Lovable Actors Share What It Was Like To Play Their Most Hateable Characters

Before playing the villain Negan onThe Walking Dead, Jeffrey Dean Morganhad played a nice guy onThe Good Wife, which showed his acting range. As fans waited for Morgan's debut on the show, he said in a Negan way:

I am excited and ready… I can't wait to step into those shoes, hold that bat, and do my thing. I look forward to it. I am fully prepped for hate mail and everything else. So bring it.

Morgan played a character fans loved to hate from 2016 to 2022, shedding his nice guy persona on screen.

Despite playing one of the most hated characters ofGame of Thrones, Jack GleesonJack Gleeson is not like Joffrey Baratheon in real life. Some actors face fan hate for roles they play, but Gleeson says he went unscathed.

“Thankfully, I've never had negative fan experiences or anything... There's still a chance, if anybody wants to throw a punch,” Gleeson joked in an interview.

Gleeson also noted that rumors about fans being rude to him made people extra nice. He explained, "I feel like people are extra nice to me because they think people attack me, so maybe I should keep the rumor going."

FewHarry Pottervillains are hated more than Dolores Umbridge, who tried to take over Hogwarts and made everyone miserable.Imelda Stauntonsaid she felt no sympathy for Umbridge, whom she played in the film adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Staunton explained:

I think she is a monster and to be played as such. I do not need to know what she does, but as a character, she thinks she is doing the best for that school. Again, I embraced a completely deluded woman.

Though Staunton enjoyed playing Umbridge, she felt sad after scenes where she had to be particularly cruel to her fellow actors.

In 2018, Ahmed BestAhmed Best posted a picture on Twitter of himself standing on a bridge with his son and a caption that read:

20 years next year I faced media backlash that still affects my career today. This was the place I almost ended my life. It is still hard to talk about. I survived, and now this little guy is my gift for survival.

Best referred to the huge hate he got for playing Jar Jar Binks inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Star WarsFans either love or hate Jar Jar Binks, but haters relentlessly criticized the character and Best himself, causing the actor's mental health crisis.

In response to Best's tweet, both his fans and critics supported him. Critics apologized for their actions and pointed out how fandoms can take issues to extremes. Best accepted these apologies and thanked fans for their support.

In The Green Mile, Doug HutchisonPercy Wetmore, the diabolical corrections officer, plays the role that might be the film's greatest villain. Hutchison played Wetmore brutally, killing an inmate's pet mouse and dragging out an execution, shocking all officers.

Hutchison stated his favorite villain to play was Eugene Tooms in The X-FilesHutchison felt born to play Percy Wetmore. He said, “All the pistons were firing. I think I was just born to play that role for some reason. It was effortless.”

Hutchison cannot explain why Wetmore made him such an easy character to play.

InPromising Young Woman, real-life nice guyBo BurnhamBo Burnham plays nice guy Ryan, who turns out not to be nice. When Cassie (Carey Mulligan) finds Ryan's crime link, she questions their whole relationship, especially since he seems unrepentant.

Burnham told this about Ryan: “It wasn't that he's some Machiavellian person; he's revealed to be a monster. It's like, no, no, he is the genuinely nice guy that could be your brother...” Burnham explained men, including himself, often miss their bad actions, especially when they think they are the “nice guy.”

Burnham as Ryan makes viewers question what being “good” actually means, and if anyone can be it.

Rosamund PikePike shocked audiences portraying Amy Dunne in the film version of Gone Girl. Pike previously played the soft-spoken Jane Bennet in the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice, playing an anti-hero like Amy pushed Pike to her limits.

Pike spoke about the character Amy in an interview:

She is not a relaxing character because she always moves, always changes... She makes people wary. You can become more isolated playing Amy because being in her skin makes you think about all that.

Pike explained she tried swimming or ping-pong to escape Amy's toxic mindset.

In 1986'sAliens, Paul ReiserReiser plays Carter Burke, a young executive who convinces Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) to return to space to check on her alien egg claim. As the plot moves, Burke has his own self-preserving reasons for the mission.

When asked about the character in a 2014 interview, Reiser described Burke:

The character drew from many real-world examples. People who lack demonic or evil traits but have a flexible moral compass. When you lose your reality and safety net—as everyone on board did—it becomes easier to lose your way.

ActorJack ReynorJack Reynor admitted Christian, the character he played in Ari Aster's MidsommarJack Reynor thought Christian was a total jerk. He said Christian seems well-meaning but totally detached. Reynor stated he lacks the cleverness to handle things right in an interview.

Reynor added Christian is a terrible boyfriend and a bad friend. Christian steals Josh's thesis idea. Christian also makes Josh the scapegoat as their cult infiltration situation gets worse.

Reynor said Christian's actions were 'pretty f*cking bad, too.'

Tom HanksHanks plays Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, a professor who turns into a criminal in the 2004 filmThe LadykillersHanks spoke about playing a good guy versus a bad guy. Hanks said:

Playing knuckleheads is easier. This guy is just a knucklehead. There is really no difference.

Every role needs the same acting and belief in the process. I only say yes if I know what I must do to get there. This role needed much talking and lots of checklist items; he needs a dialect and must rattle off this stuff.

I try to play someone who believes what they say more than anything else. Nice guys, bad guys? I try to play someone who believes what they say.