10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

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From Jack Nicholson in The Shining to Linda Blair in The Exorcist, some actors made a major mark on horror.

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10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Sometimes the perfect horror project meets the perfect actor. They can bring an energy to the film that wouldn’t be there otherwise. These can be adaptations of beloved novels or they can be original stories featuring killer dolls or dream stalkers.

Just because an actor has participated in other, more prestigious projects does not mean they can’t be strongly associated with a horror film (or franchise). Furthermore, sometimes a performer’s career is associated with their particular franchise’s character and that character alone. Either way, plenty of great actors are well-known for their roles in scary movies.

Tim Curry As Pennywise – It (1990)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

The recent, two-part theatrical adaptation of Stephen King’s It had a noteworthy and creepy Pennywise. But it’s Tim Curry’s version of the character that stands as the most nightmare-inducing.

Curry isn’t averse to playing roles in heavy makeup, but not even his performance in Legend holds the power of his Pennywise. Considering it was a television miniseries, the scares rely on the actor’s prowess as opposed to gore. Curry delivers a notorious performance that is only witnessed sporadically throughout the miniseries, but he makes the wait worth it.

Doug Bradley As Pinhead – Hellraiser (1987)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Hellraiser is a 10-film series, eight of which feature Doug Bradley as the lead villain, Pinhead. Along with the other Cenobites, Pinhead captures those who have escaped from Hell.

The two films in the series that don’t feature Doug Bradley feature two separate actors taking on the character, which is telling. Doug Bradley is seen as Pinhead, full-stop. The rich timbre of his voice is matched perfectly by his sleek (make-up-covered) features. While the other Cenobites can be recast easily, Pinhead definitely cannot.

Brad Dourif As Chucky – Child’s Play (1988)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

The Child’s Play series has several great performances. As Andy Barclay, Alex Vincent gives one of the best child actor performances in a horror movie. However, the films’ most notable performance is Brad Dourif as Chucky.

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Dourif himself is only seen at the beginning of the first film. But it doesn’t matter, as Chucky is inextricably linked to the actor’s voice. His guttural line deliveries bring life to the killer doll more than any animatronics or CGI.

Jamie Lee Curtis As Laurie Strode – Halloween (1978)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Like other actors on the list, Jamie Lee Curtis has had a long and successful career in Hollywood outside their respective horror franchises. Despite her other film and television projects, she keeps coming back to Laurie Strode.

Curtis is the prototypical Scream Queen because of her performance in the original. She came back for Halloween II before a hiatus from the series. She reinvented the character for the first time with her understated performance in Halloween: H20. The second time was with Halloween (2018). Not many A-List stars would embrace their horror roots much less return to reboot their character in 20-year intervals.

Anthony Hopkins As Hannibal Lecter – The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

One of the most prolific and talented actors of his or any other generation, Anthony Hopkins has been in many great films. Even still, if the mass audience were asked to name one of his characters, many of them would undoubtedly say Hannibal Lecter.

The actor and character have more screentime in the follow-ups, Hannibal and Red Dragon, but it’s what he did with his few scenes in The Silence of the Lambs that audiences remember. Every one of Lecter’s interactions with Clarice Starling is hair-raising and captivating to a startling degree.

Bruce Campbell As Ash Williams – The Evil Dead (1981)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Fans can’t imagine someone besides Bruce Campbell playing Ash Williams in The Evil Dead series. The goofball character is tailored to the actor’s personality (by director and friend Sam Raimi). Williams was initially played fairly straight before one of the best horror movie sequels, Evil Dead II, upped the ante.

Campbell’s rubber-faced line deliveries make the franchise feel like an R-rated, live-action cartoon. Campbell’s lovable sense of humor helps counteract the surrounding carnage, which benefits the films’ tone. The actor is done with the character now but left it on a high note with the terrific Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead, which ran for three seasons.

Sigourney Weaver As Ellen Ripley – Alien (1979)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Sigourney Weaver has had a very successful career outside the Alien franchise, having starred in popular films like Avatar and Working Girl. But it’s her performance as Ellen Ripley in the original Alien that has held the most staying power.

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Ripley reprised the role in Aliens, which made both the character and the performer behind her icons. Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection didn’t have the same level of quality as the first two, but Weaver’s performance was never given anything less than praise.

Jack Nicholson As Jack Torrance – The Shining (1980)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Nicholson has had one of the most notable careers in Hollywood history, with acclaim given to just about every role. So for a performance in a horror film to be near the top of the list is impressive. Even still, The Shining ranks among the actor’s best films, and his performance is widely seen as a major reason for its glowing reputation.

Stephen King himself doesn’t like The Shining, citing how he believes Nicholson’s Jack Torrance is obviously homicidal from the beginning. Regardless, Kubrick’s film showcases Nicholson at his most unhinged, and viewers continue to find the performance terrifying.

Linda Blair As Regan MacNeil – The Exorcist (1973)

10 Horror Actors Synonymous With Their Roles

Linda Blair received both notoriety and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist. MacNeil is inarguably one of the most difficult roles a young actor can take on, and Blair is perfect.

The rest of Blair’s career has been heavily populated by horror movies, none of which come close to rivaling The Exorcist’s impact. It’s referenced by movies like The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It to this day. Furthermore, Blair’s subsequent performances never held the captivating power of her work as MacNeil.

Robert Englund As Freddy Krueger – A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Robert Englund’s performance as Freddy Krueger shifted throughout his eight-movie run. In the original, Krueger is an enigma. This aspect has allowed A Nightmare on Elm Street to hold up. Englund employs such a specific posture in the movie that recasting Freddy Krueger would have been catastrophic for the series.

Englund’s inseparability from the character only intensified once humor was added to his list of traits. Englund’s physicality is perfect for the character, even under the makeup, but audiences think of his dry wit when they think of Freddy Krueger. The actor has appeared in horror projects outside the Nightmare series, but Krueger is easily the role he’s most identified with.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/horror-actors-snonymous-with-roles/

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