Actors Who Faced Real-Life Backlash for Their Villain Roles

Have you ever hated a character so much that you ended up disliking the actor too?

Some actors give such great performances in their villain roles that fans have a hard time seeing them as anything else. As an actor, you can get praise while playing a memorable bad guy, but this can also lead to negative reactions in real life. Many of them face unfair dislike and even harassment. Their performances leave so much of a mark that fans forget they are just actors.

Let’s see the stories of famous and incredibly talented actors who faced real-life backlash for their convincing villain roles!

1. Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones)

Jack Gleeson portrayed Joffrey in Game of Thrones, a character that fans absolutely hated, and he believes that people can’t see further than Joffrey when he’s around. His performance was so good that even George RR Martin, the author, thought that this role might have contributed to Gleenson’s decision to leave acting only in his early 20s.

Martin said in an interview that Gleenson brought to life a character that intrigues people and that they love to hate, which is a remarkable achievement. He says he feels somehow guilty because of Jack Gleeson’s decision to give up on his profession and he really hopes Joffrey isn’t the reason he’s retiring because this character is proof that he has a great talent for acting.

2. Lana Headey (Game of Thrones)

Game of Thrones is famous for everyone having their own agenda, but only a few of them were as self-serving as Cercei, the character Lana Headey played. Cercei had her moments of sympathy, but she was mostly despised by fans of the show. Let’s see how Heady felt the impact.

Recently, she was reflecting on a 2012 experience at a Comic-Con where she was seated between Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage, the most beloved characters on the show. She shares that while she was completely ignored, people handed Pete their books to sign. Eventually, they moved away from her like she was about to curse them.

3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead)

Negan from The Walking Dead might have softened over time, but his debut on the show was marked as being one of the most hated villains. Morgan recalls a memorable moment during the break between Seasons 6 and 7 in an interview for Entertainment Weekly. Back then, Negan was in the process of brutally attacking his co-star. So, when he was out with Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl, Morgan had a run-in with an elderly woman.

He says that after they’d been riding motorcycles all day, they stopped in the middle of nowhere for a coffee, and an 80-year-old lady came up to them, flipping him off and spilling some funny words to him. Norman laughed so hard he fell off his chair, while Morgan was sitting there confused, not knowing what just happened.

4. Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter)

Voldemort is the chilling villain from Harry Potter, and he’s definitely not someone you would think to invite out for tea. The person behind the character, Ralph Fiennes, believes that people should see a different side of him.

He shared some memorable moments from his time on set, and he remembers how kids would often look at him with wide and scared eyes. He said that a little boy, who was the child of a script supervisor, burst into tears when he walked by. Fiennes chuckles, saying how good he felt about himself.

Despite Voldemort’s notoriety, Fiennes thinks that there is a lot more in this character’s story. He talks about Voldemort being an orphan who never experienced love or affection and how he was alone most of the time. Fiennes thinks there is a chance for goodness in everyone. Most actors lean into the evil side of their characters, but he believes it’s important to remember they are human first, and everyone has the potential to be corrupted.

5. Tony Goldwyn (Ghost)

Tony Goldwyn remembers a moment when a waitress told him she instantly hated him and she didn’t know why. Most people remember the movie for its iconic pottery scene, but for the actor who played the villainous Carl, the film brought many negative encounters.

He recalls a memorable experience during an interview, saying that when he was on a rehearsal break for a play in New York, he noticed a waitress was being particularly rude to him, and he politely asked her, “Excuse me, can I order?“

Then she asked him if he was an actor, something that he confirmed. She inquired if he was that guy from Ghost. Receiving the confirmation, she apologized, saying, “I knew I hated you for something,” then amusingly said she thought maybe he was someone she slept with but couldn’t figure out.

6. Tony Wilson (Back to the Future)

Playing Biff in Back to the Future came with a hefty price tag. Tony Wilson opened up about how long it took him to shake off the negative reactions he used to get from fans who thought he really was the tough guy he portrayed.

He says that while most interactions with fans were positive and he believes that people generally get the movie, there were some moments with some who wanted to take things a bit too far. He shares how they’d try to put him in a headlock and shove him around thinking that they could challenge that tough guy he portrayed, but he’s clearly not tough in real life. “Hey, I’m just an actor—it’s all pretend!”

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