6. Naomie Harris
What an underrated actor Naomie Harris is. Perhaps one of the most understated performers when it comes to playing grey areas in films, Harris is luckily being recognized to some extent within the last few years. What did it take to get there? There’s the no-holds-barred Selena in 28 Days Later that will do the right thing during a zombie crisis (no matter what it may be).
There’s also the mysterious Tia Dalma in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (and arguably the only noteworthy reason to watch any of the sequels outside of the special effects), who is considerably a villain (she is in cahoots with Barbossa and Davy Jones, to be fair), but ends up being a likeable antihero like Jack Sparrow. Of course, she’s blatantly on the hero side of things as Eve Moneypenny in the two Sam Mendes Bond films.
You can also argue she’s blatantly a villain in Moonlight, as she is one of the two main sources of Chiron’s hardships as an abusive, substance-addicted mother. However, in true Harris fashion, this mother role comes full circle by the end, and you see true regret and the cry for forgiveness. Whatever role Harris takes, she is always capable of adding much more than there might have been before, hence why she is so damn good at being good, bad, or indecipherably both.
7. Sigourney Weaver
Well, duh, Sigourney Weaver is a hero. She’s Ellen Ripley. Case closed. However, one role being mentioned is lazy, and there are many other great Weaver roles to discuss; Ripley is a damn fine example for a cinematic hero, though. Why is that? Because she kicks so much ass and doesn’t take names.
There’s a power that comes from her heroics that, when needed, can shift into a villainous dynamic when needed. Who expected anyone to win up against the executive powerhouse Katharine Parker in Working Girl? Literally that same year, she played the significant Dian Fossey who fought tooth and nail to protect the disappearing mountain gorillas in Rwanda.
She won two Golden Globes for both performances within the same year; I’d argue that the Golden Globes don’t hold much weight, but her ability to dominate an awards season with both roles says something.
Weaver has successfully taken on dominant voices in many subsequent films, even if she barely appears in them. She is the whole reason for the sick and twisted games in Cabin in the Woods, and “The Big Guy” in Paul; let’s not forget her more-personable work as the hilarious (and good) Gwen DeMarco in Galaxy Quest. It’s safe to say that Sigourney Weaver kicks ass, even if she isn’t trying to kick ass in a film.
8. Steve Carell
Steve Carell has stated that he approaches dramatic acting the same way he takes on comedic roles, and the last few years have been strong examples for why he may have said that. Early in his career (when he became a leading man, of course), he took on many comedic works like The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Crazy, Stupid, Love, Get Smart and more; in many of these examples, there is a certain sympathy that makes you feel badly for laughing at his misfortunes.
There were early signs of Carell’s capabilities of being the antagonist: not to ever bring up these films again in a serious article, but his Evan character did flip from the main villain to the main hero between Bruce and Evan Almighty.
After 2014’s The Foxcatcher, where the world was given a rude awakening to just how evil Carell could be (in his brilliant portrayal of John du Pont), his career began to take a bit more of a multifaceted turn. Is his role as Mark Baum The Big Short a hero or a villain? Well, you can argue either, because he did what was right for his family but perhaps dangerous to many others.
In Battle of the Sexes, Bobby Riggs starts off clearly as the villain, who is wanting to battle Billie Jean King for all the wrong reasons. We then see Carell as a conflicted hero like never before in Beautiful Boy, as the struggling father that has lost faith in his own abilities to help his drug addicted son. Carell may be a master at balancing tragedy and comedy, and many of his works shows it.
9. Tom Cruise
We’re looking at Tom Cruise’s entire career, and not just his many recent action works. Otherwise, he’d just be a hero, plain and simple. Do I need to dig deeper into the Mission Impossible series, Edge of Tomorrow, Jerry Maguire, The Last Samurai and so forth? No?
Well, I’ll instead bring up his great villainous turns. Remember Collateral, where Cruise played a sickeningly scary hitman that controls the entire film by hijacking Max’s taxi cab? I would argue his take as T.J. Mackey in Magnolia is also one of a villainous nature, because he preys on women and struggling men by insisting a toxic masculinity through his seminars.
Sure, he has a difficult upbringing and problems between him and his father, but his explosive and damaging ways can’t be excusable (no matter how gripping his performance is). There’s also his hilarious turn as Les Grossman that, let’s face it, causes frictions in Tropic Thunder. Cruise is capable of a whole range of ways to command the screen, and I feel like the last ten years we’ve often forgotten that.
10. Willem Dafoe
This entry might mirror Tom Cruise’s, because Willem Dafoe is so deliciously evil most of the time. Do we need to bring up anything more than Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Shadow of the Vampire, and many other works? I didn’t think so.
Dafoe is a brilliant actor when it comes to playing villains, or characters that are inherently bad anyways. Why not discuss his roles of heroism instead? The most obvious example is when he played against-type in Platoon, as the morally stern martyr Sgt. Gordon Elias; this character and performance alone sends Platoon into the upper echelons of war films through his near-mythological approach to showing a commitment to good.
In The Florida Project, you could make the case that he is a villain because his decisions do split up a family. Yet, as someone wanting the best for both the youth of the lower class in Orlando and his business, he is a hero that has to put a stop to the endangerment that reckless parenting can have on the future. Dafoe is a sterling performer that knows how to turn up either the creepy factor or the human connection whenever necessary, and that makes him one of the most exciting actors out there.