The ease of being the antagonist

My friend is taking a media studies class this summer, and she's beginning her final project now. She has chosen to study the ability for actors to more easily play the antagonist than the protagonist. She is using examples from film and TV (i.e. media). She has asked me for my help, and I accepted. So she want examples of actors playing both types, and she has plenty of basic comparisons, but I told her it may have more of an impact if she also had examples of actors playing both roles in the same setting, i.e. actors that turn evil, ect ect. I gave her the example of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel series. In my opinion, Angelus was much better acted than Angel, Illyria better than Fred, evil Willow better than good Willow. Can you guys think of other examples of actors that do better as the bad guy than the good guy, in the same setting. Also, if you can give your thoughts on if you think that the examples are good ones or not, or why you think it is or isn't easier to act as the antagonist. Thank you for you help, my friend will appreciate it.

I don't think I saw the beginning so I'm not sure how they played one half, but Face-Off would probably be good to consider.

Many actors like playing antagonists because they can go "overboard", adopt a more radical and extrovert character than if they were playing a protagonist. That's what they say in interviews, anyway. Antagonists are often the complete opposite of who they are and what they're like in real life, so they can pull out all the stops, having fun with the 'evil' role while challenging their acting abilities.

Examples of actors playing both protagonists and antagonists:

-Brian Cox as King Agamemnon in Troy: that movie was so ambivalent about who was "good" or "bad", so many characters were playing 'dual' roles - neither wholly noble, nor truly villainous. At first, when Agamemnon was portrayed as a proud and noble king, wanting to hold together the world's greatest nations, he was... a little bland, perhaps. Not as unique a character, fewer distinguishing traits. As his desperation and inherent depravity became more evident, though, the character gained more dimensions, more depth.

-Louise Fletcher as Kai Winn Adami in Deep Space Nine. Her character goes from being a somber spiritual leader, with a slightly corrupt streak, to being a full-blown demon-worshipper with only a few streaks of morality left. A profound transformation, allowing for completely different aspects of the character to come to the forefront.

"Bad" characters are often more emotional and volatile than their "good" counterparts, so I guess that's a part of the appeal too.

Secret Window is the perfect example.

SPOILERS
Johnny Depp is the main character who lives by himself, since he caught his wife cheating on him. He is an author and, one day, a stranger shows up at his doorstep claiming that Depp copied his story. Throughout the movie the "stranger" does some pretty whacko stuff, including killing Depp's lawyer and friend, and another of Johnny's friends. Turns out that Depp's "stranger" friend was actually just Johnny's alter ego waiting to get out. Depp created him with his imagination and it was actually Depp who did all the whacko stuff. Throughout the movie, Depp is portrayed as the protagonist, when, in fact, he was actually the antagonist.

Another wonderful character study occurred in the recent film "Mystic River". Sean Penn, as the father of a murdered daughter goes from being a helpless, completely destroyed man to a murderous vengenance-seeking madman who'd stop at nothing to get revenge on whomever had killed his daughter. You can also make a similar case, in many ways, to various shows on TV, such as "The Shield", "The Sopronos", and the like.

To watch a man walk two very delicate and very different lines of a person, first one so completely out of control emotionally, one that can't put to words the pain and anguish he feels; and then by films end, to have become one who cannot control his wrath and ends up going out of control physically proves that we are all capable of being heroes otr villains. How we cope with a particular situation or how we keep our emotions within us is ultimately what rules the day.

A few other films to watch that depict both sides, honor and dishonor, I suppose would be: "The Godfather", "Se7en", "The Bridge On The River Kwai", "Training Day", "Blade Runner" and "Traffic".

What each of these films have in common is that characters are essentially given the choice between moral and immoral decisions. Even villains can have hearts, and even some heroes can prove to be heartless. It's quite a view into the human soul.

Best of luck on the project!

Take care all.

i think negativity is easier to emulate than positivity. this is probably because in real life situations it is easier to be negative than it is to be positive.