12 Antagonist Roles That Are Played Perfectly By Non-Actors
It's always exciting to come across different villain portrayals that succeed. Many actors consistently and convincingly play villains. Jeremy Irons, Christoph Waltz, and Jared Leto are three actors who frequently play antagonists onscreen. We know they're terrific at it, so when we see them, we expect good work.
Much more startling is when non-actors play baddies and give us goosebumps. There's something quite powerful about actual individuals playing villains. The people listed below come from a variety of backgrounds. Some were already well-known in disciplines other than acting. Others were ordinary folks who were cast in major motion pictures or television shows. Regardless of where they originated from, they all did an excellent job playing nasty personalities.
Which of these non-actors who played stone-cold villains nailed it the most?
Newton spent so many years in Vegas that it's reasonable to say he saw his fair share of questionable behavior to draw upon. The Hartford Courant's Owen McNally thought Newton was the film's only highlight, saying, "Oozing oodles of hilarious sleaze, Wayne Newton is the sole asset for Best of the Best II."
Long made his film debut in John Woo's 1996 action film Broken Arrow, where he plays the right-hand guy to John Travolta's villain. The producers phoned him to audition, much to his astonishment. He decided to meet with Woo and seriously consider the part after a rewrite. That meeting went so well that Long agreed to join. His performance as Master Sergeant Kelly, the towering and homicidal henchman who assists Travolta's character in obtaining a bomb, was flawless.
Police Squad! was adapted into the film The Naked Gun in 1988, which became a box office success. Goulet was brought back for the sequel, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear. He plays Quentin Hapsburg, an oil executive who competes for the love of female lead Priscilla Presley with star Leslie Nielsen. Goulet's ability to play the wacky comedy straight is admirable, making him an ideal foil for Nielsen's Detective Frank Drebin.
Richards' first acting role was in Uncut Gems. Prior to that, he worked as a carpenter and was a first responder at Ground Zero following 9/11. According to him, he got the job of Phil through pure chance.
Frank Silva played Bob, which marked a big career shift for him. Silva worked as a set dresser. He inadvertently imprisoned himself while dressing a set for the Twin Peaks pilot by putting a chest of drawers in front of a door. Lynch captured Silva kneeling down, staring beneath Laura's bed's footboard. Something about it seemed unsettling, so Lynch chose to incorporate it in a scenario in which Laura's mother has a horrible hallucinatory vision.
Her destiny was altered when she met actor Michael K. Williams in a nightclub. He was intrigued by her and suggested she audition for a position on his television show The Wire. Pearson was cast as "Snoop," a Chicago heroin dealer with a nasty bent. Her genuineness in the character was truly terrifying, letting her stand out among a cast of top-tier professional performers.
Miyavi's performance as "The Bird" is unsettling because you can feel the venom flowing from this man. Jolie assisted her star in shaping the act.
Dawson's background made him an excellent fit for the role of Damon Killian, the host of a lethal game show in The Running Man. The audience's familiarity with Dawson from Family Feud gave his act an air of authenticity, making him a plausible enemy for star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The role of Coward came about by chance. He was working as a gunslinger in one of the performances at the Ghost Town theme park in North Carolina. It was there that he met Burt Reynolds. When the producers of Deliverance required someone to play a backwoods resident, the actor remembered an old acquaintance and introduced him to the role.
Abdi auditioned with three of his pals for the Tom Hanks film Captain Phillips, which was looking for Somalis to play pirates in this tragic true story. To his astonishment, he earned the co-leading part of Muse, the pirate who leads the hijacking of a US cargo ship out of desperation. Muse is given a terrifying combination of wrath and dread by the performer.
In Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, he played Hartman, a drill instructor who terrorizes his soldiers with extended, terrifying sequences of filthy remarks. Because of Ermey's ability to draw from his own experience, Hartman feels unmistakably like an actual drill instructor.
Much more startling is when non-actors play baddies and give us goosebumps. There's something quite powerful about actual individuals playing villains. The people listed below come from a variety of backgrounds. Some were already well-known in disciplines other than acting. Others were ordinary folks who were cast in major motion pictures or television shows. Regardless of where they originated from, they all did an excellent job playing nasty personalities.
Which of these non-actors who played stone-cold villains nailed it the most?
#1 Wayne Newton in Best of the Best II
Source: Best Of The Best 2 / 20th Century Fox
Newton spent so many years in Vegas that it's reasonable to say he saw his fair share of questionable behavior to draw upon. The Hartford Courant's Owen McNally thought Newton was the film's only highlight, saying, "Oozing oodles of hilarious sleaze, Wayne Newton is the sole asset for Best of the Best II."
#2 Howie Long in Broken Arrow
Source: Broken Arrow / 20th Century Fox
Long made his film debut in John Woo's 1996 action film Broken Arrow, where he plays the right-hand guy to John Travolta's villain. The producers phoned him to audition, much to his astonishment. He decided to meet with Woo and seriously consider the part after a rewrite. That meeting went so well that Long agreed to join. His performance as Master Sergeant Kelly, the towering and homicidal henchman who assists Travolta's character in obtaining a bomb, was flawless.
#3 Robert Goulet in The Naked Gun 2½
Source: The Naked Gun 2½ / Paramount Pictures
Police Squad! was adapted into the film The Naked Gun in 1988, which became a box office success. Goulet was brought back for the sequel, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear. He plays Quentin Hapsburg, an oil executive who competes for the love of female lead Priscilla Presley with star Leslie Nielsen. Goulet's ability to play the wacky comedy straight is admirable, making him an ideal foil for Nielsen's Detective Frank Drebin.
#4 Keith Williams Richards in Uncut Gems
Source: Uncut Gems / A24
Richards' first acting role was in Uncut Gems. Prior to that, he worked as a carpenter and was a first responder at Ground Zero following 9/11. According to him, he got the job of Phil through pure chance.
#5 Frank Silva in Twin Peaks
Source: Twin Peaks / ABC
Frank Silva played Bob, which marked a big career shift for him. Silva worked as a set dresser. He inadvertently imprisoned himself while dressing a set for the Twin Peaks pilot by putting a chest of drawers in front of a door. Lynch captured Silva kneeling down, staring beneath Laura's bed's footboard. Something about it seemed unsettling, so Lynch chose to incorporate it in a scenario in which Laura's mother has a horrible hallucinatory vision.
#6 Felicia Pearson in The Wire
Source: The Wire / HBO
Her destiny was altered when she met actor Michael K. Williams in a nightclub. He was intrigued by her and suggested she audition for a position on his television show The Wire. Pearson was cast as "Snoop," a Chicago heroin dealer with a nasty bent. Her genuineness in the character was truly terrifying, letting her stand out among a cast of top-tier professional performers.
#7 Miyavi in Unbroken
Source: Unbroken / Universal Pictures
Miyavi's performance as "The Bird" is unsettling because you can feel the venom flowing from this man. Jolie assisted her star in shaping the act.
#8 Richard Dawson in The Running Man
Source: The Running Man / TriStar Pictures
Dawson's background made him an excellent fit for the role of Damon Killian, the host of a lethal game show in The Running Man. The audience's familiarity with Dawson from Family Feud gave his act an air of authenticity, making him a plausible enemy for star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
#9 Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward in Deliverance
Source: Deliverance / Warner Bros.
The role of Coward came about by chance. He was working as a gunslinger in one of the performances at the Ghost Town theme park in North Carolina. It was there that he met Burt Reynolds. When the producers of Deliverance required someone to play a backwoods resident, the actor remembered an old acquaintance and introduced him to the role.
#10 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson in Game of Thrones
Source: Game of Thrones / HBO
#11 Barkhad Abdi in Captain Philips
Source: Captain Phillips / Sony Pictures Releasing
Abdi auditioned with three of his pals for the Tom Hanks film Captain Phillips, which was looking for Somalis to play pirates in this tragic true story. To his astonishment, he earned the co-leading part of Muse, the pirate who leads the hijacking of a US cargo ship out of desperation. Muse is given a terrifying combination of wrath and dread by the performer.
#12 R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket
Source: Full Metal Jacket / Warner Bros.
In Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, he played Hartman, a drill instructor who terrorizes his soldiers with extended, terrifying sequences of filthy remarks. Because of Ermey's ability to draw from his own experience, Hartman feels unmistakably like an actual drill instructor.
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