We know British actors are renowned for playing villains in American movies. Often it’s the British accent that appears to lend itself to screen antagonism (the closer to traditional “received pronunciation” you can get the more authority, intelligence and power you gain), while the brooding discontent towards colonisation brings forth that sense of “us” and “them”.

Of course, British actors might get more bad guy roles because the Americans don’t want them. The perception is that the villain hinders your celebrity status. There’s also the fact Brits might come cheaper than their American counterparts.

Great British actors playing foreign villains

Playing villains can often bring different complexities to the role. Indeed, portraying an antagonist with authenticity is a real test of an actor’s talent. British actors have taken their opportunities to pick up some very juicy roles as villains in Hollywood movies. Characters which have enabled them to flex their acting muscles and showcase their obvious talents.

In this article, we’ll look at the curious decision by Hollywood producers to choose British actors for foreign villains. Sometimes they actually play Americans – those roles their North American counterparts have deemed too risky to their celebrity reputation, perhaps – and other times play those from continental Europe and further afield.

Honourable Mention

Pierce Brosnan in The Fourth Protocol

Nationality: Russian

Pierce Brosnan doesn’t have to expend too much energy on Russian accents in The Fourth Protocol given his KGB agent is supposed to be faking being British. But nevertheless, Brosnan is a cool and vicious Soviet secret agent in this compelling thriller based on the novel by John Mackenzie.

The cold-blooded Russian’s lack of remorse is one thing but the icily smooth and calculated method of his misdeeds shows intelligence beneath the monster making him a decidedly nasty proposition. Indeed, it is Brosnan’s performance that promotes the thriller from being merely throwaway entertainment into something of substance.

Patrick Stewart in Green Room

Nationality: American

Patrick Stewart’s air of beguiling cool as the leader of a ruthless skinhead gang in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room makes him a memorable foe. His clinical blueprint for disposing of rock band the Ain’t Rights who happened upon the wrong gig is as unsettling as his status as demagogue to a fervent group of leather boot-wearing Neo-Nazi killers. There’s very little to discern between the men trying to slash the rock band to pieces and the fighting dogs sent in to lead the offensive.

10 Great Performances By British Actors Playing Foreign Villains

Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs Of New York

Nationality: American

Gangs Of New York is one of Daniel Day-Lewis’ best films because he’s rarely been as terrifying. It’s a powerhouse performance from a man known for his subtlety.

Playing the American gangster, Bill “the Butcher” Cutting, the role in Martin Scorsese’s period crime-drama is the one many audiences remember when they think of the London-born actor.

It’s easy to see why. This 19th century clan leader rules over his New York borough with a tyrannical iron fist and a striking handlebar moustache. It takes Leo DiCaprio doing his best tough-guy impression to take him down. But Day-Lewis steals the show.

Paul Freeman in Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Nationality: French

Paul Freeman, who was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, plays French archaeologist Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He’s Indiana Jones’ rival and, following his allegiance to the Nazis, becomes a memorable villain in the first adventure of the fedora hat-wearing adventurer.

Gary Oldman in Air Force One

Nationality: Kazakhstani

Gary Oldman has always been great at perfecting accents far removed from his own. Indeed, his career has largely seen him playing characters who require him to transform his voice – quite unlike a British contemporary like Michael Caine who has relied upon his recognisable cockney tones.

Here Oldman is Kazakhstan terrorist Egor Korshunov who manages to hijack Air Force One and hold it for ransom in order to get a political prisoner released. Unfortunately for Egor, he didn’t expect Harrison Ford’s president Marshall to stage a heroic fight back.

Anthony Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs

Nationality: American

FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is tasked with solving a killing spree by working with incarcerated psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (the Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins).

Hopkins delivers one of his finest performances as the psychotic cannibal. His mix of charm and manipulation is genuinely chilling but it’s the line, “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti”, that’ll live in infamy.

Alan Rickman in Die Hard

Nationality: German

Alan Rickman is German terrorist Hans Gruber in Die Hard. He’s wanting to steal the riches held in the vault of the Nakatomi building in Los Angeles but he hasn’t accounted for tough New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) spoiling the party.

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The Watch And The Fall

Hans Gruber’s death is fittingly epic. McClane initially tricks him into thinking he has thrown his weapon away. He’s actually concealing a handgun – armed with his last two bullets – behind his back with box tape. Like an outlaw in a quick-draw shoot-out, the New York cop dispatches the last of the villains only for a dying Gruber to grab McClane’s wife and pull her out of the window. His grip on the woman is loosened when McClane unclips the watch strap, allowing the timepiece and the terrorist to fall to their doom.

The watch, of course, comes with subtext having been given to McClane’s wife from a former colleague (now dead having tried to save his own skin by cosying up to the terrorists). The colleague had irked McClane principally for trying to get his estranged wife into bed but also for putting the lives of the hostages at risk. Getting Gruber and the watch was, as they say, killing two birds with one stone.

Dan Stevens in The Guest

Nationality: American

London-born Dan Stevens carries an unsettling threat in Adam Wingard’s twisty thriller The Guest. He plays American soldier David Collins who turns up at the home of a family whose loved one died in Afghanistan. The soldier claims to have served alongside the family’s dead son and is invited to stay with them for a few days. However, a series of strange deaths occur, and David appears to be involved.

Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man

Nationality: German

Englishman Laurence Olivier, who was born in Dorking, Surrey, has delivered some astounding performances across his storied career on stage and screen. A four-time Oscar winner, Olivier is perhaps best-remembered for his work in Shakespeare adaptations, both for the theatre and in movies such as 1944’s Henry V which he starred in and directed.

But outside of his portrayals of Shakespeare’s iconic characters, his most memorable performance appears in Marathon Man alongside Dustin Hoffman. He plays a sadistic Nazi war criminal named Christian Szell whose criminality has transcended the walls of Auschwitz. He’s now in New York City and he’s searching for a valuable diamond collection.

He believes Hoffman’s “Babe” Levy knows where it is and will stop at nothing to extract the information. Indeed, this leads to one of the great moments of 1970s cinema when Babe is strapped to a dentist’s chair as Szell relentlessly asks “is it safe” while torturing him with an assortment of dental instruments.

Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List

Nationality: German

Suffolk-born Ralph Fiennes plays Amon Göth in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, a barbaric Nazi who comes to Krakow to oversee the construction of a new death camp. Once populated, Göth’s many crimes include abusing his Jewish maid and randomly shooting dead prisoners from his balcony.

Christian Bale in American Psycho

Nationality: American

Welsh actor Christian Bale is Patrick Bateman, a Manhattan investment banker who moonlights as a serial killer in Mary Harron’s darkly comic American Psycho.

Bale really turned heads with his performance here – he’s equal parts suave sophistication and natural, gentlemanly cool alongside a manic hysteria that manifests into barbaric and bloody violence.

There are few scenes in movies as weirdly unforgettable as Bateman slaying a colleague while reciting the merits of Huey Lewis and News’ music, especially their album “Fore” which Bateman calls their “undisputed masterpiece”. He begins playing the album on a CD player – and even performs a quirky little shuffle dance – while making final preparations to hack an unwitting victim to death.

Gary Oldman in Leon

Nationality: American

In one of Gary Oldman’s greatest performances he portrays the psychotic New York City DEA agent Norman Stansfield. A cop who doesn’t play by the rules, this American character is both a drug kingpin and an addict who is targeted by the crosshairs of hitman Leon after he befriends the young daughter of a couple murdered by Stansfield.

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