10 Actors Who Have Played An Iconic Hero & Iconic Villain

10 Actors Who Have Played An Iconic Hero & Iconic Villain

Hollywood tends to typecast actors as “good guys” or “bad guys”, but some actors have given great performances as protagonists and antagonists alike.

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When an actor gives a truly iconic performance, it can sometimes be difficult to see them beyond that role. This seems to be especially true when actors play extremes on the spectrum of good and evil. When seeing someone play a truly inspiring hero, it can be hard to distance themselves from that, like Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. Likewise, if an actor is especially evil in a villain role, like Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber.

However, there are those actors who have not only played an iconic hero and avoided typecasting, but they’ve also played an iconic villain as well. As both the good and evil, these actors shone, becoming the characters fans cheer for and those they love to hate.

10 Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury – The Avengers / Mr. Glass – Unbreakable)

Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury may be iconic, but he still doesn’t get nearly enough credit within the MCU. What started as a mind-blowing cameo at the end of Iron Man ended up being the glue to Phase One. Since then, Fury has been a figure of great importance in the cinematic universe and the man who made the Avengers possible.

But long before his Marvel days, Jackson starred in another very different comic book story in Unbreakable. Mr. Glass is a fascinating, eccentric, and sympathetic character who believes there are actual superheroes in the world. But while the audience is cheering for him to be proven right, Glass ultimately shows the horrific things he was willing to do to find what he was looking for.

9 Arnold Schwarzenegger (T-800 – The Terminator / T-800 – Terminator 2: Judgement Day)

Arnold Schwarzenegger not only managed to play an iconic hero and villain, but he did so as basically the same character. In The Terminator, Schwarzenegger plays the T-800, a relentless killer cyborg sent back through time to kill Sarah Connor.

In Terminator 2, he returns as a new version of the T-800 who has been reprogrammed to protect John Connor from other Terminators. While Schwarzenegger was unsettling as the emotionless killing machine in the original, that same approach sees him as the stoic hero in the sequel.

8 Charlize Theron (Furiosa – Mad Max: Fury Road / Aileen Wuornos – Monster)

It is quite impressive that Charlize Theron came into the Mad Max franchise and stole the show from the titular character. While Tom Hardy is great, Theron is the real star and makes Furiosa into an unforgettable, badass hero who is ready to start her own franchise.

In a testament to Theron’s versatility, she won an Oscar for the indie crime story Monster. She plays real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in a chilling and unrecognizable turn. While the movie portrays Wuornos in a somewhat sympathetic light, her crimes are often horrific.

7 Meryl Streep (Karen Silkwood – Silkwood / Miranda Priestly – The Devil Wears Prada)

Given the countless award nominations that Meryl Streep has received over her astonishing career, one does not have to look hard to find a number of iconic performances. One of those incredible turns came in Silkwood in which Streep played a real-life hero who risked her life to expose worker safety issues at a plutonium plant.

As grounded and serious as that role was, Streep can also have a lot of fun, especially when playing the villain. In The Devil Wears Prada, she is hugely entertaining as Miranda Priestly, the cold and meanspirited editor of a fashion magazine. It’s clear just how much fun Streep is having playing the boss from hell.

6 Denzel Washington – (Malcolm X – Malcolm X / Alonzo Harris – Training Day)

Denzel Washington is one of the few actors with the skills and gravitas to do justice to a figure like Malcolm X. Spike Lee’s epic story of this civil rights icon relies so much on Washington’s brilliant performance as he carries that powerful presence so effectively.

In his Oscar-winning role in Training Day, Washington plays Alonzo Harris. He is a corrupt Los Angeles police detective who takes his rookie partner on a violent and harrowing journey through the city’s most dangerous areas. Washington is charismatic and loathsome all at once.

5 Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Schultz – Django Unchained / Col. Hans Landa – Inglourious Basterds)

Christoph Waltz won two Oscars for two very different performances in Quentin Tarantino movies. Waltz had his big break in Hollywood as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. Landa is a sadistic and efficient Nazi who can be charming right up until he does something horrendous.

Waltz continued to be charming in Django Unchained but in a much more likable role. As Dr. Schultz, Waltz is very much the heart of the story as someone who cannot stand for injustice and is willing to risk his life to help his friend.

4 Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Creed – Creed / Killmonger – Black Panther)

Stepping into the Rocky franchise as the new protagonist was surely a daunting experience, but Michael B. Jordan proved up to the challenge. As the illegitimate child of Apollo Creed, Jordan created a determined and complex hero whom fans were rooting for to go the distance.

As if creating another worthy hero for an iconic franchise wasn’t enough, Jordan then went on to become what some consider to be the MCU’s greatest villain. Erik Killmonger was a fearsome and brutal warrior who posed a serious threat to T’Challa in Black Panther. But in his motivations, he was also sympathetic and his battle somewhat understandable.

3 Henry Fonda (Juror #8 – 12 Angry Men / Frank – Once Upon a Time in the West)

The courtroom thriller 12 Angry Men is one of the most famous ensemble movies of all time, but Peter Fonda also stands out as one of the greatest cinematic heroes in it. He represents an intellectual hero who gradually convinces the others around him to do the right thing simply by looking at the facts.

Given his popularity in roles like 12 Angry Men, Fonda’s casting as the villain in Once Upon a Time in the West was quite purposeful. In his first scene, Fonda is seen gunning down an innocent family, including children, with a chilling smile.

2 Daniel Day-Lewis (Abraham Lincoln – Lincoln / Bill the Butcher – Gangs of New York)

Given that Daniel Day-Lewis is seen as one of the greatest actors who ever lived, it’s maybe not surprising the range he shows with these two roles. As Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama, Day-Lewis creates a layered and inspiring portrait of the famous president and how he changed America.

In Gangs of New York, Day-Lewis plays Bill the Butcher, a man who hates everything Lincoln stands for. He is a racist crime lord who rules the streets of his city through violence and intimidation. It is a commanding performance that is impossible to look away from.

1 Ian McKellen (Gandalf – Lord of the Rings / Magneto – X-Men)

The Lord of the Rings movies are also iconic ensemble stories, yet Ian McKellen’s Gandalf certainly stands above the rest. McKellen was nominated for an Oscar as the wise and powerful wizard who becomes the guardian of the Fellowship of the Ring and the moral center of their journey.

McKellen not only entered the world of Middle-earth but also that of Marvel comics, playing Magneto in the X-Men series. Instead of playing a purely evil comic book villain, McKellen makes Magneto’s motivations understandable, if extreme, which makes for a much more noteworthy character.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/actors-famous-playing-both-iconic-hero-villain/

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