20 Greatest 90s Movie Villains

Norman Stanfield is a testament to the power of good casting, for he is, on paper, not all that. This crazy, corrupt cop would always have been good, most likely, but as written, he's a solid-yet-unspectacular villain, the kind we've seen plenty of times before. However, Sir Gary Oldman was cast in the part, and as a result, he became an all-timer everyone still remembers to this day. 

Oldman absolutely made the part, and he's just perfect. In his hands, Norman became a screaming, demented, and kooky psychopath who was as frighteningly unhinged as he was captivating to watch. Going so OTT can be risky, especially in a fairly sober and grounded crime thriller such as Leon: The Professional, but Oldman's performance toes the line and never goes overboard into self-parody. 

And as for the character's most iconic moment - his scream of "EVERYONE!!!!" - that was improvised by Oldman, which is another reminder of just how much the great actor made the part. It's still one of his very best roles. Leon: The Professional itself is more than a little overrated, and it being ranked as one of the top 50 movies of all time on IMDb is difficult to understand, but it's worth seeing for Norman Stanfield alone.