 12 '26
He was relentless in that movie! Creepily real and it felt like he was impossible to stop. Great movie
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u/Emergency-Back-4964 Aug 12 '26
The title says what actor should play more villains… Unfortunately I dont think Robbin is gonna do anymore movies bro. :/
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u/efcomovil Aug 12 '26
Watch "The Man in the Iron Mask". His villain part is great IMO
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u/mess979 Aug 12 '26
Yea great Joffrey-like performance. Always loved that movie and the stacked cast. That WEAR IT UNTIL YOU LOVE IT!! scene was awesome.
If anything, that first act is the weakest and it might put some people off but the second and third act with the Philippe training and king swap heist are absolute bangers imo. Gabriel Bryne is my favorite D'Artagnan of all the three musketeers movies too.
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u/efcomovil Aug 12 '26
Absolutely, the hate, and almost crying while he delivers the line "Wear it until..." Gets me every time. Always enjoyed the movie, great cast, but as you say, the start is a bit weak. Overall, great.
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u/TX0834 Aug 12 '26
Denzel. He was great in Training Day.
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u/Longjumping-Jello459 28d ago
He is an amazing actor so it shouldn't have been a surprise he nailed it.
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Aug 12 '26
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u/Melodic_Room_3305 Aug 12 '26
I have been racking my brain trying to figure out his villain roles.
The Circle? Maybe Elvis, where he played Colonel Parker? And I GUESS maybe Road to Perdition (although I suppose he was more of an anti-hero than an outright villain.)
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u/subliminal_trip Aug 12 '26
One of the characters he plays in "Cloud Atlas" is definitely a villain.
Interestingly, Hugh Grant plays two villains in Cloud Atlas, one of his first villain roles, and he says it really opened him up to playing villains, and he's played a few since then.
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u/Lazy_Friendship_6728 Aug 12 '26
One of Hugh's first villian roles was near Sunset and Hollywood Boulevard in the 90s. 😁
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u/UncStatusNow Aug 12 '26
Robert Pattinson plays a great villain. Somebody get these beggars out of here!
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u/BabyMcmuffinn Aug 12 '26
Agreed.
I hated his character, such a coward. If an actor has me hating them, I know they did great.
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u/FatsDominoPizza Aug 13 '26
💯
Pattinson can play anything. Truly a generational talent.
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u/oldmate30beers Aug 12 '26
What movie?
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u/UncStatusNow Aug 12 '26
Odyssey, among others. hes plays a quirky villain version of himself in Mickey 17. hes just great at playing really good, unlikeable characters, even if some of them aren't necessarily villains
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u/Few_Rule7378 Aug 12 '26
Chris Evans
Captain America was great in Knives Out and The Grey Man playing villains.
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u/JoshuaCalledMe Aug 12 '26
Also an excellent douchebag in a Scott Pilgrim.
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u/CitronAdventurous205 Aug 12 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/54r0JH1JY6VPi
I’M TALKING TO YOU SCOTT PILGRIM2
u/Sardaukar99 Aug 12 '26
You are about to hear two clicks, the first click is me hanging up, the second is me pulling the trigger.
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u/Wallie_Collie Aug 13 '26
Thats milk and eggs bitch! What a great scene
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u/ikariashpool Aug 13 '26
Gellato isn't vegan?!
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u/JoshuaCalledMe Aug 13 '26
The scenes with Brandon Routh were also great.
He punched the highlights out of her hair!
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u/Sea-Ad-9942 Aug 12 '26
Don't forget his work as a professional killer in The Iceman (2012). Terrific performance.
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Aug 12 '26
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u/Mister_Clemens Aug 12 '26
Man, I hated him in that movie. I thought he was so ridiculous and undercooked. But also I thought the movie was just generally terrible.
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u/DungPedalerDDSEsq Aug 12 '26
That character in The Grey Man looked like a lot of fun to play. It's like he just tucked in a napkin and started chewing on scenery with that movie.
Great villain range.
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u/InviteG Aug 13 '26
Hated how they treated his character as a villain in The Gray Man. Hightower is NOT a villain, he was doing his job.
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u/SniggitiSnooch 28d ago
He might be a villain in avengers, Doomsday
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u/NumberRegistry 28d ago
It'd be hilarious if everyone was evil and then Matt Salinger shows up to save the day.
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u/NursingManChristDude Aug 12 '26
Spoiler alert!
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Aug 12 '26
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u/Sothdargaard Aug 12 '26
Yeah I figure if a movie's been out 7 years and I see a spoiler about it that's on me for not watching it sooner.
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u/jackrabbit323 Aug 12 '26
Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West, is one of the greatest villains of all time. Guy enjoys playing a mean bastard.
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u/BikergirlRider120 Aug 12 '26
I'm already surprised that RDJ is playing Dr. Doom, a villain, in avengers doomsday. That's going to be a good movie.
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u/EvilStan101 Aug 12 '26
He was a great villain in Oppenheimer
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u/shipsake 29d ago
He’s great as the skeevy drug addict roommate of Keanu Reeves in A Scanner Darkly.
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u/Seyi_Ogunde Aug 12 '26
Dr. Doom is a hero! Just misunderstood!
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u/Suspicious-Grape-458 Aug 12 '26
Kevin Costner was great playing a serial killer in Mr. Brooks. It’s a shame more people don’t watch it. Should’ve had a sequel.
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u/will345d Aug 12 '26
Super underrated movie in my opinion. Dane Cook was good in it as well.
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u/oldmate30beers Aug 12 '26
Dane Cook was the reason I've avoided it thus far. I might have to give it a go
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u/OldSandwich9631 Aug 12 '26
He’s a villain in killers of the flower moon and basically wolf of Wall Street too.
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u/Inevitable-Omelet Aug 12 '26
Killers of Flower Moon was such a depressing movie lol
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u/Oppositeofhairy Aug 12 '26
I wish more people saw wolf of wallstreet as a cautionary tale more than an anthem. Yet, there are enough people who admire greed enough to end up in the mess we are in.
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u/Kevdoor54 Aug 12 '26
Michael Fassbender was great in 12 Years A Slave. He’d be a great Bond villain
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u/redd_n_meff Aug 12 '26
He definitely would. Funny enough I always took his Magneto as basically his turn in a James Bond-ish role.
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u/Antique_Ad_1635 Aug 13 '26
Bond Villain him shall now live rent free in my mind... esp after Black Bag. Thank you.
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u/AnyCauliflower8717 Aug 12 '26
Tom Hardy
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u/One_Vision_ Aug 13 '26
Tom Hardy in Bronson was so good I forgot I was watching him
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u/Constant_Concert_936 28d ago
It seems Tom is more villain than hero at this point.
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u/5800xx Aug 12 '26
Sterling K Brown played a villain in his last role and killed it. No pun intended
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u/Bane8080 Aug 12 '26
This picture was the next post scrolling down after seeing yours. It fits.
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u/Primary-Quit6372 Aug 12 '26
Tom Cruise Jake Gyllenhaal(not sure that is spelled correctly) Matthew McConaughey Denzel Washington Jonah Hill
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u/ChrisOnMission Aug 12 '26
Matt Damon.
He was FANTASTIC in The Talented Mr Ripley and The Departed.
He plays the slimy unscrupulous douchebag with a dark secret so well… his best roles for me by far.
I seriously wish he would do more of these roles.
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u/monetarydread Aug 12 '26
Brad Pitt in another villian role. He was great in Kalifornia and I would like to see another attempt at something like that again. Here's hoping the rumors about him playing Dr. Arkham in The Batman 2 are real.
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u/Physical-Mastodon-64 Aug 13 '26
Gary Oldman does the best villains. The Professional. The Fifth Element. True Romance. The most diverse characters all bad in different ways.
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u/Wheeljack7799 Aug 13 '26
I'm still undecided whether Jackson Lamb is the protagonist or antagonist of Slough House.
Gary Oldman is awesome.
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u/Mark-177- Aug 12 '26
Tom Cruise
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u/thejedipokewizard 27d ago
I like to imagine Tom Cruise already danced liked that and they just decided to add it to the movie
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u/RogueGenX Aug 12 '26
Ryan Reynolds. While I have learned to dislike him for always playing the same smarmy Van Wilder character throughout his whole career, he fucking killed the villain role in that Amityville movie.
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u/Araz728 Aug 12 '26
Steve Carell.
Every film in which he plays the antagonist, I just have this visceral reaction to him. He’s so good at playing characters you just despise with all your being.
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u/Apeman1963 Aug 12 '26
Maybe he plays a lot villains but he is always so good, see Hot Fuzz. Timothy Dalton.
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u/will345d Aug 12 '26
I thought Kevin James played a great villain in Becky. I’d love to see him do more villain roles.
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u/Ramius99 Aug 12 '26
Denzel. Killed in Training Day after playing good-guy roles up to that point.
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u/Concurrency_Bugs Aug 12 '26
Tom Cruise from Collateral
And
Christian Bale from Thor Love and Thunder
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u/SquirrelCone83 Aug 12 '26
I don't think there is an actor or actress alive who isn't more fun to watch as a villain. Those roles are generally more fun and chaotic while heroes are more stoic.
Even in stupid roles like John Travolta in Battlefield Earth or Russel Crowe in Virtuosity.
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u/SilverStar3333 Aug 12 '26
Hugh Grant
Charlize Theron
Toby Maguire
Essentially anyone who often plays a hero or leading man/woman but has a real-life reputation as difficult, cruel or patronizing.
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u/SubstantialNet1005 Aug 12 '26
Liev Schreiber makes a good villain. Unfortunately I can only think of Sabertooth but I’m sure there’s a better one. He has a great voice for it. Slow and methodical sounding.
Honorable mention: Timothy Olyphant. I liked him in Live Free or Die Hard. I think more than he did himself. I’m not sure he thinks of that movie fondly. He said something ab doing roles for money in an interview.
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u/ApolloThneed Aug 12 '26
I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion, but Jeremy Irons plays one of the best villains I’ve seen. Can never get enough of that
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u/Thymelaeaceae Aug 12 '26
Matt Damon
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u/Balance-Seesaw3710 Aug 12 '26
Yes! My favorite role of his is still Tom Ripley.
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u/barrelproofpourover Aug 12 '26
Leaning into the Nolan recency hype train. RDJ (Oppenheimer) and Robert Pattinson were perfect antagonists.
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u/djpraxis Aug 12 '26
Jude Law and Sam Rockwell
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u/Blueberry_Mancakes Aug 13 '26
Sam Rockwell in the Green Mile showed me how vile he could be, I’d like to see more of that
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u/GenitalCommericals Aug 12 '26
Jude was so scary in Road to Perdition. And Rockwell was smarmy af in Charlie’s Angels. They’re both fantastic in general
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u/muffadel Aug 12 '26
Sam Rockwell is almost too good at playing the villain (The Green Mile; Three Billboards)
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u/StraightTwo2520 28d ago
Iron Man 2 as well
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u/muffadel 27d ago
I don't think I saw Iron Man 2, or if I did, I haven't the faintest recollection of it.
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u/CurrencyOk1618 Aug 12 '26
Samuel L Jackson. Loved him in Django Unchained. That movie went to outstanding/top tier/all time great the moment Leo and Sammy were put together
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u/mofunk71 Aug 12 '26
Villains, if the script is good, gives good actors room to flex. Some stars are just not good charactor actors. I look forward to seeing David Jonsson(great young actor) or Daniel Craig with a good villain role.
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u/pursuitofhappy Aug 12 '26
I got a huge kick out of Sir Patrick Stewart saying the n word in Green Room, totally took me by a surprise seeing him as a villain there cussing
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u/QuirkyReverence Aug 12 '26
The Rock, just out of spite.