Some roles hit differently when you know the truth about the actor... Join us as we examine the most unsettling performances that became even more disturbing after the actors' real-life controversies came to light. From predatory characters to manipulative villains, these roles took on new meaning following shocking revelations.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the creepiest parts from actors who were
00:08later revealed to be actual villains. James Franco as Alien, Spring Breakers.
00:21My name's Alien. My real name's Al, but truth be told, I ain't from this planet, y'all.
00:28This character is so over-the-top that he's kind of hilarious, until you think about all the gross
00:34things that James Franco is accused of doing to women in real life. Alien is a rapper and a gangster.
00:39After he bails a group of college girls out of jail, he manipulates them into joining his
00:43dangerous, illicit lifestyle.
00:44So don't put that on me.
00:48I don't know you.
00:49All right. And?
00:54I don't know what you want with me and my friends, but you should leave us alone.
00:58Well, I'm just trying to be nice.
01:00Eventually, things get sexual. Franco has also allegedly taken advantage of women in vulnerable
01:05situations. In 2019, he was sued by two students from his acting school, claiming that he had
01:11exploited them. He settled that lawsuit, and has never publicly acknowledged doing anything illegal.
01:15Strange as we...
01:20Hey, WatchMojo fans. I'm Mark Hope, the designer of Terrible Influence, the brand new board game
01:26from WatchMojo. And just like the celebrities on this list, in Terrible Influence, you get
01:31to roleplay as a character who could star in a movie, become famous, all while being a total
01:36piece of garbage. You might actually have talent and win a lifetime achievement award. Or maybe you'll
01:42have no self-respect and get caught up in a child labor scandal. It's all part of the messed up world we're all
01:48living in right now, and it's all part of Terrible Influence. Available for a limited time on Kickstarter.
01:56Gwyneth Paltrow as Beth Emhoff. Contagion.
01:59Considering how much snake oil and pseudoscience Gwyneth Paltrow peddles through her company Goop,
02:03it seems like only a matter of time before she becomes patient zero for something.
02:08Yeah, I'm just... I'm just jet-lagged.
02:12That's exactly what happens in Contagion. While on a business trip to Hong Kong,
02:16Beth shakes hands with a chef who has been touching diseased pork. She unwittingly becomes
02:20the first person infected with an extremely deadly virus. As she travels back home to
02:24Minneapolis via Chicago, she leaves a trail of sickness and death in her wake.
02:28Yes, Beth. Can you hear me?
02:30Unfortunately, no amount of essential oils or herbal supplements can cure it,
02:34just like in real life.
02:36Steven Seagal as Rogelio Torres.
02:38Machete.
02:39Why are you so insistent?
02:42I own the entire force and not just here in Mexico.
02:46I own the DEA. I own the Parsons.
02:50Why can't I own you?
02:52Over the last 35 years, Seagal has been accused of inappropriate behavior and even assault by
02:57numerous women who have worked with him. Although he's mostly managed to escape consequences,
03:01it's pretty safe to assume that he's a gross human being.
03:03I'm sure I can see.
03:05While he plays the hero in nearly all of his movies, his character in Machete is the bad
03:09guy. Torres traffics women and brutally murders them, sometimes for no reason at all. He gruesomely
03:14decapitates Machete's wife before the opening credits even roll.
03:18I never knew how to stay down, Puneta. So I guess I have to teach you.
03:23We don't see a lot of Seagal in this movie, but it's more than enough. Whose idea was it to cast
03:27him as a Mexican person anyway? Terrence Howard as DJ. Hustle and flow.
03:32See, man ain't like it though.
03:35It's kind of weird that Howard is still getting plenty of work in Hollywood,
03:38considering his dark past. He's been arrested for assaulting women more than once. His first
03:43wife accused him of threatening, harassing, and punching her, while his second wife had to take
03:48a restraining order against him. Twice.
03:50She whipped me and all, but she don't belong to me. Not necessarily. And maybe when she leaves,
04:00she can take something that don't necessarily belong to her neither.
04:02He was also arrested for grabbing and pushing a flight attendant. That's why it's so hard to
04:07watch his character DJ scream at women and slap them around. And just like Terrence Howard,
04:12he never really gets his comeuppance. I'm gonna lie. Because sometimes that's what you gotta do.
04:18Chris D'Elia as Henderson. You.
04:21I was right. He's a bad man who deserves to be punished.
04:24The similarities between the actor and the role are just too creepy here.
04:28Henderson is a moderately successful stand-up comedian who has a history of drugging and
04:33assaulting young victims. He tries to take advantage of Delilah's younger sister, Ellie,
04:37but fortunately, Joe stops him in time. In 2020, Chris D'Elia was accused of grooming and harassing
04:43multiple girls. After the news broke, other women came forward to share that D'Elia had been
04:48appropriate with them too.
04:49I'm proud of you, eyeballs. Now I really want to hear your feature idea.
04:53Afterward, several streaming services took his work off their sights. His agency dropped him,
04:58and he was replaced in Army of the Dead by Tig Notaro. In our opinion, that was an improvement.
05:02Who gets hurt? Nobody. They don't even remember. Delilah remembers. You're wrong.
05:08Army Hammer as Steve Lift. Sorry to bother you. Yeah, basically. I just didn't want you to think
05:14I was crazy. That I was doing this for no reason, because this isn't irrational.
05:19In this wild satire of corporate America, Hammer plays a CEO who's literally invented a new kind of
05:25slavery. No. Conclusively, no. Our workers do not sign contracts under threats of physical violence.
05:31We also learn that he's subjecting his employees to bizarre experiments and is basically a total
05:36psychopath. It turns out, Hammer was especially well-suited to that role. In 2021, women began
05:41coming forward with some freaky allegations against him. They accused him of assault,
05:46emotional abuse, and disturbing cannibalistic fantasies.
05:49It's people like you that are going to save this nation. I mean, look, don't get me wrong,
05:53we still need the workers to do the work, per se. We also need people like you. People that can be
05:58trusted. People that can analyze the challenge and adapt. Like a cunning raccoon. The details are
06:06extremely weird, and in a way, they retroactively ruin some of Hammer's other movies. It's tough to
06:11watch the charming young Oliver seducing Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name, now that we know
06:15about Hammer's apparent proclivities. I know myself, okay? And we've been good. We haven't done anything
06:21to be ashamed of, and that's a good thing. I want to be good. Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham,
06:27American Beauty. You probably remember Anthony Rapp coming forward with allegations of misconduct
06:31against Spacey in 2017, but you might not have heard that shortly afterwards, 15 more people made
06:37similar allegations against him. Don't interrupt me, honey. All of them claimed Spacey had been
06:42inappropriate with them when they were young. In an extremely bizarre move, Spacey posted a video
06:47denying everything, in character as Frank Underwood from House of Cards.
06:51I shocked you with my honesty, but mostly I challenged you and made you think.
06:57And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn't.
07:01Yet, it's watching him play Lester Burnham that really makes our skin crawl. During a midlife crisis,
07:06Lester becomes obsessed with his daughter's best friend. It was creepy in 1999,
07:10and it's 10 times creepier now. And don't get us started on his portrayal of the meticulous
07:16serial killer John Doe in 7.
07:18When this is done, when it's finished, it's going to be...
07:28People will barely be able to comprehend, but they won't be able to deny.
07:33Ezra Miller as Kevin Cachadorian. We need to talk about Kevin.
07:372022 was a wild year for Ezra Miller.
07:40They were involved in so many scandals,
07:46and accused of so many crimes and abuses,
07:48we don't even have time to list them all.
07:50We need to talk about Kevin is a dark drama,
07:52about a disturbed boy who manipulates his parents,
07:55and commits progressively more shocking acts of cruelty and violence.
07:59Miller's portrayal of Kevin is chilling.
08:00The character is cold and detached,
08:03showing no remorse for his actions.
08:05The real life Miller has admitted to suffering from mental health issues,
08:08and we can't help but wonder if they tapped into something deep inside them for the role.
08:12You don't look happy.
08:19However?
08:20Bill Cosby as Barney Satin.
08:22The Devil and Max Devlin.
08:24You already know everything you need to know about Cosby,
08:26but we bet you haven't heard of this pre-Cosby show Disney comedy,
08:30in which he plays a literal henchman of Satan.
08:32Fair?
08:34Are you forgetting where you are?
08:37He convinces people to sell their souls,
08:39and even tries to trick kids into signing theirs over.
08:41Just thought I'd remind you that a magic property lasts only as long as you
08:47and the subject are within sight of each other.
08:49That's only slightly worse than what he's accused of doing in real life.
08:52The mix of dark themes and corny kid-friendly comedy is jarring.
08:57What we're looking for is fresh, unsullied innocence.
09:03Cosby's performance has a menacing quality to it,
09:06but not in the way he intends.
09:08This movie will have you cringing on your couch for its entire 96-minute runtime.
09:12Mind if I join you?
09:14What are you doing here?
09:15Before we continue,
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09:31Woody Allen as Isaac Davis, Manhattan
09:34There have been rumors and allegations swirling around Woody Allen for years.
09:38To him, New York meant beautiful women.
09:40Most notably, his former partner Mia Farrow accused him of abusing their adopted daughter.
09:46Although Allen was never convicted of a crime,
09:47a judge described his behavior as grossly inappropriate.
09:51Allen later began a relationship with Farrow's adopted daughter,
09:54Suni Previn.
09:55From her previous marriage,
09:56He was always a sucker for those kind of women,
09:58you know, the kind that would involve him in discussions of existential reality, you know?
10:03They'd probably sit around on the floor with wine and cheese and mispronounce allegorical and didacticism.
10:10From her previous marriage,
10:11they started dating when he was 56 and she was just 21,
10:14and they're still together.
10:15In Manhattan, Allen plays a 42-year-old writer who's dating a high school senior.
10:20If that's not gross enough, the movie frames the relationship as a good one,
10:24and even implies the two are meant to be together.
10:27I mean it.
10:27I know it looks real bad now, but, uh, you know,
10:31I mean, are you, are you, are you seeing anybody?
10:33Are you going with anybody?
10:34No.
10:37So, well, at least they still love me, or is that worn off, or what?
10:43Which disturbing part gives you the creeps?
10:45Let us know in the comments.
10:46Unfortunately, her soul does not belong to me.
10:50Did you enjoy this video?
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