It might sound paradoxical, considering how much actors thrive on recognition, but the ultimate goal of any great performer is to disappear completely into their roles. That’s easy to say for likeable or complex characters that audiences can sympathize with – but what happens when actors melt into truly despicable people from real-life atrocities?
Getting recognized as “that guy who played Hitler once” can be a bit of a dubious distinction. However, these 10 actors prove that you can easily make movie history by becoming the very best version of the very worst people.
10. Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald – JFK (1991)
No one is on the same level as Gary Oldman when it comes to disappearing into their roles. Whether it’s due to some impressive prosthetic work or thanks to his chameleonic range, Oldman can play all sorts of characters, from a man with dwarfism to a campy space opera villain.
In JFK, we see Oldman completely transformed into Lee Harvey Oswald. Despite his limited screen time, Oldman’s Oswald is a near-perfect recreation of the historical assassin, down to his mannerisms and distinctively lean complexion.
9. Michael Shannon as Richard Kuklinski – The Iceman (2012)
Kuklinski was one of the most ruthless mob killers ever put to trial. Active in New Jersey from the 40s and into the 80s, the killer earned a reputation for freezing the body of one of his victims to hide the time of death.
2012’s The Iceman reunited an all-star cast to follow the life of this criminal boss leading a double life in New Jersey, and Michael Shannon played the titular role to perfection. In a movie filled with solid performances, Shannon delivers a chilling take on the ice-cold Kuklinski. That’s it, no more ice puns.
8. David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen – Des (2020)
Most people remember Tennant fondly for his time as the legendary Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who. However, in 2020, the actor leaned into his surprisingly solid villain skills to portray one of Scotland’s most infamous serial killers. The miniseries Des chronicles the capture, investigation, and eventual trial of Dennis Nilsen, a man said to have killed at least fifteen young men.
Though the show avoids getting overly graphic, the implied violence of Nilsen’s killings, contrasted with Tennant’s superb performance as the cold and unapologetic killer, turns Des into a modern, underrated crime drama.
7. Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin – The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Easily one of modern history’s most ruthless dictators, Idi Amin ruled Uganda with an iron fist from 1971 to 1979, earning the lovely title of “The Butcher of Uganda” thanks to his ruthless methods. Forest Whitaker portrayed the man in an Oscar-winning performance in the film The Last King of Scotland.
The movie follows a Scottish doctor who becomes Amin’s personal confidant, but soon faces a moral conundrum once he sees himself as complicit in the dictator’s nefarious deeds.
6. Austin Butler as Tex Watson – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
2019 was an amazing year for Austin Butler. The Dead Don’t Die turned him into an indie favorite, but his role as Tex Watson in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood truly set him on his way to mainstream fame.
Butler plays a charming and easygoing Watson, one who’s partially detached from the cold and insidious real-life killer who was a member of the Manson Family, but who easily turns into one of the film’s highlights.
5. Zac Efron as Ted Bundy – Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
From High School Musical to playing one of the best and most disturbing takes on Ted Bundy, Zac Efron proved he’s a surprisingly malleable performer with an enviable range. In Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, we see Efron portray Bundy with clinical precision, letting the audience contemplate the serial killer’s double life and his pathological refusal to admit any sort of guilt for his ghastly crimes.
4. Damon Herriman as Charles Manson – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Mindhunter (2019)
It takes skill to play one of Hollywood’s most infamous killers, but it takes some sort of supernatural appeal to play him twice the same year. For the Australian actor Damon Herriman, his physical likeness to Manson was both a blessing and a curse in 2019, leading him to play the leader of one of the most infamous murder cults in both Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Mindhunter. He might be in Tarantino’s film in just one scene, but Herriman’s haunting performance easily steals the show.
3. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos – Monster (2003)
Celebrated as one of Charlize Theron’s most complete performances, her turn as the serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster is nothing short of breathtaking. She went the extra mile to resemble the murderer, going so far as to remove and bleach her own eyebrows to achieve Wuornos’ signature deranged aesthetics.
The role deservedly earned Theron the Academy Award for Best Actress, with critics highlighting her performance as a highlight for the entire crime drama genre. Her performance is nuanced and complex, and while some critics tried to spin it as Patty Jenkins “justifying” Wuornos, the reality is much more chilling than that; it proves that, despite her brutal crimes, Wuornos was human, and that should be much more terrifying to us than if she were just a monster.
2. Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler – Downfall (2004)
Bruno Ganz’s legendary performance as Adolf Hitler has become a part of modern pop culture in ways no one could have predicted. Ganz’s uncanny physical similarities with the Austrian-born dictator earned him praise, sure, but the real strength was in his performance. That scene in which Hitler yells at his subordinates, as his entire house of cards starts to fall down, is a complete masterclass in tension and how to portray a psychological breakdown.
1. Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer – Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022)
What Evan Peters achieved in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is nothing short of spectacular. To put it bluntly, he became Dahmer – visually, at least. His uncanny resemblance to the infamous serial killer took everyone by surprise, delivering one of the most-watched (and controversial) crime dramas.
It’s safe to say that his portrayal as one of America’s most infamous killers introduced the actor to a new stage in his career, one where critics and audiences see him as the layered and nuanced performer that he is.
