They may cause death, destruction and all kinds of general mayhem on film, but these
big screen baddies happen to be real lookers in real life.
From makeup to prosthetics to CGI, it takes a lot to transform these stunners into the
stuff of nightmares.
When she won the part of Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Gwendoline Christie
made history as the first on-screen female Star Wars villain.
Although the only way you’d know it is by her voice — in fact, she never takes off
her helmet once in the whole movie, and is only briefly glimpsed during The Last Jedi.
But there was good reason for that.
Christie told Moms ‘N Charge:
"I was actually lucky enough to be given a Couture suit, so the armor was made to fit
my dimensions exactly.
I just loved that we maintained the practicality of what she was wearing.
[...] You put this armor on, and you feel rigid and uncompromising."
Phasma proved a hit even with notoriously hard-to-please Star Wars fans, many of whom
were disappointed at Christie’s limited screen time in the two movies.
The 6-foot-three actress and model rose to fame playing Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones,
flying the flag for taller women.
She told Rolling Stone:
"Occasionally I get messages from women saying that I've brought them some joy, and that's
unbelievably thrilling.”
Ralph Fiennes almost turned down the chance to play Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter
films, only finally agreeing to take the role after his sister convinced him it was worth
his while.
It’s a good thing she did, too, since his performance might well be one of the most
underrated villainous turns in Hollywood history.
“The boy who lived, come to die.”
After seeing the final installment in the long-running franchise, veteran film critic
Emanuel Levy said:
"The endlessly versatile Ralph Fiennes gives an astonishing, multi-nuanced performance
as the Dark Lord, one that (with some justice) should earn him a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.”
Maybe it isn’t such a surprise that the Academy failed to recognize Fiennes for his
performance as Voldemort considering he was pretty much unrecognizable in the role.
This is thanks largely to the stellar work of makeup artist Mark Coulier, who made the
normally-handsome Fiennes look nothing less than terrifying.
Voldemort's slit-like nose was created digitally, but Coulier did as much as he could practically,
creating eyebrow blockers and temporary vein tattoos for Fiennes.
In a 2016 interview with Bustle, Coulier recalled:
"It worked really well.
We covered his whole head in veins in about 10 minutes."
Australian actor Eric Bana is probably best known for starring as Bruce Banner in Ang
Lee's botched attempt at bringing the Hulk to the big screen, but he's been working quietly
and steadily in Hollywood ever since.
Bana followed 2003's Hulk with appearances in films like the historical epic Troy and
Steven Spielberg's Munich.
But Bana has become a lot less prominent since, and his retreat from the A-list seems to have
begun after the release of 2009's Star Trek.
“Fire everything!”
Not that there was anything wrong with his performance.
In fact, some fans believe his Nero to be one of the greatest Trek villains of all time.
But many people simply didn’t know that it was him underneath all that Romulan makeup.
Luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind.
Speaking to HuffPost in 2013, Bana said:
"I still get people today who just saw Star Trek and had no idea.
Someone just told me yesterday, 'You're in Star Trek and when it came out I had no idea
it was you'.
That's a huge kick.
No, I love that."
George Lucas' Star Wars prequels have always been divisive, but they did at least give
us one of the saga’s most memorable villains: Darth Maul.
Introduced in 1999's The Phantom Menace, Maul’s physical performer Ray Park trained for 15
hours a day to get his martial art skills up to scratch for the role — but it wasn't
until he had the full makeup on that he felt truly ready.
At Star Wars Celebration 2015, Park said:
"The look of Darth Maul, the Sith Lord, I think was cool.
I think [with] the makeup and the horns and the lenses and the teeth, you just can't help
being naughty, you know?"
Despite seemingly meeting his end during The Phantom Menace, Maul has reappeared in the
Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series and in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
British actress Naomie Harris is probably best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in
the most recent James Bond movies, but, prior to taking on the role of M's sultry secretary,
she played Calypso in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Harris made her debut as the sea goddess’ mortal avatar Tia Dalma in 2006's Dead Man's
Chest and reprised the role in At World’s End a year later.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it at the time.”
“Fair enough, you’re in.”
After seeing At World’s End, Orlando Sentinel film critic Roger Moore said:
"It's hard to see or hear Naomie Harris, the lovely 30-year-old London-born character actress,
behind those black teeth, those blue-stained lips, those hundred-year-dreadlocks in Pirates
of the Caribbean."
When Harris sat down for an interview with Moore in 2007, she described the routine she
had to go through before shooting.
She said:
"Black lipstick, black eyeshadow, some tribal markings and gold and dirt on the face.
The teeth were prosthetic teeth that you just clip in and out.
Oh, and I also had to fill my mouth with vegetable dye before each take.
[...] The idea was that Tia Dalma is kind of oozing ink and evil."