Good at being bad: Three actors who made their mark as villains

The best film villains have fully-fleshed out characters, depth, motivation, and drive. It requires talent and a lot of hard work to be able to portray these deeply flawed yet compelling characters on the silver screen.

The following are three actors whose turns as movie villains earned them critical praise:

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Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter

Anthony Hopkins played the part of Hannibal Lecter so well that Martha Stewart, whom he dated briefly, ended their relationship because she couldn't keep from associating him with the cannibalistic serial killer he played in “The Silence of the Lambs”. Hopkins won an Academy Award for his performance in the film, despite the fact that he was on screen for only 16 minutes, and his portrayal of Lecter earned him the top spot in the American Film Academy's “100 Years, 100 Heroes and Villains” list.

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Heath Ledger as The Joker

Heath Ledger described his version of the Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." In order to prepare for the film, Ledger stayed in a hotel room for a month and kept a diary recording the Joker's thoughts. The method actor's powerful performance netted Ledger numerous best supporting actor awards, including an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Sadly, the awards were given posthumously, as Ledger died of a drug overdose before the movie was released. There have been some speculations that the intensity of his method acting and his obsession with the role of the Joker led to his death.

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Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes

Kathy Bates had already played small parts on TV and in films when she was chosen to play psychopathic book fan Annie Wilkes in the movie adaptation of the Stephen King novel, “Misery”. Bates masterfully developed her character from a meek, kindly nurse to a person who would stop at nothing, including torture, to get what she wanted from her captive as horrified audiences watched. Bates won an Academy Award for Best Actress for this role.

Film villains are fascinating, sometimes even more so than heroes, because they're often more complex characters than the "good guys". Whatever the reason, there's no denying that watching villains wreak havoc on screen is entertaining.

Model-turned-actor Edoardo Costa played Emerson, an Italian terrorist, opposite Bruce Willis in the movie “Live Free or Die Hard.” Subscribe to this blog for more articles on acting and film.

REPOST: Role Reversals: Oscar's Golden Rule for an acting win: Why it's the role, not the star that matters.

Winning an Oscar is clearly not easy whether it's for best picture, costume design, visual effects or sound mixing. But when it comes to acting, how does an actor's role really matter. Read the article below:

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Cary Grant never won an Academy Award for acting. Neither did Edward G. Robinson or Barbara Stanwyck or Deborah Kerr, despite her six nominations, or Peter O’Toole despite his eight. The list goes on and on. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tried to make up for such slights by giving everyone an Honorary Oscar, just as it did with never-even-nominated Maureen O’Hara, who was an honoree at this year’s Governors Awards. It’s a familiar story—some Hollywood greats are just star-crossed when it comes to Oscar. But the bottom line of winning isn’t necessarily because someone should or is overdue or deserves it. It’s all about the role . . . and catching the zeitgeist.

On the other hand, Ernest Borgnine, F. Murray Abraham, Cliff Robertson, Haing S. Ngor, Harold Russell, Jean Dujardin, Mo’nique, Roberto Benigni, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tatum O’Neal, Marlee Matlin and Linda Hunt—all the way up to last year’s supporting actress winner Lupita Nyong’o—managed to win an Oscar on just their first and only nomination. They did it with the role of a lifetime, not necessarily a lifetime of achievement or plain ol’ stardom. Oscar is funny that way.

Albert Finney, like his fellow English thesps O’Toole and Richard Burton—who led the list of Oscar’s most losing-est actors—was, and remains, way overdue for a golden guy. Finney should have won his first time out in 1963 for that year’s best picture winner, Tom Jones, but he lost to Sidney Poitier, who had his role of a lifetime in Lilies of the Field but hasn’t been nominated since. Finney might have grabbed the Oscar in 1974 for Murder on the Orient Express, but TV second-banana Art Carney got his role of a lifetime in Harry & Tonto and took the Oscar instead. Or even in 1984, when Finney was so brilliant in Under the Volcano. Instead, the award went to stage actor F. Murray Abraham, another one-time nominee, for his Salieri in Amadeus.

Burton should have won the Academy Award for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1966, but he had the misfortune of losing to first-time nominee Paul Scofield, an English theater star who rode the wave of playing Sir Thomas More in that year’s best picture winner, A Man for All Seasons. O’Toole almost certainly would have won on his first time out for 1962 best picture winner Lawrence of Arabia, but how do you deny Gregory Peck—who won with his role of a lifetime in To Kill a Mockingbird? (The nod turned out to be Peck’s final nomination.)

Annette Bening is another thesp who is long overdue. She’s had four nominations and managed to lose every time—twice to Hilary Swank, who has gone two-for-two for the uniquely twice-in-a-lifetime roles in Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby. Again, Oscar doesn’t seem to care if you already won and are up against a deserving nominee who has never won.

It looked as if Paul Newman was never going to win after his six best actor losses. The Academy gave him an Honorary Award in 1985, just one year before he won on his own accord for reprising his 1961 Oscar-nominated Hustler role of Fast Eddie Felson in The Color of Money. I actually think he should have won the first time he played Felson, but Maximilian Schell in Judgment at Nuremberg took that win on his first try. Glenn Close is now up to six nominations with no Oscar to show for it, losing in 2011 (for Albert Nobbs) to three-time winner Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. The score is now Streep: 3, Close: 0. We can go on all day with this stuff.

But looking at this year, who has got the Oscar role? That has to be Eddie Redmayne, poised to win his first nomination, and possibly Oscar, for playing the ALS-stricken Stephen Hawking. It’s not like the young thesp is owed anything. He’s just riding the right horse. Veteran Michael Keaton looks likely to grab his first nomination in a long career for Birdman, but Redmayne probably has the role. Interestingly, another top contender is Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, but he also once played Hawking on British television. If he had done the movie version instead, the tables would be turned. David Oyelowo was so certain that playing Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma would be the role for him that he tried for seven years just to get the film made, and now has joined the Oscar conversation. Julianne Moore has had four previous nominations; playing a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s in Still Alice suddenly has made her the lead actress front-runner this year. A lot of that heat has to do with, you guessed it, the role.

The same rules apply to just about every category in the Academy. Steven Price won on his first score nomination for Gravity. The multi-nominated Alex North and Ennio Morricone never won Oscars, so the Academy had to give them honorary ones out of embarrassment. Like I’ve said, it’s not always fair. But hey, that’s Oscar.


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Acting increases self-confidence and self-esteem

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It takes a certain level of confidence to act. Many professional actors, whether on film or stage, will agree that there is a fundamental dichotomy in acting. While it is true that acting involves taking on another person’s personality, regardless of which acting method the actor prescribes to, it also requires one to be self-aware and confident. This confidence helps actors perform better. Confidence is necessary in acting because there will always be critics who will find something wrong with one’s work.

Actors have to develop their own self-worth in order to deal with, and thrive in, the world of entertainment. The very essence of acting demands developing confidence.

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 The relationship between the two can be seen as a cycle: Self-confidence is essential for an actor to perform well. A great performance will add to the actor’s confidence, which will inspire him to continue honing his skills. But confidence from acting goes deeper than just developing or enhancing one’s skill. As strange as it may initially seem, acting increases self-confidence because actors get the chance to fully understand and appreciate themselves.

By playing or being another person, the actor (with enough self-awareness) can question his own motivations and biases. Acting also develops the talent of seeing oneself from a third person’s perspective. This ability to disengage allows the actor to see how his own actions affect other people without being clouded by morals or preconceptions. By better understanding this, the actor becomes more self-confident.

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Edoardo Costais an Italian actor who has appeared in a number of Hollywood films. Learn more by subscribing to this blog.

Thespian tips: How to get started in acting

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Many people want to make it big in Hollywood, but being a successful, well-regarded actor takes more than just a pretty face. It requires not only talent but also commitment and drive.

The following tips can be useful to those who want to break into show business:

Start early.

Many celebrities started their pursuit of acting success early in life: Some were members of their high school drama club, while some went to film school to study acting. Aspiring actors should consider taking acting classes as soon as possible in order to hone their natural talent.

Be financially stable.

In order to find work as an actor, one needs to be where the action is. While American films are shot everywhere in the world, most of the casting agents live in the Los Angeles area. However, actors shouldn't immediately quit their day jobs, sell everything they own, and move. It would take several years of being in the business before an actor can make enough money to support him or herself. It's important to have a job or some other means of sustaining oneself while pursuing this career as acting jobs are often few and far between, especially for those who are just starting out.

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Act!

Student films and plays are a great way to get some practice, earn a good reputation in the acting community, and to get one's name out to potentially interested parties. An added plus: After-parties are a great venue for networking and for meeting useful contacts and other actors with whom one can share experiences and tips.

Learn how to handle rejection.

Sydney Poitier was once told by a casting director to give up and become a dishwasher instead. Poitier went on to win a Best Actor Oscar for Lilies in the Field in 1963.

Actors need to be persistent and be able to handle rejection well. Newcomers to the field will hear “no” many times in the course of their career. Actors should keep in mind that they probably just weren't suited for that particular part, but there are plenty of other roles out there for which they will be a better fit.

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Edoardo Costa is an Italian actor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Subscribe to this blog for more articles on the acting profession and career success.

Moving in the direction of your dreams

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A dream is a strongly desired goal or purpose. From searching for a long-term relationship, breaking free from a destructive habit, to getting that master’s degree, any dream is worth pursuing. Many have the pining to reach their dreams. But while it’s easy to envision and embark on life’s aspirations, the ability to sustain them to the point of accomplishment is a challenging circuit. That is why most dreams are left down the drain.

This brings to finding the answer to a gnawing question: What should people do to move to the direction of their dreams and achieve them altogether? In his article from Oprah.com, Raphael Cushnir suggested some ways to spike just about any dream and realize them in the long run.

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One was to identify an important action that has not been taken yet or that has been done to no avail so far. It involves action, like making a call, consulting someone, or doing research.

Another suggestion was to find a vulnerable point that can happen while pursuing a dream. Thinking of the worst-case scenario or looking for a stink can spark a challenge.

Third was to recognize the intolerable emotion that clogs persuasion and movement. Understanding that anger, fear, hurt, or even embarrassment is a hindrance can be a liberating truth.

There is nothing more fulfilling than realizing a dream, whether it’s modest or grand. With a strong sense of motivation, optimism, and anticipation as a leg up, people will see a vigorous and enthusiastic attitude throbbing from within. And this will put them in the right direction.

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Being and not acting: On the method technique

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Method acting is gaining popularity because it forces actors to imbibe their characters more thoroughly as compared to traditional forms of acting. However, a recent opinion article published in the New Yorker questions this method’s stability and whether there are inherent dangers in allowing actors (a naturally emotional and volatile group of people) to fuse with their characters.

This technique is considered the most useful in delivering lifelike performances because it requires the actor to dig deep by practicing the mannerisms, lifestyle choices, tone of voice, and general frame of mind the role demands. The reproduction of action is combined with the actor’s careful consideration of the psychological motives and personal identification with the character. In theory, these strategies prevent any clichéd performances, which in turn lead to less direction from the director.

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Nevertheless, this demands the actor to congeal his personal and professional life. Early method acting notables such as Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, and Robert Mitchum, did not become the roles they were asked to play, but turned the characters into versions of themselves. The performances were not contrived, but reflected a barely held form of self-control. The result, of course, is brilliant. Audiences and fellow cast members can feel the passion and become more engaged with the method actor – but this encourages them to burn even brighter; and therein lays the danger.

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Ultimately, method acting is a useful technique and should be properly taught and understood by all actors – whether they are aspirants or veterans in the field. Remaining unaware of the hidden risks might dent the actor’s psyche in the long run.

Edoardo Costa, an Italian actor and model, is best known for his role in the Bruce Willis blockbuster, "Live Free or Die Hard". Learn more about him here.

Edoardo Costa: Actor, entrepreneur, philanthropist

Edoardo Costa is an Italian actor whose career began in the 1990s after he was discovered by a modeling agent in a local Milanese bar. It was due to this fateful event that he transitioned from serving the military to becoming a top model for some of the biggest agencies in the world. He had worked on covers, editorials, catalogues, and TV commercials for brands like Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, Versace, Christian Dior and many others.

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Following his work as a model, he was then cast on a variety of independent American films. His debut in a feature was when he played as Emerson, the terrorist in the fourth installment of the Die Hard series, Live Free or Die Hard. His first major role was in the drama Down The Shore, which was directed by Harold Guskin, and starred James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen. His most recent appearance in film was in the movie Non-Stop, with Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Michelle Dockery.

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Apart from his career in acting, he had also served as the CEO of the Beatrice International Model Agency and the President of Actors Academy Milano from 2005 to 2009. Through friends and colleagues, he has remained active in philanthropic work and has supported projects in Afghanistan, Brazil, and Africa.

Currently, Edoardo Costa is based in both Los Angeles and New York city and he continues his career as an international actor while taking time to connect with people and finding opportunities for growth.

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Find more information about him through this Facebook page.