Best TV villain actor

[hopefuldreamer]

We all love to hate a good villain, and these guys keep popping up in our tv shows with their sly smirks and scary intense eyes... but which one does it best?

Choose or tell me if i've missed out any obvious ones.

I've only included people in the poll who have had multiple villain roles, but feel free to mention single villain role actors if you think they are good enough to win!

Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer, Supernatural; Paul Bennet, Dexter; Jacob, Lost; Bishop, Being Human; Jeremy Baker, Revolution)

Giancarlo Esposito: (Gus Fring, Breaking Bad; Sidney Glass, Once Upon a Time; Major Tom Neville, Revolution)

Mark Sheppard: (Crowley, Supernatural; Badger, Firefly; Jim Sterling, Leverage; Tanaka, Dollhouse; Romo Lampkin, BSG)

Jack Coleman: (Noah Bennet, Heroes (season 1 at least); Bill Forbes, The Vampire Diaries; Senator Bracken, Castle)

William B Davis (The Smoking Man, The X-Files; Alec Sadler, Continuum):

 

[DarkSovereignty]

They're all fantastic, well, at least Esposito, Sheperd and pellegrino are (no idea who the other two guys are) but Giancarlo Esposito was a force of nature on breaking bad. I'd also throw David morrisey up there from walking dead.

 

[Kaleb]

Sideshow Bob (simpsons)
Nina Meyers (24)
Ben Linus (Lost)
Tony Soprano (Sopranos)
T Bag ( Prison Break)
Arthur Mitchell (Dexter)
Mib (Lost)

 

[Wyrminarrd]

My vote goes to Mark Pellegrino, he played Lucifer perfectly in "Supernatural".

 

[Gort Baringa]

Arthur Mitchell, first.

Ben Linus, a close second.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Oh just thought of another:

David Anders (Sark, Alias; Adam Munroe, Heroes; John Gilbert, The Vampire Diaries; Dr Whale, Once Upon a Time)

 

[Kaleb]

Oh just thought of another:

David Anders (Sark, Alias; Adam Munroe, Heroes; John Gilbert, The Vampire Diaries; Dr Whale, Once Upon a Time)

damn forgot about him, wasnt he also in 24?

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Some of my other faves:

Ron Rifkin (Sloane, Alias)

John Glover (Lionel Luthor, Smallville)

John Savage (Lydecker, Dark Angel)

damn forgot about him, wasnt he also in 24?

Yeah I think he was, but I never watched that show so I wasn't sure if it was a villainy role or not.

 

[Piper Maru]

I voted for Giancarlo Esposito, but William B Davis is incredible as well.

 

[Schlosser85]

Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and David Morrissey (Walking Dead) are glaring omissions on this poll.

 

[StarLord]

Ian McShane (Al Swearengen, Deadwood)

 

[Soapy]

There can be only one.

[YT]jFVmQeVduC4[/YT]

 

[Teelie]

It's tough to choose just one. Depending on how you like your villain they are diverse.

 

[Hyde]

Andrew Scott (Moriarty on Sherlock), Michael Emerson (Ben Linus from Lost) and Giancarlo Esposito.

 

[Fans of Reilly]

Ron Rifkin (Sloane, Alias)

 

[Wesley Dodds]

Angela Lansbury (Jessica Fletcher)

12 years, 800 murders, and no-one. Suspected. A thing.

 

[Sarcastic Fan]

How about Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister?

 

[Deserana]

Andrew Scott - Moriarty - Sherlock
Ruth Wilson - Alice Morgan - Luther
Giancarlo Esposito - Gus Fring - Breaking Bad

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal) and David Morrissey (Walking Dead) are glaring omissions on this poll.

Like I said, I only included actors with multiple villain roles... because I was more thinking about actors who you just love being villains in any tv show, than great villainous characters that an actor has played.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

What other villains has Giancarlo Esposito played?

 

[Deserana]

Isn't he a bad guy in Revolution? And Once Upon a Time?

I've not seen them both but from the parts I have seen he seems like a bad guy.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

What other villains has Giancarlo Esposito played?

See my original post

 

[Ramsay Snow]

Mark Sheppard also played very minor villain roles in 24 and Burn Notice, but I'm not sure if those count.

 

[Deserana]

And Chuck

 

[Teelie]

Firefly too, although he was more "thug" than villain at the time.