10 Incredible Actors Who Went Bad To Win An Oscar

by Chris Gallo

1. Kathy Bates €“ Misery

misery bates

Without a doubt Kathy Bates€™ simply divine performance as the completely crazy Annie Wilkes in the 1990 thriller is my absolute favorite performance on this entire list. You could say I€™m her number one fan. Based on Stephen King€™s book, Rob Reiner€™s Misery follows a popular novelist named Paul Sheldon who€™s nursed back to health by a big fan of his who rescues him after a bad car wreck. Oh, and she€™s a wacko. She basically imprisons him in her home and tortures him. You know, like bashing his ankles in with a sledgehammer.

The best part of all this though is Bates€™ completely mesmerizing and kooky performance. She€™s over-the-top crazy and restrained all at once. She goes from complete calm and normalcy to total nutjob insane €“ usually within the same scene. It was this magnificent battle of charm and schizoid that earned her a well-deserved Academy Award and cinematic prominence. --> Who are your favorite Oscar-winning bad guys?
Contributor
Contributor

Chris Gallo, a Connecticut native, has been a movie fan ever since he made his mom rent Airplane! for him as a kid back when video stores still existed. He's been writing film reviews on his own blog (www.mybodymovies.com) since 2005; the same year he graduated from Marist College. He has also contributed film reviews to the movie site DarkHorizons.com. Besides watching movies (horror's his favorite) and adding to his Blu-ray collection, he enjoys running, eating spicy foods, predicting the Oscars, and coming up with creative Halloween costume ideas.