Edited: Brits Behaving Badly

Image: Sony Pictures

To coincide with the release of The Amazing Spider-Man, which sees Rhys Ifans take on the role of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard, we’ve put together a quick little post featuring some Brits who are good at playing bad.

Jeremy Irons/Scar (The Lion King)

The campest baddie in the land. Scar proves that it’s possible to be sinfully delightful and comical as a villain. Who could resist watching a slothful, ineffective, bearded lion parade around with an inept trio of hyenas?

Anthony Hopkins/Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of Lambs)

He may not be seducing us with the quintessential British accent, but this great performance is worthy of a mention.

James Mason/Phillip Vandamm (North by Northwest)

Calm and collected. The best type of evil. You almost think he’s normal.

Joan Collins/Alexis Carrington (Dynasty)

British villainesses are lacking, and so we thought we’d throw a random bit of Alexis Carrington into the mix. She infiltrated the small screen and made a big impression. Whether TV or cinema, drama’s drama, and Dynasty was one of the biggest.

Christopher Lee/Saruman (Lord of the Rings)

The man of many menacing faces. His villainous ways are too many to mention, but the list wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from him.

David Bowie/Jareth (Labyrinth)

The movie that made a million kids go mad. Davie Bowie stars as the goblin king who steals Jennifer Connelly’s baby brother, forcing little Jenny into a giant maze full of fugly goblins. Sitting on his throne with a crystal ball not saying much, sporting a Tina Turner-esque mullet. You can imagine. Frightening.

Ian Mckellen/ Magneto (X-Men)

The arch-enemy of Professor Xavier and his men, Magneto is intent on mutating the whole of mankind. Played by Sir Ian, the X-men movie gave the metal bender a 21st century revamp, with a British twist.

Alan Rickman/Severus Snape (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

The Harry Potter saga is over but Severus Snape definitely made his presence felt. Rickman’s played evil more than once but we thought we’d go with his most recent performance.

Malcom McDowell/Alex (A Clockwork Orange)

Alex DeLarge, leader of the violent “droogs”. Be wary of anyone coming towards you wearing a bowler hat, white shirt and trousers, and a codpiece... the movie sparked a lot of copycat behaviour.

Glenn Close/Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians)

She's not British, we know, but in order to play evil she had to adopt an English accent - and the many women fortunate enough to have stepped into the De Vil’s shoes have had to play British in order to portray one of the most, if not most, iconic villainesses. And don’t forget, while Streep is in a league of her own, before The Devil came Ms. De Vil.

FG