10 Sitcom Stars Who Would Make Great Villains
What is it that makes sitcom actors so good at being bad? Some of our favorite funny folks from the small screen have also played villains of the most vicious and vile persuasion.
Think about Ted Danson going from bartender Sam Malone on Cheers to billionaire-gone-bad Arthur Frobisher on Damages. Or Bryan Cranston wowing audiences with his turn from doofus dad Hal Wilkerson on Malcolm in the Middle to drug lord Walter White on Breaking Bad. Or John Lithgow making us forget all about the endearing alien professor Dick Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun with his role as serial killer Arthur Mitchell on Dexter.
There are even more examples. Before she was doting mom Mary Cooper on Young Sheldon, Zoe Perry played murderous operative Samantha Ruland on Scandal. And recall that Jon Cryer went from hapless dad Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men to big bad Lex Luthor in the Arrowverse.
Now imagine the actors below trading comedic chops for cutthroat characters.
Andre Braugher
Modern-day TV audiences know Braugher as Capt. Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but don’t forget he does drama, too, including the ’90s cop drama Homicide: Life on the Streets. We could totally see him go antagonistic on TV.
Max Greenfield
Known for his funny parts on the sitcoms New Girl and The Neighborhood, Greenfield went dark as a tormented addict in American Horror Story: Hotel and darker as a murderer in American Horror Stories. Here’s hoping he gets a bigger villain part.
Sean Hayes
“Just Jack”? Hardly! Hayes has shown tremendous versatility since his Will & Grace days, picking up a Tony Award this year for his leading role as troubled musician Oscar Levant. Could a killer role be next?
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
With a record-tying 11 Emmys to her name, Louis-Dreyfus could certainly portray a villain for the ages. Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes and Veep’s Selina Meyer aren’t exactly pillars of morality, and Dreyfus’s Marvel role verges on villainy, but it’s time for her to go fully evil.
Laurie Metcalf
Metcalf has already taken on malicious roles — in film’s Scream 2 and in a Broadway production of Misery, for instance — and we’d love to see her play an equally reprehensible character role on TV. As in, someone Jackie would warn the rest of The Conners about.
Jim Parsons
After years of playing the lovable nerd Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, Parsons showed a mean streak as Michael in the movie The Boys in the Band. And we have no doubt the actor could play a sadistic someone on the small screen.
Tracee Ellis Ross
More like Tracee Ellis Boss, are we right? Ross’ talent wowed us on Girlfriends and Black-ish, and we’re still sore that her NBC pilot Bad Girls didn’t go to series. But we haven’t given up hope that we’ll see her as a bad girl yet.
John Stamos
A serial killer with devilish charm? A con artist with a silver tongue? A Ponzi schemer with a convincing pitch? We can picture Stamos nailing all of those roles, especially after watching the Full House alum go wicked for a 2011 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Hannah Waddingham
We got a glimpse of a fabulously sinister version of Waddingham in the film Hocus Pocus 2, and we were duly bewitched. The Brit never became a villain in Ted Lasso, thank goodness, but we could imagine her as a business executive with none of Rebecca Welton’s heart.
Constance Wu
Wu might not be interested in doing another TV sitcom anytime soon, given her Fresh Off the Boat experience, and so maybe — just maybe — we’ll get to see the formidable actor take a turn to the dark side, too.
