20 Best Performances In The Wizarding World Franchise
2. Ralph Fiennes - Voldemort
Voldemort was already a superbly-written villain, but Ralph Fiennes was absolutely incredible as him and took the character to new heights.
With his sinister voice, measured sense of control and sadistic cruelty, Ralph Fiennes made Voldemort a psychopathic and genuinely terrifying dark lord. For example, his mocking laugh at Neville Longbottom's (Matthew Lewis) speech in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 still sends shivers down the spine.
That being said, it was also an intelligently subtle and understated performance that never went into hammy pantomime villain territory and ensured that Voldemort always felt like a serious threat.
He is just as legendary and iconic as other cinematic big bads like Emperor Palpatine, Thanos and Sauron, but there really aren't many other similar characters who were as well-played, evil or downright frightening as Lord Voldemort. This will no doubt go down as one of the highlights of Ralph Fiennes' phenomenal career and rightly so.