Ralph Fiennes: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Amon Goeth - Schindler's List (1993)

Well, you knew this one was coming. No list about Ralph Fiennes' awesome performances can be without his international breakthrough role in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination and a lifetime of future villainous opportunities. Fiennes has made something of a name for himself when it comes to personifying pure evil; aforementioned Voldemort is the most recent great example, but let's not forget Frank Dolerhyde in Red Dragon, the tragic Caius Martius in his own Coriolanus, Hades in the awful Titan movies and even Harry from In Bruges to a lesser extent. But none can compare to his very first; the easily agitated, arrogant and psychotic Nazi SS captain Amon Goeth. From the way he complains about his house ("You call that a villa?") to his 'pardoning' of the boy and his complaints to Liam Neeson's Oskar Schindler about the inconveniences of ordering barbed wire; Fiennes brought something so incredibly unnerving to the role by trying to connect with the human under the monster. Even now, after 20 years have passed, it's still heralded as his greatest performance by many. Spielberg says he saw "moments of kindness that would move across his eyes and then instantly run cold" in Fiennes. This is one of those qualities acting school doesn't teach you, and which Fiennes always brings to the table when he's playing the baddie. Yet none will likely ever compare to the sycophantic Goeth.