Sympathetic Villain Quotes

I thought that would be kind of cool, to make a bad guy look sympathetic.

Back in the '30s, '40s and '50s, you had clear-cut heroes, clear-cut supervillains. Today, you have more of a blend, more of a gray area between the two. You have the rise of the sympathetic villain and the rise of the antihero.

No actor can play a villain if they don't sympathise with him or her - otherwise the character just becomes a two-dimensional caricature.

Jaws was still a handsome, big guy. He got the girl. He was my favorite villain. I tried to make this guy endearing somewhat because all he wanted to do was unite his country.

A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.

Yes, I do have a soft spot for complicated villains who can't help themselves.

Part of what I like about the best villains in TV and film is when you feel sorry for them, and that makes you feel even worse for feeling guilty about wanting them to succeed, in some way.

With any villain, you have to see things from their point of view and understand that they think what they're doing will make the world a better place.

When a character does something appalling but you still want to root for them, I find that the most exciting challenge to play, if you can pull it off. You're not supposed to like it, but you can't help it.

I don't know what it is that I do, but when I play a really bad guy, I'm able to bring some level of likability to it.

I think a villain who starts his morning looking in the mirror, wringing his hands, and going, 'How can I be evil today?' is not an interesting villain. An interesting villain is a person who you understand on some level, I think.