From sitcom stars to serious psychopaths! Join us as we explore the most shocking transformations in entertainment, where beloved comedic actors took dark turns as unforgettable villains. These performances prove that sometimes the funniest people can also be the scariest.
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00:00But I know a lot of people who deserve to die.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best villain performances
00:10from actors known for their goofier characters.
00:13There was a time when I found myself funny, but today you have proven me wrong. Thank you.
00:21Number 10, Greg Hunt, The White Lotus.
00:24What do you do?
00:26I'm retired.
00:27What did you do before you retired?
00:35Uh, this and that?
00:38This beloved HBO drama mostly tells standalone stories, with each season having its own definitive
00:44storyline with a new cast and setting. But there are a few overarching threads and characters,
00:50including John Grise's Greg. And we're sorry, but we just can't take this dude seriously without
00:56thinking of throwing a football over them mountains.
00:59How much you want to make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?
01:05Well, if a coach would have put me in fourth quarter, we'd have been state champions, no doubt.
01:11No doubt in my mind.
01:13Greg is a sleazy schemer, even orchestrating the murder of his own wife for financial gain.
01:18Grise is fantastic in the role, restrained, subtly menacing, and deeply suspicious.
01:24He's an eerily real killer rather than a caricatured villain. And then you go back 20 years and watch
01:30him throw a steak at Napoleon's head. The magic of good acting.
01:34Watch this.
01:39What the heck are you doing?
01:44That's what I'm talking about.
01:46Number 9. Griselda Blanco.
01:48Griselda.
01:48Sofia Vergara got her breakout playing Gloria Delgado Pritchett in Modern Family. And while
02:05she's no Phil, Gloria certainly had her goofy moments. Vergara's performance was widely acclaimed,
02:10and she earned four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
02:15Ain't this what you want? The perfect American wife to make your life more convenient?
02:20You think that's an American accent?
02:22From Texas.
02:23And in 2024, she got a promotion to Outstanding Lead Actress for playing the godmother herself,
02:30Griselda Blanco. Blanco was a real Colombian drug lord operating in Miami throughout the 80s
02:35and 90s, and who was notorious for her acts of extreme violence, like killing all three of her
02:41husbands. Vergara is literally unrecognizable in the role, completely transforming from silly,
02:47harmless Gloria into a ruthless drug lord.
02:56Number 8. Joseph. Creep.
02:59Can I ask you a question and you answer me honestly?
03:01Okay.
03:03When you saw that axe up front of the house,
03:06was there a small part of you that thought I might kill you with it?
03:09If you want Creep to be more effective, then don't watch Mark Duplass in The League.
03:13While his character, Pete Eckhart, is the straight man amidst more exaggerated characters,
03:19he is still plenty goofy. Pete is often the instigator of pranks and schemes,
03:23and Duplass gives him a laid-back, sarcastic charm that makes him insanely likable.
03:28So, Taco Corp's big creation for 2013 is a horn that makes people go to the bathroom?
03:34Correction. A horn that makes terrorists go to the bathroom.
03:37And in Creep, he plays a murderous psychopath. Duplass effortlessly commands the screen,
03:43hiding Joseph's malicious nature and ulterior motives behind a superficial charm. It's actually
03:49eerie how well he plays a conniving psycho, and how realistic that portrayal actually is.
03:54This is great, huh? Two guys having some whiskeys? It's really great, man. What a great day, you know?
04:02Number 7. Gus Fring, Breaking Bad.
04:05If you are who I think you are, you should give me another chance.
04:11I don't think we're alike at all, Mr. White.
04:19Before this beloved show came around, Giancarlo Esposito was known for his collaborations with Spike Lee.
04:25And of them all, his most famous role was that of bugging out in Do the Right Thing.
04:30He's a passionate and hot-headed young man, and while his heart is in the right place,
04:35no one takes him very seriously, owing to his absurd persona.
04:39Yeah, that might be fine, Sal, but you own this.
04:43Rarely do I see any American Italians eating in here. All I see is black folks.
04:48So since we spend much money here, we do have some sex.
04:52Fast-talking, animated, and exaggerated, bugging out is a real goofball.
04:57And Gus Fring is the exact opposite. Slow-talking, reserved, and cold.
05:02Polite on the surface, but hiding a malicious interior,
05:05Gus Fring is undeniably one of the best villains in TV history.
05:09And Esposito played him to perfection.
05:12I will kill your wife. I will kill your son.
05:17I will kill your infant daughter.
05:21Number 6. Gemma Teller Morrow, Sons of Anarchy.
05:25I'll assume that's the drink talk.
05:26I'll assume whatever you want.
05:29All I know is, since you and your boys rolled into our alley,
05:32we're short three lives.
05:34We need more Shakespeare adaptations like this.
05:37Sons of Anarchy is a fun crime drama about a motorcycle gang,
05:40but it's also a modern retelling of Hamlet.
05:43And Gemma Teller Morrow inhabits the role of Gertrude.
05:46Katie Segal is exceptional in the role,
05:48playing a brutally manipulative woman
05:51who acts as the ruthless enforcer of both the club
05:54and her immediate family.
05:55You get well.
05:57Come see you at family day.
06:00Oh, Jesus Christ.
06:02It's terrifying.
06:04You're my family.
06:07Yes, we are.
06:09With her intense eye contact,
06:11gravelly voice,
06:12and commanding posture,
06:13Gemma is an intimidating matriarch,
06:15and not someone you ever want to cross.
06:17It's almost impossible to believe
06:19that she is also the wildly exaggerated Peggy Bundy
06:22in Married with Children.
06:24Supper's served!
06:25Where is it, Peg?
06:42Number 5.
06:44John L. Luther DuPont
06:45Foxcatcher
06:46A coach is a father.
06:51A coach is a mentor.
06:56A coach has great power.
07:03Great import on an athlete's life.
07:07When it comes to hilarious goofballs,
07:09it's hard not to think of Michael Scott.
07:11He's one of the greatest examples in television history.
07:14So to watch Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
07:16is to witness the power of acting.
07:18He plays John L. Luther DuPont,
07:20the murdering philanthropist
07:22who killed wrestler David Schultz in 1996.
07:24With the help of facial prosthetics,
07:34stiff movements,
07:34and a different voice,
07:36Carell physically transforms
07:37into the famous criminal
07:38while also conveying his deep loneliness
07:40and insecurity.
07:42And instead of playing DuPont
07:44as overtly menacing,
07:45Carell uses restraint
07:47with awkward social interactions
07:48and subtle glances
07:50helping to build tension.
07:51It's a remarkably scary performance
07:54that earned Carell
07:55his first Oscar nomination.
07:57I only had one real friend growing up.
08:02Hugh Sherry, Hubie.
08:06He was the son of my mother's chauffeur.
08:09Number four, Howard Stambler,
08:1110 Cloverfield Lane.
08:13See how low drugs have made you sink?
08:24Well, Dan,
08:24I think I would remember
08:26hiding pot in the house.
08:28Not if you were stoned at the time.
08:30John Goodman is such an acclaimed actor
08:32with such an enormous filmography
08:34that we often forget
08:35he was even on Roseanne.
08:37He plays Dan Connor,
08:38a blue-collar,
08:39easygoing,
08:40and loving family man.
08:41He's easily one of the most beloved dads
08:44in sitcom history,
08:45with Goodman earning praise
08:46for his tenderness
08:47and silly sense of humor.
08:49There's all these short people
08:50in there making you a birthday feast.
08:52They are?
08:53Really?
08:54Yeah.
08:55Do I have to eat it?
08:56And in 10 Cloverfield Lane,
08:58Goodman takes what is probably
09:00his darkest turn
09:01as Howard Stambler,
09:02a paranoid and menacing survivalist
09:05who traps two people
09:06in an underground bunker.
09:08The two characters
09:09couldn't be more different,
09:10with Howard sharing
09:11none of Dan's cuddly warmth.
09:13He's cold,
09:14calculating,
09:14and physically imposing.
09:16A man who is not to be trusted
09:17and who is deeply,
09:19deeply unstable.
09:21It's highly corrosive.
09:26Dissolves.
09:27Most biological material
09:29on contact with humans
09:32right down to the bone.
09:35Number three,
09:36Arthur Mitchell, Dexter.
09:38Why did you tell me?
09:40So you'd know you're not alone.
09:42You're just like me.
09:43We're both responsible
09:45for the death of an innocent.
09:46For his role in
09:47Third Rock from the Sun,
09:49John Lithgow earned three Emmys
09:50for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
09:53It's a legendary comedic performance
09:54with a very theatrical,
09:56almost Shakespearean intensity.
09:59Lithgow throws his entire body
10:00into the role,
10:01with his over-the-top movements
10:03and facial expressions
10:04making every moment
10:05feel joyously unpredictable.
10:07Dick, I didn't realize you
10:08and Todd were such good friends.
10:09Well, you know how it is.
10:11A college professor,
10:12police officer,
10:13it's a scheduling nightmare,
10:14but when we do find the time,
10:15Don and I are practically inseparable.
10:18Isn't that right, Donnie, old boy?
10:19Meanwhile, his portrayal
10:20of Arthur Mitchell
10:21is widely considered
10:22a masterpiece of dramatic acting,
10:25with a deeply chilling ability
10:26to switch between
10:27a warm, paternal presence
10:29and a terrifying predator.
10:31The duality within his performance
10:33is nothing short of mesmerizing,
10:34and watching Lithgow work
10:36is watching a master of his craft.
10:38Look at you.
10:39I never took pride in what I did.
10:41No, you're a very special
10:43kind of monster.
10:44Number two, Mickey Knox,
10:46Natural Born Killers.
10:49It's just murder, man.
10:50All God's creatures do it
10:52in some form or another.
10:53I mean, you look in the forest.
10:55You got species killing other species,
10:57our species killing all species,
10:59including the forest,
11:00and we just call it industry,
11:02not murder.
11:03Like John Goodman,
11:04Woody Harrelson has had
11:06such a varied career
11:07that we often forget
11:08his start in comedy.
11:10His big break came via Woody Boyd,
11:12the goofy and simple-minded
11:14bartender on Cheers.
11:15Harrelson earned five Emmy nominations
11:17for his performance,
11:18winning once.
11:19See, I tend bar back home in Indiana.
11:22Well, it's not a bar exactly.
11:24It's more like a pigsty with a jukebox.
11:28But it was with Natural Born Killers
11:30that people started taking him seriously
11:31as a dramatic actor.
11:33He plays Mickey Knox,
11:34one half of an evil couple
11:36who take joy and seek fame through murder.
11:39Boyd's goofiness is entirely absent,
11:41replaced by a psychotic glee
11:43and a dead look behind the eyes.
11:45And to think,
11:46this movie came out just one year
11:48after Cheers ended.
11:49Talk about Whiplash.
11:50Mickey Knox,
11:51when did you first start thinking about killing?
11:55Birth.
11:55I was thrown into a flaming pit of scum
11:58forgotten by God.
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12:15Number one,
12:17Walter Finch,
12:18Insomnia.
12:19Working on a new book, Mr. Finch?
12:21Have you read any of my books?
12:23I haven't.
12:24Robin Williams was the very epitome
12:26of a goofball.
12:27It was his bread and butter,
12:29and it made him very,
12:30very famous.
12:31That said,
12:32Williams also had many dramatic roles,
12:34including a few turns as the villain.
12:36One hour photo immediately springs to mind,
12:39but for our money,
12:40his best bad guy role
12:41was that of Walter Finch in Insomnia.
12:44We know how easy it is to kill somebody.
12:48That ultimate taboo,
12:51it doesn't exist outside our minds.
12:54I didn't murder her.
12:57I killed her,
12:58but it just ended up that way.
13:00Not only does Williams play against type as a murderer,
13:03but he brings a heightened psychological complexity
13:05that is just wonderful to behold.
13:08Walter has layers,
13:09and Williams plays him with an eerie calmness,
13:12complete with a soft-spoken nature
13:13and very deliberate phrasing.
13:16Williams was never more insidious,
13:18and we needed a Mrs. Doubtfire cleanser after this one.
13:21Ha!
13:23Cleanser!
13:25What's up?
13:26You're home early, girlfriend.
13:29Having a birthday in the house.
13:31What was your favorite against type performance?
13:34Let us know in the comments.
13:35Mr. Hillard,
13:36do you consider yourself humorous?
13:38Do you agree with our picks?
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14:08See you next time.