The 5 Best Villain Voice Acting Of All Time
From terrifying to annoying, villains have been an undoubtable part of our upbringing in media. But what makes them so special? Is it their costumes? Their face expression? Their powers? Certainly, all of that. Yet one of the elements that never goes unnoticed is their voice.
Because you have asked for it, and because you love it, here is our take in the 5 best villain voice acting of all time. And if this article is not enough to satisfy your curiosity about how some actors became the voices of evil, here is a previous post, with more examples and secrets behind the scenes of some of our favorite movies.
So…? Are you ready find out? *evil laugh* 😈
1. The Joker – Mark Hamill
Image Source: The Daily Edge
There was only one way to start, and that is with one of the most famous villains of them all: The Joker. From our childhood memories in the animated series of Batman, to the first Luke Skywalker, to the haunting Chucky (2019), Mark Hamill has a terrific Curriculum Vitae in the voice over industry.
His breakthrough in the film industry began almost by accident, as he was originally auditioning for Apocalypse Now in the room just besides where George Lucas was casting for the Star Wars saga. Lucas already knew about Hamill’s work, as he had been acting for a couple of years in different shows before, and
thought could be a good match. When he proposed Hamill for the role, and the actor accepted, he learned his agent had already signed him up for it without him knowing.
Only a couple of decades later, he became our known and beloved joker for all of the animated shows that the super hero put out. Not only that, but he was also the voice of Joker in the video games from early 2000’s and 2010’s. Far from his career being over, he was also the voice of other well-known enemies such as Tony Zucco, also in Batman, the Hobgoblin in Spiderman, Lord Ozain in Avatar the last airbender, and Chucky in the 2019 remake A child’s play.
A very impressive career, we gotta say!
2. Thanos – Josh Brolin
Image Source: IndieWire
Following up with famous super hero villains, we could not forget about Thanos!
Most popular in the latest years of the Avengers, Thanos went viral after making half of the Earth population disappear just by snapping his fingers. According to Brolin, Thanos was just supposed to be a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, but people liked him so much that he starred in Avengers: Infinity War, and Endgame.
His deep, raspy, heavy voice is recognizable anywhere we hear it. Furthermore, his impression in the audience was such that some of his sentences became popular voice over audios in TikTok, creating funny sketches from users who also joked with his carelesness and fierce. And that is why we believe this is one of the best voice actings of all time!
3. Hanibal Lecter – Anthony Hopkins
Image Source: Unilad
Highly requested by many of you, we could not agree more! Anthony Hopkins was an amazing suit for Hanibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.
The 1991 film gave Hopkins the Academy Award for Best Actor, a catapult to fame and the beginning of a world-wide icon. Most of us remember some of his words as one of the greatest parts of his performance is, perhaps, his voice acting. On some interviews, Hopkins has revealed that he worked especially hard to deliver a “disembodied voice” as if he was a killing machine, cold and unemotional.
But that was not his only great job. More concretely in the world of voice acting, Hopkins performed as a narrator in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). This just comes to show the talent of Hopkins and the best voice actors, in general; as they often have to change roles, from evil to neutral, from good to annoying… Without leaving trace of their previous work.
Congrats Hopkins! It is undeniable the impact that he has had both in film and popular culture. If voice acting had an award, you would definetely win more than a couple 🏆.
4. Randall – Steve Buscemmi
Image Source: Funcage
On a lighter note, Steve Buscemi has also provided us with wonderful voice acting performances in kids animated movies such as Moster House, Transformers or Monster’s, Inc. Many of them, as a villain.
Our personal favorite is, of course, the role of Randall Boggs in Monster’s, Inc. If you have kids, or were a kid in 2001, you will probably remember the slippery character of Randall, a mean monster that wants to compete with Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan (Sulley) in their “scarying” company. The voice acting performance is ashtonish in this case, because of how Buscemi is able to generate back cringes from kids to adults.
Randall is the example of an amazing job as Steve was able to portray the squakiness, greediness and unloyalness of the character; making it one of the best villain voices of Pixar movies.
5. Cruella de Vil – Betty Lou Gerson
Image Source: Disney Wiki
Saving one of the most cruel characters for last, Betty Lou Gerson voiced the mean Cruella de Vil in the 1961 Walt Disney’s movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Villain voice overs can be classified in many categories, one of them being gender. This article only includes some of the most famous voice overs, but we wanted to save a couple of female actresses for a potential third part 😉
Going back to one of the most famous female villain characters… Although Cruella has been played by multiple actresses along the years, Gerson’s performance is the original one, recognized in the Disney Hall of Fame for her performance. Her mischevious laugh and vicious tone to the movie puppies is one of the remarkable classic villain voices that we remember to this day.
If you are passionate about charismatic voices...
In VoiceArchive we can help you hire the right villain voice for your project. Whether it is video-game narrations, adverts on TV or dubbing a show, our agents can help you cast the malicious voice you are looking for.
