X-Men Movies: 7 Perfect Performances & 7 That Sucked

6. Alan Cumming - Nightcrawler

To think that Neil Patrick Harris was almost cast as Nightcrawler boggles the mind somewhat, but then, Alan Cumming was never a natural choice for the role either, based on what he'd done before. But he did have one big string to his bow that set him apart.

His casting was at least partly helped by his fluency in German. But it wasn't just that, as his performance is way more than a one-trick affair, no matter how nice it is that he can speak German.

Cumming is perfect because he manages to capture both the creepy exoticness of the character with the necessary pathos, meaning his striking looks don't compromise his essential humanity. And that's the most important part of selling the tragedy of his past and of him being used as a weapon in Stryker's attempt to kick off a war between mutants and humans.