Every actor dreams of being cast as a lead character, the main hero, the central protagonist of the story. Oftentimes, however, being cast as the villain reaps just as many benefits, if not more. Playing the villain is often a rewarding experience for actors, as it affords them the opportunity to explore the darker sides of their personalities, in a pretend context where there are no real-life consequences.
Historically, the Academy Awards have tended to appreciate great villain performances They have given several Oscars to actors who portrayed evil, dangerous on-screen characters. Here are 10 examples of Oscar-winning villain performances, ranked.
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
J.K. Simmons has over 200 credits on his resume, amassing a lifetime of great work over the years that went largely unrecognized, as is too often the case with character actors. In 2014's ash, Simmons delivered an Oscar-winning performance as the relentlessly menacing music instructor whose demands for perfection are so extreme, they're downright abusive.
By the end of the film, his protege finally earns his respect, but it's a brutal journey. Simmons is convincing not only in portraying his character's short temper but his musical expertise as well.
Sam Rockwell - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Writer-director Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri has many villains, the vilest of them all never appearing onscreen. Sam Rockwell's Dixon is a bigoted police officer whose abuses of power consist of extreme acts of violence against those he's sworn to protect and serve.
Dixon is also a weak and pitiful mama's boy, who has moments of vulnerability, and, by the end of the movie, perhaps even a tiny bit of redemption. Rockwell's performance portrays the contradictory qualities of Dixon's personality each in an equally convincing fashion.
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
The adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel. Javier Bardem brings its villain, Anton Chigurh, to life in terrifying fashion, and commands the screen in every scene he's in.
Chigurh is a larger than life character; a walking metaphor for fate, inevitability, even death itself. Bardem brings a stoic confidence to Chigurh, who triumphs in the end, making him all the more threatening.
Kathy Bates - Misery
Kathy Bates and James Caan star in this 1990 adaptation of the Stephen King novel by the same name. Bates took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal as the worst "number one fan" ever.
She plays Annie Wilkes, who rescues her favorite novelist from a car wreck, only to find out that the author has made an unfortunate writing decision that leaves her no choice but to recommend some edits. Her criticism isn't exactly "constructive."
Sir Anthony Hopkins - The Silence Of The Lambs
Put a slight asterisk next to this one, as Hannibal Lecter isn't technically the "villain" in The Silence of the Lambs. After all, he helps the hero, Clarice Starling, catch the bad guy in the end. He's still a cannibal though, and his escape from prison does involve the unjust killing of a couple of guards.
Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance is so iconic that he won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role despite his mere 16 minutes of screen time.
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Director Quentin Tarantino feared he would never find an actor well-suited to play Hans Landa, the whip-smart, ruthlessly evil, but also oddly funny Nazi enforcer, in his alternate-history epic, Inglourious Basterds. He needed someone with both dramatic and comedic chops, fluent in both English and German, and who had the natural charisma to carry such an important role.
Lucky for him, he found most iconic characters in Tarantino's illustrious filmography, thanks to Waltz's unforgettable job of humanizing one of the most monstrous villains in cinematic history.
Louise Fletcher - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Page, and Ellen Burstyn, were all offered the role of Nurse Ratched in 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Luckily for Louise Fletcher, they all declined. Fletcher had been primarily a television actress until then and pounced at the opportunity to play the stone-hearted head nurse at Salem State Hospital.
She has virtually absolute power over her patients/inmates and wields it mercilessly against anyone who steps out of line in the slightest of ways. Fletcher won an Oscar for her role, helping Cuckoo's Nest become just the second of three films to ever win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainview is the main character of There Will Be Blood, but he's without a doubt the most villainous character in the story. Daniel Day-Lewis owns the screen, appearing in all but two scenes in this sprawling epic film about the early days of American frontier capitalism.
Plainview is a struggling miner-turned-maniacal oil tycoon, whose contempt for humanity fuels his insatiable lust for money and power. Daniel Day-Lewis was a lock for Best Actor at the 2008 Oscars, deservedly so.
Denzel Washington - Training Day
The great so often cast as a noble hero.
For audiences to believe such a beloved star as a vicious and ruthless dirty cop, Washington had to be especially convincing - and he was. Washington plays the role with great command, allowing the audience to slowly realize his characters' true colors by the film's super-intense third act.
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
There are few performances as complete as Heath Ledger's is as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger makes every movement, and every syllable of every spoken word, a deliberate choice, and never hits a wrong note. Choices as subtle as splitting the word "gentlemen" in two, and cutting himself off mid-sentence and starting over again when mocked as a "clown" by the local gangsters, make the Joker the most memorable on-screen villain in a generation.
Ledger tragically died between the film's shooting and its release but was rightfully awarded a posthumous Oscar for his performance, which is nothing short of iconic.
