Movie Villains Won an Oscar:
A Villain is only as good as the actor who is playing him. These characters are more than just supporting characters as often they are the ones driving the movie. The performances by these actors are super powerful and thanks to that the fans have started to love these psychopaths, murderers, and evildoers.
#10: Annie Wilkes
Played By: Kathy Bates
Movie Name: Misery (1990)
Annie Wilkes was a ruthless and psychotic serial killer, who enjoyed tormenting her patients. Based on the novel ‘Misery’ by the legendary Stephen King, Annie Wilkes was portrayed exceptionally by Kathy Bates. She managed to win the Oscar of Best Actress in a Leading Role and proved everyone wrong.
#9: Alonzo Harris
Played By: Denzel Washington
Movie Name: Training Day (2001)
Alonzo Harris was a corrupt cop that went deep into the criminal world and had no hope of redemption. Denzel Washington is one of the best actors of Hollywood and he is usually known for his heroic roles, but through Training Day, he proved that he can play the bad guy as well.
#8: Nurse Ratched
Played By: Louise Fletcher
Movie Name: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Nurse Ratched worked at the mental institution and she did not tolerate any nonsense. She was strict, orderly and cold-hearted, and she felt that mentally ill people had no rights. Louise Fletcher’s performance was outstanding and she made Nurse Ratched one of the best female movie villains of all time.
#7: Tommy DeVito
Played By: Joe Pesci
Movie Name: Goodfellas (1990)
Scorsese’s Goodfellas is a movie that we will remember for ages as it is packed with amazing performances. One of those performances came from the amazing Joe Pesci, who played the loud-mouth and dangerously unpredictable Tommy DeVito. Tommy’s character is still loved by the fans as he was captivating, despite being evil.
#6: Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint
Played By: Kevin Spacey
Movie Name: The Usual Suspects (1995)
We did not even know that Kevin Spacey played a villain in The Usual Suspects until the very end. His performance was very believable and deserved every praise it got. Roger Kint was a mastermind who was willing to go to any length to save himself.
#5: Daniel Plainview
Played By: Daniel Day-Lewis
Movie Name: There Will Be Blood (2007)
Daniel Plainview was a very meticulous and manipulative villain who wanted to be in power more than anything else. He was a murderer who was portrayed amazingly by Daniel Day-Lewis. He had no redeemable qualities and the fans love to hate him due to the convincing performance of Daniel Day-Lewis.
#4: Anton Chigurh
Played By: Javier Bardem
Movie Name: No Country for Olm Men
Anton Chigurh was a merciless psychopath, who showed no remorse after killing people. Murdering people was just another task for him and his presence on-screen was frightening. Javier Bardem was exceptional in this movie and an Oscar for this role was a certainty.
#3: Colonel Hans Landa
Played By: Christoph Waltz
Movie Name: Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Hans Landa, also known as ‘the Jew-Hunter’ was a highly intelligent villain who was an expert when it came to finding his enemies and killing them. He was a sociopath who only acted in self-interest. This character made Christoph Waltz into a worldwide sensation and we can’t be more thankful to him for giving us such an amazing villain.
#2: Hannibal Lecter
Played By: Anthony Hopkins
Movie Name: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Hannibal Lecter is one of the greatest villains of all time to ever appear on the big screen, and even though we have seen several adaptations of the character, the best one was Anthony Hopkins’. He took only 16 minutes of the screen-time to prove that he is the greatest.
#1: The Joker
Played By: Heath Ledger
Movie Name: The Dark Knight (2008)
Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker is regarded as one of the best performances in the entire movie industry and we can add nothing new to the list of his praises as everything else has already been said. We wanted him to receive the award himself as he truly deserved it.
