Random Actors Who Played Satan (24 items)

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  (#1) Peter Stormare

  • 62

  In many movie appearances, the Devil is depicted in the midst of one of his many plots to corrupt humanity and rule the Earth. In Constantine, Peter Stormare's creepy casually Lucifer only wants one thing: exorcist John Constantine's (Keanu Reeves) immortal soul.

  Resurrected after a suicide attempt in his teens, John believes he can "buy" his way into heaven if he uses his abilities to wage war against the demons that attempt to influence humanity before the cancer in his lungs kills him a second time.

  In order to stop an even worse fate from befalling the Earth, John commits suicide a second time to warn Lucifer about those conspiring against him. To reward John, Lucifer grants him one favor. Rather than use the favor to save himself, he uses it selflessly, which grants him admission into heaven. Furious, Lucifer heals John and cures him of cancer so that he will live long enough to earn his place in Hell once again, proving the adage "the Devil is patient."

  Critics were quick to damn the film, while others, like Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, said it still managed to "scare up some devilish fun."

   
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  (#2) Mark Pellegrino

  • 53

  The long-running TV series Supernatural changed the established origin of the Devil in several ways, including having Lucifer initially battle alongside Heaven's archangels against the Darkness, an evil older than God. Rather than destroy the evil, God locked it away with a mark that he gave to Lucifer, and it was the Darkness that corrupted Lucifer and caused him to argue with God and be cast out of Heaven.

  The version of the character Mark Pellegrino portrays appears in Season 5 of the series, when Lucifer inhabits a depressed widower named Nick. Pellegrino's Devil claims he is the victim of God's capricious nature and not evil incarnate as he is portrayed. His essence proves to be too powerful for Nick's human body, however, and it degrades and he eventually dies. Six seasons later, demons reconstitute and reinforce Nick's body to use as a permanent vessel for Lucifer.
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  (#3) Tom Ellis

  • 37

  Instead of a relentless force of evil perpetually scheming to take over the Earth and topple God from Heaven, Tom Ellis's version of the Devil on the Fox TV series Lucifer is more of a bored absentee CEO slumming with humans for some different sort of thrills.

  Based on the popular comic book, Ellis's Lucifer Morningstar abdicated his throne in Hell to run a nightclub in Los Angeles called "Lux." He becomes infatuated with an LAPD detective (Lauren German) when he discovers his powers of persuasion don't work on her. Ellis's Devil typically presents as a very suave, good-looking human with a witty sense of humor, but his true demonic nature comes out every so often.
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  (#4) Al Pacino

  • 78

  Al Pacino plays the Devil as one John Milton, which is also the name of the English writer who penned the epic 1667 poem Paradise Lost about the Fall of Man. Pacino plays Satan as a slick-talking head of a successful New York City law firm giving the Devil a modern take. But Pacino's Devil is still up to his old tricks as he tempts Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) with promises of material wealth and power while simultaneously destroying his loving wife's (Charlize Theron) sanity. The Devil's endgame in the movie is about as horrible and terrifying as they come: to have his son Kevin sleep with his half-sister to conceive the Antichrist.

  Pacino's version of Satan is a slippery conman. As James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk noted, "Pacino puts on a great show, investing enough in his character to make him evil, but not so much that we think he's truly serious."
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  (#5) Tim Curry

  • 72

  One of the biggest "misses" in the careers of both director Ridley Scott and actor Tom Cruise, Legend is a dark fantasy world populated with fairies, elves, unicorns and the Devil in the form of Tim Curry's Darkness. For many, Curry's Darkness, with the classic red-skin-horns-and-hooves-Devil look taken to the extreme, is the highlight of a movie filled with a plethora of plot problems and silly dialogue.

  In full world conqueror mode, Darkness attempts to snuff out the very Power of Light itself by killing the magical unicorns that protect it and by corrupting the gentle Princess Lily (Mia Sara). His goblin underlings fail to kill the unicorns and the forest hero Jack (Tom Cruise) defeats the mighty Darkness with reflected sunlight, but he pops up again before the credits to tease a sequel that will never be.
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  (#6) Jack Nicholson

  • 78

  Conjured into existence by the desires of three lonely women who don't know they are witches, Jack Nicholson's Daryl Van Horne starts as a wealthy and charming, if eccentric, new arrival in the sleeper town of Eastwick, RI.

  However, when his crude advances are spurned by the witches, Nicholson reveals his character to be a capricious, horny, jealous version of the Devil who uses his supernatural powers to seduce, control, and torment the witches and anyone else who gets in his way.

  When the witches attempt to kill him using a voodoo doll, Van Horne loses control and transforms into a monstrous creature before disappearing. Being the Devil, of course, means he can't be "killed," and Van Horne returns 18 months later on TV monitors to peek in on the three children he sired with the witches. 
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  (#7) Viggo Mortensen

  • 60

  Viggo Mortensen brings a bestial fury to his portrayal of Lucifer in The Prophecy. His look is very much in line with the modern portrayal of the Devil as a swarthy man with dark hair and a beard, rather than a scaly red-skinned demon. Still, Mortensen's performance is every bit as scary as any fork-tongued monster. Mortensen delivers brutal dialogue with cringe-inducing fervor and his Devil is the ever-watching, ever-waiting, manipulator of mankind and devourer of souls.

  Mortensen's version of Stan is dangerously alluring. While the film was not well-received, critics like Rob Vaux of Flipside Movie Emporium noted, "Viggo Mortensen's cameo is worth the price of admission alone."
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  (#8) Gabriel Byrne

  • 68

  The Devil in End of Days (1999) puts the "super" in supernatural. While initially only an invisible creature that looks like the heat shimmer on a desert highway, the Devil possesses the body of a nameless banker played by Gabriel Byrne and wears him like a suit. Even in human form, the Devil has tremendous strength and the ability to start fires and explosions and control minds.

  Byrne portrays the Devil for most of the movie until a climactic confrontation with suicidal former police detective Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in a church, at which point the Evil One discards its human form and reveals itself to be a monstrous winged creature with numerous crab-like legs and a melted face. The Beast flies into Jericho's body and lifts him into the air before possessing him and forcing him to attempt to rape the woman chosen by Satanists to birth the Anti-Christ. Satan is only defeated when Jericho kills himself.

  There was no saving this film the damnation. End of Days was rather poorly received, and many critics believe only diehard Schwartzenegger fans will enjoy it. 
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  (#9) Dave Grohl

  • 50

  In Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, Nirvana and Foo Fighters rocker Dave Grohl portrays a Devil with a classic look: red skin, horns, sharp teeth, and hooved feet. Less Faust and more "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band, the plot of the movie finds the two-man band Tenacious D (Jack Black & Kyle Gass) challenging Satan, who they inadvertently released from Hell, to a "rock-off." If they win, the Devil goes back to Hell; if they lose, the Devil gets to use Gass as a sex slave for all eternity.

  Most critics agreed the film would only be enjoyed by life-long Tenacious D fans.
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  (#10) Rosalinda Celentano

  • 50

  In Mel Gibson's brutal depiction of the Passion of the Christ in his 2004 movie of the same name, the Devil is human, but in a disturbing way. Rosalinda Celentano portrays Satan as a cloaked, androgynous albino with no eyebrows and the voice of a man. This Devil doesn't blink and also lugs around a deformed child.

  Celentano's Satan tempts Jesus (Jim Caviezel) and uses magical abilities to transform into a snake and to conjure demons. Satan shadows Jesus's every movement, taking great interest in his condemnation and crucifixion on the cross.

  Gibson chose to represent the Devil in this manner, saying, "I believe the Devil is real, but I don't believe he shows up too often with horns and smoke and a forked tail. The Devil is smarter than that. Evil is alluring, attractive. It looks almost normal, almost good - but not quite."
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  (#11) Max von Sydow

  • 86

  Swedish-French actor Max von Sydow brings a sense of gritty honesty and gravitas to any of the characters he plays and was the highlight of the disappointing Needful Things. Von Sydow plays antiques store owner Leland Gaunt in the 1993 Stephen King adaptation, a mysterious new arrival to the quaint Maine town of Castle Rock.

  Gaunt, who is secretly the Devil in disguise, sells rare items that the townsfolk "need" in exchange for payment and "favors" that usually turn out to be dirty pranks. Von Sydow's Devil seems less interested in acquiring souls than he does in sowing discord in Castle Rock, but his malicious plans devastate the townsfolk.

  The movie also sowed discord among critics. While most critics were not a fan of this flick, critics were spilt on Sydow's perfomance. Some thought his performance was stellar, while others felt it was severely lacking. 
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  (#12) Peter Fonda

  • 79

  There's no honor among thieves and even less among demons, according to the plot of Ghost Rider. Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) is content making bargains for souls, as he does with a young stunt rider named Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage). When his son Blackheart and a trio of fallen angels invade Earth in search of The Contract of San Venganza, a list of 1,000 corrupt souls that they wish to use to take the throne of Hell, the Devil grants Blaze the powers of the Ghost Rider and commands him to destroy his son in exchange for his soul back.

  Fonda's Devil appears in human form as a wealthy, icy cool manipulator and tempter who enjoys the suffering of humans. Though he initially made an enemy of Blaze/Ghost Rider by killing his father a day after curing him of cancer, Mephistopheles honors his agreement at the end of the movie, returning Blaze's soul for defeating Blackheart.

  Although Mephistopheles is not considered the Devil in Faustian terms, the lesser demon has morphed into the Big Bad himself, according to scholar Jeffrey Burton Russell's Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World.
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  (#13) Elizabeth Hurley

  • 53

  Evil never looked so good. Elizabeth Hurley plays a sultry, trickster Devil in a comedy remake of a Dudley Moore movie, in which a scholar makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for his soul. Hurley's Devil is the perfect embodiment of the Dark One for her geeky tech support target, Elliot (Brendan Fraser), whose soul she craves.

  Hurley appears to Elliot as a red-clad dominatrix, a schoolgirl, a chambermaid, a beach bunny, a cheerleader, and as other male fantasy guises before transporting him to Hell and revealing her true demonic nature. She grants wishes in exchange for his soul, but she's a literalist in the tradition of "The Monkey's Paw," so you better be very clear about what you want when making a deal with this Devil.

  Hurley is definitely an alluring Princess of Darkness. While the film was not as appreciated as the original, Michael Dequina of TheMovieReport noted that, "Whenever Hurley disappears, so does much of the film's energy." 
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  (#14) Robert De Niro

  • 75

  Robert De Niro turns in one of the most terrifying portrayals of the Devil in Angel Heart because of the understated menace inherent in nearly every look, gesture, and mannerism during his limited screen time in the film as Louis Cyphre (Lucifer). Cyphre is on the hunt for a soul he is owed, but he can't collect it until the person who made the deal with him remembers the deal, so his true nature is not revealed until the end of the movie.

  As Cyphre, De Niro has the classic look of the Devil in human form – black hair, beard, long fingernails – minus the red skin. Still, when Cyphre stares at his mark while biting into a boiled egg, it's as if he is biting into the man's soul itself.

  Alas, Angel Heart remains lost in the underworld: Critics generally note how it remains underappreciated. 

   
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  (#15) George Burns

  • Dec. at 100 (1896-1996)

  If you're take on the Devil versus God relationship is of the yin yang variety, then George Burns's turn as Harry O. Tophet opposite himself as God in Oh, God! You Devil! is right up your alley. As Tophet, Burns's Devil is of the Faustian variety, a smooth-talking talent agent who promises fame and fortune in exchange for a musician's (Ted Wass) soul. A true gambler, the Devil ends up losing the musician's soul to God in a poker game when the stakes get too high.

  Sure, it's hokey, but as critics point out Burns's impeccable comedic timing makes up for the film's shortfalls. 
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  (#16) Tom Waits

  • 69

  An imaginative visual spectacle co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is another take on Faust, with the Devil (Tom Waits) granting Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) immortality in exchange for his the soul of his 16-year-old daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole).

  Tom Waits's Mr. Nick is very human in appearance and sports a pork pie hat and pencil-thin moustache. Mr. Nick is laid back – he has eternity, after all – and loves to negotiate, so much so that he is dissatisfied when Valentina offers her soul of her own volition. Despite his machinations, the Devil is bested in the end, but he lies in wait, always ready with another bargain.

  Critics lauded Waits's performance, with The Guardian's Xan Brooks saying this was the role he was "born to play."
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  (#17) Walter Huston

  • Dec. at 67 (1883-1950)

  In another Faust-inspired tale, Walter Huston plays the Devil as a soft-spoken, refined stranger named "Mr. Scratch" in The Devil and Daniel Webster. Huston's Devil offers down-on-his-luck farmer Jabez Stone (James Craig) seven years of prosperity in exchange for his soul. When Mr. Scratch comes to collect his due, he can't resist wagering Jabez's soul against the soul of the famous orator and attorney Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) in a trial by jury. The most notable power of Huston's Devil is that he breaks the fourth wall and stares at the viewer in the final moments of the movie.

  The film has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 100%, and critics like Sarah Boslaugh of PopMatters say Huston's portrayal of the Devil is "fun, seductive, even, and he knows it - he's always immensely pleased with himself."
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  (#18) David Warner

  • 77

  In Terry Gilliam's hilarious time-traveling fantasy adventure, Time Bandits, the Devil (David Warner) goes simply by the name "Evil" and strives for nothing less than "the overthrowing of creation itself."

  To accomplish this goal, Evil must acquire a map in the possession of a group of dwarves under the employ of the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) that shows all of the holes in the fabric of spacetime. Warner's Devil is a boisterous and pompous human who dresses like a reject from Flash Gordon (with an Alien "facehugger" atop his skullcap), controls countless minions and has seemingly limitless power, yet he is easily defeated by the Supreme Being, who turns him into stone.
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  (#19) Ewan McGregor

  • 47

  Ewan McGregor pulls double duty as Jesus and the Devil in Last Days in the Desert. The movie takes place during Jesus's 40 days of fasting in the desert and reinterprets Satan's temptation of Christ. McGregor's Devil is a mirror-image of Jesus, but seemingly more powerful. At times flattering, at others taunting, McGregor's Devil is the tempter and deceiver, whose goal is to make Jesus doubt himself and his relationship with God.

  It's a thought-provoking portrayal of the Devil and critics loved McGregor's contemplative and meditative performances.
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  (#20) Dustin Hoffman

  • 81

  Though his character in Luc Besson's blusterous retelling of the legend of St. Joan of Arc is credited as "The Conscience," Dustin Hoffman is clearly playing the type of Devil that keeps most of us up at night; the kind that whispers insidious things into our ears and makes us doubt our words, actions and even our dreams.

  Joan (Milla Jovovich) encounters Hoffman's character while being held captive for heresy, and the seemingly kindly monk makes her question whether she ever actually received the messages from God that led her on her quest to help liberate France from the English.

  The film, which clocks in at 148 minutes, was called "confusing" and "half-baked" by critics.
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  (#21) Joseph Mawle

  • 44

  Jamie (Jim Sturgess) is gripped with insecurity due to the large heart-shaped birthmark on the left side of his face. Things go from bad to worse for the young shutterbug when his mother is murdered by demons masquerading as street thugs. Summoned to an abandoned apartment, Jamie encounters the Devil in the form of a human gang leader named Papa B (Joseph Mawle). Mawle's Papa B has the modern look of the Devil – long dark hair, dark beard – but his shirtless chest and arms are covered in scars.

  Papa B speaks calmly to Jamie about the inherent chaos of nature and offers a Faustian deal: the removal of his birthmark in exchange for random acts of chaos. Jamie realizes that Papa B is the Devil and attempts to kill him by shooting him, but Papa B cannot be killed. Jamie accepts the pact and Papa B seemingly removes his birthmark by burning him alive. Later, Papa B reveals his true monstrous form, but vanishes, leaving Jamie with his birthmark once again.

  Heartless received polarizing reviews upon its release, and many noted that it may only be a standout for those who love genre films. 
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  (#22) Paul Williams

  • 75

  Writer-director Brian De Palma's 1974 rock opera-horror-comedy Phantom of the Paradise is a smash-up of genres and a mixture of classic stories like The Phantom of the Opera and Faust. The story revolves around composer and singer Winslow Leach (William Finley), who has his music stolen by a satanic record producer Swan (Paul Williams) who wants to use it to open his new concert hall, The Paradise.

  Williams's Swan is a caricature of a sleazy '70s-era record producer and while he may not be the actual Devil himself, he is immortal thanks to his own deal with the Devil and apparently has the power to make deals for souls on the Dark One's behalf.

  Four decades later, Phantom of the Paradise retains a cult following, and some fans believe it is even better than the most famous rock opera of the '70s, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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  (#23) Jennifer Love Hewitt

  • 40

  In this modern-day remake of The Devil and Daniel Webster, Jennifer Love Hewitt plays the Devil as a sexy stranger in red offering Faustian deals. In this update, Jabez Stone (Alex Baldwin) is a failed writer rather than a broke farmer, but the deal is essentially the same: great success in his field in exchange for his immortal soul.

  This time, Jabez's success alienates him from his friends and he sours on the deal and begs the Devil for his soul back. Once again, the Devil is willing to gamble for Jabez's soul against famed orator Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins) in court.

  Hewitt's version of the devil was a bit too soft. Critics slammed the film and pointed out that Hewitt's performance was not as menacing as it needed to be. 
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  (#24) Bill Cosby

  • 81

  When slumlord Max Devlin (Elliott Gould) is run over by a bus and killed, he descends into Hell and finds it looks a lot more like an office building than a fiery pit of damnation. Max is approached by Bill Cosby's Barney Satin (Satan), who appears as a regular human businessman. After explaining that Max has been condemned to Hell, Satin offers Max a chance to live again - and keep his soul - if he can convince three other people to sell their souls to the Devil.

  Cosby's Satin pops up throughout the movie wearing various guises, but always as a human, and only to Max; no one else can see or hear him. However, when Max, who has managed to attain the three required soul contracts, threatens to tear up and accept his fate, the Devil transports Max to Hell and Cosby appears in classic Devil fashion, with red skin, horns and pitchfork. Max tears up the contract anyway and returns to Earth, alive again and free of his debt to the Devil.

  The film was largely panned by critics, although some noted Cosby's performance is a bright spot in a bleak film.

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