Every once in a while, you’ll watch an actor encompass a role so completely that you realize you’ll never be able to unsee them in that specific part for the rest of your life.
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Universal Pictures
Well, this week, redditor…*ahem*…u/HugeBlackBalls69 asked, “Which actor played their role TOO WELL?” and movie lovers really came through with their favorite performances — including both heroic and villainous characters!
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Warner Bros
So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the actors whose talent has made it difficult for people to separate them from their characters:
1. Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
“There are very, very few villains that I’ve seen in books, movies, or video games that I’ve wanted to personally kill more than her, and that means that the actor did an unbelievably good job as a twisted villain.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com
2. Danny Glover as Mister in The Color Purple (1985)
Courtesy Everett Collection / ©Warner Bros / courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection
“I haven’t liked Danny Glover since.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros / Via youtube.com
3. Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus in Gladiator (2000)
Dreamworks / ©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I couldn’t watch him in another movie for years because I hated his character so freaking much.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
DreamWorks / Via youtube.com
4. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007)
Miramax / ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Man, that scene where his candy bar wrapper uncrumples as he contemplates what to do with the store clerk — it’s giving me goosebumps just thinking about it.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Miramax / Via youtube.com
5. Kim Eui-sung as Yong-suk in Train to Busan (2016)
Well Go USA Entertainment
“Every single time I thought I couldn’t hate that character more, I found a new way to hate him. As a character, I detested him, body and soul. As an actor, I can only begrudgingly admit that he was stupendous and performed his role so demonstrably well that I had, and still have, some difficulties separating him from his character to this day.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Well Go USA Entertainment / Via youtube.com
6. Malcolm McDowell as Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection / Everett Collection
“I can’t even look at the guy.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com
7. Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler (2014)
Courtesy Everett Collection
“I always found his face to be unnerving, so when I saw him in that movie, suddenly it all made sense. He was born for that role.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Open Road Films / Via youtube.com
8. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Logan (2017)
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
“The next iteration of Wolverine is going to have to hit it out of the park to top that performance.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com
9. Gerald Butler as Clyde Owen in Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Overture Films / Overture Films / courtesy Everett Collection
“Thinking about the ending of that movie still pisses me off to this day, and I still can’t stand Jamie Foxx because of it.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Overture Films / Via youtube.com
10. Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Fox Searchlight / ©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Haunting.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Fox Searchlight / Via youtube.com
11. Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Weinstein Company / ©Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection
“The opening scene of the movie has got to be the best introduction to a character I’ve ever seen. The man was terrifying.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Weinstein Company / Via youtube.com
12. Sam Rockwell as Wild Bill in The Green Mile (1999)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
“What a vile, disgusting human being, and what an amazing performance! That gave me the heebie jeebies for a long time.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros / Via youtube.com
13. Robin Williams as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting (1997)
Miramax / ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
“The scene when he’s talking to Will in the park is still the only movie scene that can make me cry.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Miramax / Via youtube.com
14. Alan Rickman as The Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Courtesy Everett Collection
“Everyone else was just OK in that movie, but he nailed the sheriff. That was the first time I’d seen him act. Plus, ‘Cancel the kitchen scraps for the lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas!’ is still one of my favorite lines in any movie.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com
15. Vincent D’Onofrio as Edgar in Men in Black (1997)
Columbia Pictures
“How the fuck is someone given the role of ‘A bug alien wearing a human as a decomposing skin suit,’ and they absolutely nail it?!”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com
16. Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972)
Courtesy Everett Collection
“He played that character only with his eyes — with that certain stare that’ll make you leave the country and change your identity.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com
17. Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990)
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“She was absolutely terrifying. The contrast between this and her films like Fried Green Tomatoes where her character is really sweet is pretty amazing.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com
18. Matt Dillon as Jack in The House that Jack Built (2018)
© IFC Films / courtesy Everett Collection
“He did way too good in that role.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
IFC Films / Via youtube.com
19. Billy Zane as Cal in Titanic (1997)
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
“I absolutely DESPISED him, which means he did his job right.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
20th Century Fox / Via youtube.com
20. Christopher Mintz-Plasse as McLovin in Superbad (2007)
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Hardly anyone knows the actor’s real name, but they all know McLovin.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com
21. J.K. Simmons as Fletcher in Whiplash (2014)
Courtesy Everett Collection
“I’m convinced he’s a terrifying, abusive man, and I can’t unsee it.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Sony Pictures Classics / Via youtube.com
22. Saoirse Ronan as Briony in Atonement (2007)
Focus Features / ©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection
“It’s been so long, but I still can’t watch any of her newer films because I’m still mad at Briony.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Focus Features / Via youtube.com
23. Adam Scott as Derek in Step Brothers (2008)
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
“He was so good that now — even when I see people with his same facial type — I almost immediately assume they’re going to be a condescending douchebag.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Columbia Pictures / Via youtube.com
24. Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999)
Universal Pictures / Everett
“He was in character nonstop and was so good that Andy’s real family came to hang out with Jim on set and said it was like Andy had come back to life.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com
25. Denzel Washington as Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
“He EMBODIED that role.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros / Via youtube.com
26. Gary Oldman as Drexl Spivey in True Romance (1993)
Warner Bros.
“That guy is so over the top that it somehow became believable again. Dude disappeared into that role.”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com
27. And finally, Matthew Lillard as Shaggy in Scooby-Doo (2002)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
“He was so good [that] he continued to voice Shaggy in a lot of animated projects!”
Watch a little of the performance here:
View this video on YouTube
Warner Bros / Via youtube.com
All right, you’ve read theirs, but now it’s your turn! What actor did a little TOO WELL in a specific role? Share all your thoughts in the comments below!
Some entries were edited for length and/or clarity. H/T: Reddit.