Tim Roth seems like a very nice guy, but he has a knack, as an actor, for playing nasty, creepy, fairly horrible people. Not always — he can play humorous characters and romantic leads — but he’s best-known for his bad guys. And some of those baddies are kind of hawt. To wit…
Vincent Van Gogh in Vincent & Theo (1990)
Guildenstern in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Milan in The Perfect Husband (1993)
Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy (1995)
Novecento in The Legend of 1900 (1998)
Marquis de Lauzun in Vatel (2000)
Herschel Steinschneider / Erik Jan Hanussen in Invincible (2001)
Febre the Man in Black in The Musketeer (2001)
Oliver Cromwell in To Kill a King (2003)
William Pitt in Battle of the Brave aka Nouvelle-France (2004)
Dominic Matei in Youth Without Youth (2007)
Gerbino in Virgin Territory (2007)
King Pedro II of Aragon in King Conqueror (2009)
The Count in Klondike (2014)
Prince Rainier in Grace of Monaco (2014)
Gov. George Wallace in Selma (2014)
Oswaldo Mobray/English Pete Hicox in The Hateful Eight (2015)
Do you like the baddies in historical costume? How does Tim Roth rate?
OMG THANK YOU FOR THIS! I love Tim Roth, he’s so good, and bad, and I feel conflicted. sploosh
Tim Roth, Hawt Villain, 10 out of 10
He is quite delicious and it makes me ponder what about what creates that allure. He has something that most people lack….
Great actor who shines in both period pieces and contemporary settings.
He also joined the ranks of actors who directed only one film and did a brilliant job, even if it is one of the most depressing, harrowing movies out there.
I high-key loved his blue outfit in Rob Roy, & reading about the MacGregor/ Colqhoun feud opened my eyes to the fact that the MacGregors/ Rob Roy were not heroes…
Hell, the MacGregors invented ‘blackmail’! It came from the ‘black meal’ payments they “accepted” from people, to ensure their sheep & cattle weren’t lifted!
I’d LOVE if you guys did a longer review of ‘To Kill a King’ one day.
I just rewatched “Rob Roy” last night (I had to get out of 2020 for two hours…), and realized that Roth reminded me of James Cagney in “White Heat”: charismatic, psychotic, murderous, and stuck on his ma; also noticed that his miniature of her actually looks early 18th century! Fabulous wigs on the guys. Only weird thing was the subdued little black page boy who has to follow John Hurt around, Not that his being there was weird; “exotic” servants were quite modish. I just wanted the script to have him rebel at the end and run away to the Highlands, or something.