20 Greatest Movie Villains Played By British Actors
11. Dr Christian Szell - Laurence Olivier
Is it safe?
Film Appearance(s): Marathon Man (1976) Often cited as Britains greatest ever actor, Laurence Olivier has delivered many memorable roles. Regarding villains hes played, none are more wicked than The White Angel, Dr. Christian Szell. The fictional head of an experimental camp at Auschwitz, Szell mined a fortune from the gold fillings of his concentration camp victims and travels to Manhattan in post-war America to collect his ill-gotten gains in John Schlesingers thriller. Olivier brings all of his considerable talents to the role of Szell. Despite being a relatively old man he is incredibly menacing particularly in the infamous scene where he tortures Dustin Hoffmans protagonist. He begins by slowing exploring a cavity with a curette before moving on to using a drill on Hoffmans teeth in a scene that caused an irrational fear of dentists for an entire generation. Did You Know?...David Niven arranged a meeting between producer Robert Evans and Parliament's House of Lords so Evans could urge them to pressure Lloyds of London into insuring Laurence Olivier who was battling cancer and unable to take the role without insurance.
10. Magneto - Ian McKellen
Your cities will not be safe. Your streets will not be safe...you will not be safe
Film Appearance(s): X-Men (2000) X-Men II (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014) Next up is mutant terrorist Magneto, the primary villain in the X-Men franchise. This villain, who has tried to murder every human on the face of the planet before, is a cold, malicious and determined bad guy and was brought vividly to life by Ian McKellen. Avoiding all Dr Evil-like stereotypes, McKellen, with the help of a character focused script, crafted a fully developed comic-book villain in the first X-Men film which, arguably, helped alter peoples perceptions of what a comic-book film could be back in 2000. The Lancashire-born McKellen may have seemed a strange fit for the Polish-born Magneto originally but this British actor imbues his Magneto with a gravitas and weight in-keeping with one of Marvels most famous comic-book villains. Did You Know?...Despite famously playing chess in a scene together, neither Ian McKellen or Patrick Stewart knew how to play while filming the first X-Men film.
