There are actors who excel at one-note monstrousness and others who can play the whole keyboard. The latter performers are valuable commodities in Hollywood. Sometimes they get typecast for being too good at being bad; other times, they strike a tonal balance that allows them to dip in and out of villainous roles. These actors who dazzle us with their capacity for loathsomeness, who make us drop the remote when they enter a scene, are special. Throughout film history, there have been maybe a few dozen who can keep us watching when the worst is about to happen. Here are 25 of the most lovably hatable actors of all time.
