Tim Roth seems like a very nice guy, but he has a knack, as an actor, for playing nasty, creepy, fairly horrible people. Not always — he can play humorous characters and romantic leads — but he’s best-known for his bad guys. And some of those baddies are kind of hawt. To wit…
Vincent Van Gogh in Vincent & Theo (1990)
A Robert Altman film, so it’s a moody character study, which works well for Roth’s style.
Guildenstern in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
HILARIOUS. WITTY. PHILOSOPHICAL. WATCH THIS.
Milan in The Perfect Husband (1993)
Obscure flick based on a Dostoevsky play, which sounds dull, but Tumblr is full of sexy Tim Roth gifs from this movie, so if I ever find it, I’ll have to watch it & report back.
Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy (1995)
Forget all the Scottish crap, this guy is why Rob Roy is worth watching. He’s so so terrible & so so hawt!
Helloooooo!!!
Novecento in The Legend of 1900 (1998)
A sort of historical fantasy about a man born in 1900 who grows up on an oceanliner, never leaves the ship, & becomes a musician.
Marquis de Lauzun in Vatel (2000)
Another of Roth’s incredibly smarmy, nasty characters, all clad in fine silks.
And a big, fabulous wig.
Herschel Steinschneider / Erik Jan Hanussen in Invincible (2001)
In pre-WWII Gemany, Roth is a con-man & fake mystic who promotes a Jewish strongman for Nazi audiences. Weird!
Febre the Man in Black in The Musketeer (2001)
+10 for Tim Roth in black leather, -5 for yet another take on The Three Musketeers.
Oliver Cromwell in To Kill a King (2003)
Cromwell’s POV on the trial & execution of England’s King Charles I. *smolder*
William Pitt in Battle of the Brave aka Nouvelle-France (2004)
A bit part as the British statesman during the Seven Years’ War as Canada was settled.
Dominic Matei in Youth Without Youth (2007)
Strange film where Roth’s character is an old man in the 1930s, then turns into a young man, plus there’s Nazis, romance, Buddhism, etc.
Gerbino in Virgin Territory (2007)
Playing the heavy in this Renaissance fantasy sex romp that we’ve snarked the costumes of in many a Snark Week.
King Pedro II of Aragon in King Conqueror (2009)
I’m guessing this was terrible because I can only find one tiny photo & no reviews.
The Count in Klondike (2014)
I hate westerns, but he’s lookin’ fine here.
Prince Rainier in Grace of Monaco (2014)
Rather suave!
Gov. George Wallace in Selma (2014)
A real 20th-c. villain. Not hot, but an excellent film.
Oswaldo Mobray/English Pete Hicox in The Hateful Eight (2015)
Western again.
Do you like the baddies in historical costume? How does Tim Roth rate?
OMG THANK YOU FOR THIS! I love Tim Roth, he’s so good, and bad, and I feel conflicted. sploosh
Tim Roth, Hawt Villain, 10 out of 10
He is quite delicious and it makes me ponder what about what creates that allure. He has something that most people lack….
Great actor who shines in both period pieces and contemporary settings.
He also joined the ranks of actors who directed only one film and did a brilliant job, even if it is one of the most depressing, harrowing movies out there.
I high-key loved his blue outfit in Rob Roy, & reading about the MacGregor/ Colqhoun feud opened my eyes to the fact that the MacGregors/ Rob Roy were not heroes…
Hell, the MacGregors invented ‘blackmail’! It came from the ‘black meal’ payments they “accepted” from people, to ensure their sheep & cattle weren’t lifted!
I’d LOVE if you guys did a longer review of ‘To Kill a King’ one day.
I just rewatched “Rob Roy” last night (I had to get out of 2020 for two hours…), and realized that Roth reminded me of James Cagney in “White Heat”: charismatic, psychotic, murderous, and stuck on his ma; also noticed that his miniature of her actually looks early 18th century! Fabulous wigs on the guys. Only weird thing was the subdued little black page boy who has to follow John Hurt around, Not that his being there was weird; “exotic” servants were quite modish. I just wanted the script to have him rebel at the end and run away to the Highlands, or something.