The Best and Worst Actors To Switch From Playing Hero To Playing A Villain

[Yavin4]

The new Tom Cruise movie marks the first time that Tom has played a bad guy. What do you all think is the Best/Worst switch from good guy to bad guy?

[Spider Jerusalem]

1. Best: Henry Fonda. "Once Upon A Time In The West".

There is no other possible answer to this question.

As to worst...can't think of one right off the top of my head.

[vi5]

2. Can I just say that Tom Cruise is the worst actor?

Hero, Villain, or otherwise.

God, I hate the dude.

[NewJeffCT]

19. Don't think he's terrible

But, he is always "Tom Cruise" on the screen. A truly good actor becomes the character.

[terrya]

3. John Wayne in "The Shootist" did a good job of playing a villian.

He played a ruthless gunslinger who discovered he was dying of cancer. It mirrored Wayne in real life. It was a very moving performance, I thought.

Probably the worst was Woody Allen in "Casino Royale". Hideous. :-)

[2Design]

4. I have stopped going to tom cruise movies since that one with

the frogs coming down...that was the wierdest film I have ever seen. And I don't go to violent movies or scary movies...so that eliminates me as a fan....

[terrya]

5. "Magnolia" was an interesting film.

Very quirky, definitely. A lot of people (like you) didn't like it. It's a love/hate kind of film. I did like it. Great acting all around (even Cruise). Great original score by Aimee Mann.

[2Design]

8. I felt I had been ravaged.....like I had been in the middle of

a really loud and horrific dysfunctional situation.....It had all the drama and trauma of a dysfunctional family.....I was devastated after wards....

People called it his one of his greatest works.....

It was horrible.

[CanuckAmok]

6. Robin Williams makes a good bad guy...

Insomnia and One Hour Photo...

He's a little obvious, but at least he's not making me want to puke anymore. Patch Adams and Toys, I'm talking to YOU! :puke:

[Lisa]

20. Better a good bad guy than a bad good guy!

I have to admit that I was a bit more surprised by Denzel Washington and Harrison Ford playing villains. I did try to cut them some slack though, and pretend I'd never seen them in anything else, because actors consider it a cop-out to only want to play the hero (one reason why Ronald Reagan wasn't on "The Actors' Studio", as far as I know).

[Westegg]

7. Cruise played a bad guy (of sorts) in "Magnolia" and was...

pretty good in the role. Oh, and what about "Interview with the Vampire"? I'm hardly a big Cruise fan but he's got a bit more range than a lot of people give him credit for.

Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time In the West"---man, was he a good "bad guy in that great flick. Harrison Ford gets grudging points from me for a good performance as a nasty son of a bitch in "The Mosquito Coast," but overall I found that movie very, very unpleasant.

By the way, does anyone else think "Collateral" has been wildy over-praised? I'm a big Michael Mann fan, and I thought Cruise and Jamie Foxx were both good in the film. But the story struck me as so implausible, and with not very much to say. It can't touch "Heat," IMO.

[LynneSin]

9. I'm not a Cruise fan but he ruled in Magnolia

and should have won that Best Supporting Oscar.

[CanuckAmok]

10. Magnolia was robbed.

One of the most original big studio pics in years, and it lost to American Beauty?!

American Beauty was good, albeit conventional, but Magnolia was a far better film in many was, artistically and technically.

And as far as performances go, the ensemble for Magnolia was incredible.

Too bad PT Anderson sucks now.

[LynneSin]

12. But Cruise lost to Michael Caine from "The Cider House Rules"

Mind you, that's my favorite book but I hated the movie

[CanuckAmok]

15. Caine's good, but he phoned that one in.

In fact, the whole movie was phoned in. Ca-ching-g-g-g-g!

Nearly as unfaithful as the terrible "Simon Birch".

[Westegg]

17. I adore Caine, but his accent in "Cider House"...

...bugged the hell out of me. It was incredibly distracting. Maybe I missed some crucial plot point (and I didn't read the book).

Anyway, give me "Alfie" and "Hannah and Her Sisters" any day.

[Westegg]

16. I agree about the cast of Magnolia. So many goddman great...

performances (I think John C. Reilly is mind-blowingly good). I don't think I've seen a PT Anderson film since Magnolia. What's he done? I figured it was a bad sign when he changed his moniker to "PT," which can only remind me of the great American huckster P.T. Barnum.

[CanuckAmok]

18. "Punch Drunk Love", which was a bag of crap.

I'll NEVER see another PT Anderson movie again. I mean that.

[Westegg]

26. Ah, I forgot about that one. Never saw it myself but...

...many seemed to like it. I guess I'm one of those folks who feels that life's too short to waste an extra four or five hours discovering if Adam Sandler is a good dramatic actor. I'd rather waste that time right here on DU!

[Westegg]

11. Glad I'm not alone in thinking he was good in it!

Especially since I respect your opinion and judgement. (Except for those times when you go mad.)

[Jade Fox]

14. Saw 'Collateral' last weekend.....

It definitely was no 'Heat' or 'The Insider', but one of the things I like about
Mann's movies is that they actually get better with repeated viewings. So
I'm wondering if that will be true about Collateral. The jury is still out until
I see it at least once more.

[DrWeird]

13. David Carradine was surprisingly good...

in switch from Kwai Chang Caine to Bill.

[Caution]

24. I'll second that

though i really think Bill is his only decent role (and by decent i mean he was totaly freakin fantastic as Bill). I've never seen him anythign more than mediocre anywhere else.

[democracyindanger]

21. Bogart

Started out playing heavies in gangster flicks.

[southpaw]

22. Not the greatest actor or movie...

But Michael Keaton was an excellent bad guy in Pacific Heights.

Cold and creepy, yet very real.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. How About DeNiro and Murray In Mad Dog & Glory

DeNiro plays the good guy and Murray the mobster. And he's a BAD, BAD man! That's a really good one of guys playing against type.

Can't think of a really bad one, though.
The Professor

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. I may be in the minority, but I thought Carrey's 'Cable Guy'

was one of the creepiest ever.