*braces* - Joe The Sausage

*twitches* - Derrick

What actor do you think is the best at playing both good guys AND bad guys? For the purpose of discussion, "good" guy can mean "funny" as well, as long as it's a definite foil to the evil parts they've played. - FFing Enigma

Gary Oldman - Mary Carmen

best? i dunno. i rate Gene Hackman pretty highly. but i dunno who the best is. - Joe The Sausage

Sam Neill - ωαřмaiden TeamOtto

Oh, I was preparing for a "I'M LEAVING FF" or some big ranty post. - Rochelle

I'm torn, for me it's a tie between John Lithgowe and Donald Sutherland. - FFing Enigma

no, I'M leaving FF! - Joe The Sausage

Clive Owen (he should have been Bond) - Jess

*crickets* - Joe The Sausage

Samuel L. Jackson ...ummm, this is a very TASTY hamburger! - .LAG liked that

John Travolta - Mary Carmen

i see what you did there, Satan. - Joe The Sausage

Alan Rickman - Alex Scrivener

Alan Rickman was great in Snow Cake. - Joe The Sausage

Bruce Willis - .LAG liked that

Matt Damon - .LAG liked that

Pruitt Taylor Vince - Rene, Pro Button Pusher

I have to give a little love to Christopher Walken. But, others have mentioned some good ones! - Katy S

+1 Alan Rickman - loved him in Blow Dry - Daniel J. Pritchett

Rick Moranis - Outsanity

I find it interesting that everyone we've named had been male. - Katy S

Doh, I forgot Christopher Walken!!! Katy, he was on my original list when I first had this conversation 10 years ago... Oh, and I figured all males was because of the verbiage 'actor'. I'd have to mull it over for actresses (they don't always get as great a range of roles =/ ) - FFing Enigma

I know - women don't get the same range. I figure the word actor had something to do with people's choices, too. - Katy S

Meryl Streep - .LAG liked that

Humphrey Bogart comes to mind. - Brian Sullivan

I second Meryl Streep - The Amber

Kathy Bates - Iván Abrego

Jack - Rodfather

A lot of good mentions here. Rickman would have been the first to spring to mind for me. Oldman is fantastic, though. He's absolutely protean. Kathy Bates has played both good and bad well. - Spidra Webster

YES on Kathy Bates!!! And I agree on Streep as well. - FFing Enigma

I betcha Jane Lynch can do both. - Spidra Webster

Angela Lansbury was pretty scary in Manchurian Candidate. Kathy Bates rocks! - Katy S

Oh, good one, katy! - Spidra Webster

Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson - JCunwired

How about Kevin Spacey? - Kenton

Someone might have to fact check for me (as I'm not really a film/TV buff): did Joan Collins ever play nice/funny? Did she do it worth a damn? If so I'd say she's up there! - FFing Enigma

Hugh Jackman. If you've never seen "The Prestige", DO EET. - Spidra Webster

Jimmy Stewart, hands down. - Que Sarah Sarah

Harrelson was also on my original list, can't believe I forgot him! And I'd definitely agree on Spacey and Stewart... - FFing Enigma

Also, YOU CALL THIS DRAMA? :P - Que Sarah Sarah

I AM THE DRAMA LLAMA!!! And I am also ept and gruntled =D - FFing Enigma

Tim Roth, He's got the rough love good guy and the downright nasty bad guy in him. - Rasmus Lauridsen

John Lithgow. He's brilliant as both the funny man and the villain. - ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift

DAMN! I forgot the reason I had this train of thought in the first place: I saw Tim Curry in a Rocky Horror clip on TV and he's on my list. - FFing Enigma

Where have you seen Jimmy Stewart as a bad guy? - Spidra Webster

Harrison Ford - Louis Gray

Michael Moore - Louis Gray

Spidra, I know Stewart played a murderer early in his career. A more established videophile might have more/better examples. - FFing Enigma

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a famous example of Stewart as a bad guy. Vertigo is a great example of him as a twisted character - he's extremely sadistic at times. - Que Sarah Sarah

I can see that, MVB. Not to mention she went from streetwise trollop to naive rube one show right after the other. - FFing Enigma

I vote for Denzel Washington - Eric

It's been a while since I saw Liberty Valance. Guess I forgot. I'm not as big a fan of his westerns as I am of his other work. Early in his career, Stewart was actually cast as the male ingenue. He even sings in "Born to Dance". The studio didn't know what to do with him yet. - Spidra Webster

Bette Davis - Katy S

Glenn Close. She was so scary in Fatal Attraction. - Rodfather

Alan Rickman - Soup in a TARDIS

Kevin Spacey by far, BY FAR!!! - Jordi Soler

Tough call but Anthony Hopkins because you have to clarify the definition of evil and whether it is done out of wickedness or weakness. For instance, take the role Macbeth. He clearly does evil but it is out of a tragic flaw, he's aware that its wrong but can't seem to stop himself, even at the end. But you pity him because he knows and its eating him away from the inside out. But the kind of evil that knows full well its wrong and does not care, that is the scariest kind, the kind that tries to blur the line. Now take the role of Hannibal Lector. One does not have to delve too deeply there. Instant recognition! - Melanie Reed

And yet Anthony played C. S. Lewis in "The Shadowlands" a man of God and Christian apologist so far removed from Hannibel as to be in heaven away from hell. The love he showed for God and his wife as he cared for her during terminal cancer till her death was the full spectrum of the human experience of love and joy in the midst of grief - Melanie Reed

When Hopkins plays good characters there always seems to be something lacking there. Why? His eyes: they're too smart to reflect only pure goodness. Whereas Spacey, oh my, he can play devil or saint as he chooses, although he likes to walk the line between both. Take his defining role for instance: Keyser Söze. He has you fooled right til the end into believing he's the kindest character of all. Then, suddenly, the hint of a smile... - Jordi Soler

Jordi, I like that you caught that! There is a moment in the film "Shadowlands" where Joy has just learned that she has cancer and its incurable and she looks up at him after leaning the truth from him and says:"You're looking properly at me now. You never looked properly at me before." And its true. Hopkins does an amazing job just with his eyes at that moment. - Melanie Reed

Richard Harris! - Katy S

:) How did I know that you were going to pick "The Sting" Matthew. I can almost here Joplin's "Solace" in the background. But are you sure about "Quint" ?! *squints* - Melanie Reed

@Melanie: I'll have to rewatch "Shadowlands". Must confess that I found it quite boring the first time I saw it (long time ago). But seriously, Hopkins has some issues when trying to portray ambivalent characters (take "Human Stain", for instance). On the other hand, he is perfect when he has to play evil masterminds as the one in "Fracture". - Jordi Soler

Jordi, I recall the Human Stain and chalked that up to wanting to pay some bills or an agent somewhere. Anthony is a bit of a conundrum in the roles he takes but then again, its a business. He does seem to excel in roles calling upon his ability to play the divided soul: Magic, Guilty Conscience. And I think it is this soulful ambidexterity that allows him to go either way or in the middle if you will. He did very well as the doctor in the remake of the Betty Davis vehicle "Dark Victory" and he made the aging Don Diego in the remake of "Zorro" believable. But he gives himself away the most in "The Edge": the intellectual man not quite always comfortable with his emotions or himself at times and you see that in his eyes, this holding back from the surrender. - Melanie Reed

Steven Weber - Spidra Webster

Ian McKellen - The original Kevin

If you want to see Hopkins as a truly likable and sympathetic character, watch "The Fastest Indian". You root for him the whole time. - FFing Enigma

Tina, I have been wanting to see that and several things kept getting in the way. (my dvd drive died) Now that I have a DVD drive back in a laptop I can reserve it from our library. Thanks for reminding me! :) - Melanie Reed

Cary Grant is my number one. In a close second is Brad Pitt. Johnny Depp is good, too. I also like Guy Pearce for this. Kathy Bates and Hugh Jackman are good mentions. Robin Williams is also a good pull (he's played some really disturbing bad guys). - Curdy G

Agree, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins......and most definitely Gene Hackman! - Bonnie Foster

When was Robin Williams a bad guy? - Parvez Halim

Robin Williams has played a villain in "Insomnia" (the American remake of a Norwegian film) and "One Hour Photo" - Spidra Webster

I would say Deniro, but I think even his "good guy" characters are still kind of frightening and intense. - Curdy G from iPhone

Ian McShane. Have a look at his portrayal as "swedgin" in Deadwood. - Terry O'Fee

Tim Curry was the first that came to mind. Many other good ones mentioned, Alan Rickman is high on my list. It's also interesting how many of these people are attractive, moral ambiguity must be a turn-on... weird. - Lo the Baker

what about Johnny Depp and John Travolta? so mainstream but pretty diverse catalogs... - Robyn Hawk

I said Johnny Depp, and quite a few people mentioned John Travolta. - Curdy G from iPhone

Just thought of another one! Vigo Mortenson!! - FFing Enigma

Great point. He does both in "A History of Violence" - Alex Scrivener

Robert Carlyle (the more facial hair, the more evil). Helen Mirren. - Rob H. from iPhone