10 Hollywood Villains Who Looked Completely Different When They Were Young (and We Can’t Get Enough)

The most known (and feared) villains are often played by actors that are so professional and smart when it comes to acting, that we forget that there’s a true person behind the evil face. Some of them, when they were younger, actually had a pretty sweet and harmless look. It shows just how talented they are, and also the radical change in their look that they had to undergo in order to play a part in a film.

Bright Side thought it would be fun to see what some of the actors, who’ve played feared villains, looked like early on in their career. You’ll be surprised to see that most of them are very good looking and sweet.

1. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort in the Harry Potter saga

When Ralph Fiennes brought Voldemort to the big screen for the blockbuster saga Harry Potter, he pretty much had to undergo a complete change of appearance. He started playing the role of “He Who Must Not Be Named” at age 42, and changed his appearance to look more evil. The difference with the second image in our collage is more than obvious: we can see the same actor in the TV series Prime Suspect when he was only 28 years old.

2. Lee Pace as Thranduil in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Actor Lee Pace has played several popular characters. You might remember him for roles like the dreaded Thranduil in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. However, in real life, he’s actually easy on the eyes, way sweeter, and totally harmless. And if you don’t believe us, you just have to take a look at the second picture in the collage above where Pace is 23 years old. Here he’s playing his first major role in the series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

3. Cate Blanchett as Hela in Thor: Ragnarok

Hela, played by the popular actress Cate Blanchett, proves throughout the whole Thor film that she is a true villain and the hero’s main obstacle to reach his goals. To bring this character to the big screen, Cate had to change her appearance completely and work on her own peaceful personality to become more feisty. However, since she was young she has this almost heavenly quality that is hard to explain and even harder to find in other actresses. You can clearly see that by looking at the second image from Heartland, a series she appeared in when she was 24.

4. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter saga

Helena Bonham Carter is one of the most popular names that comes to mind when it comes to versatility on stage. She has played many different roles, each of which is completely different from the next. One of the most popular ones is, of course, Bellatrix Lestrange, from the Harry Potter saga. In this series, she is one of the most feared villains and she looks like a dark magic wizard. But Bonham Carter can also look like an innocent girl. At the age of 19, when she appeared in A Room with a View compared with Bellatrix Lestrange... That’s the diversity we were talking about before!

5. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan in The Walking Dead

When you talk about a successful series, there’s no way you can avoid mentioning the feared villain of The Walking Dead, Negan, played by actor Jeffrey Dean. Despite being an enemy that stands out for his evil personality, he managed to attract a large part of his audience with his wit and pretty looks. However, in his first role in the movie Uncaged, he managed to capture the audience thanks to his beauty when he was barely 24 years old.

6. Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man

Actor Willem Dafoe brought one of the most characteristic villains that Spider-Man had to face to the big screen. Thanks to his incredible ability to interpret the personality of the Green Goblin, Willem managed to characterize all the gestures that represent a purely evil personality. In the second picture, you can see what he looked like at the beginning of his career, when he was only 26 years old and appeared in the film The Loveless.

7. Bill Nighy as Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean has given us a whole crowd of memorable characters, and one of the most amazing ones is the evil Davy Jones. However, the actor behind this villain’s mask, Bill Nighy, actually looks completely different from what we’re used to seeing in the movie, as you can clearly see in the second picture. Bill appeared in the film Eye of the Needle when he was 31 years old.

8. Tilda Swinton as Jadis in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Tilda Swinton delivered a perfect performance as the evil ice queen in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The queen’s cold and fearsome look suited Swinton to a tee. Still, the actress has a great career to support her amazing performance in Narnia. At the age of 25 she looked beautiful, but her role in the first film she appeared in, Caravaggio, was totally different, and so were her looks.

9. Michael Sheen as Aro in The Twilight Saga: New Moon

In the second installment of the Twilight saga, we were able to get to know the evil Aro, who has the gift of reading a person’s mind and memories just by touching them. This strange and fearful character was played by actor Michael Sheen, who had to get a complete makeover to bring the pale-skinned character to the big screen. In the picture on the right, you can see how he looked when he appeared in the miniseries Gallowglass at the age of 24.

10. Antony Starr as The Homelander in The Boys

The Boys is one of those series that is on everyone’s lips at the moment because of its unique storyline and diverse characters. One of them, the superhero The Homelander, is played by Antony Starr. However, we soon find out that instead of being the typical hero at the service of others, he is hiding an evil side. We won’t reveal much more about him, in case you haven’t seen the series. But note how different Antony looked when he was only 20 years old and played a role in the series Xena: Warrior Princess.

Is there any villain from a series or a movie that you like for some reason? Why do you like him or her?