Can we create a comprehensive list of actors who have played the Devil

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

This list can include Lucifer too, even if in the mythology of the piece Lucifer is significantly different to the Devil and/or Satan. Sons and daughters of the devil (when not just a catch all term for sexy vampires) will also be accepted and characters who "might" be the devil but it is left a bit open for interpretation also accepted.

Demons, and their seed - even if demon computers - not accepted. A kick summary of how the devil is presented/unmasked - expecially any "clever" plot twists will be gleefully pointed at. Such as:

1: Angel Heart: Bob De Niro as (ahem) Louis Cyphre. At what point are we supposed to realise he is the devil - the end. At what point do we realise it: the moment the character is introduced...

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:43 (twenty years ago)

Peter Cook
Al Pacino
Liz Hurley
Brad Pitt

― Frogm@n Henry, Monday, 8 August 2005 08:46 (twenty years ago)

2. Devil's Advocate: Al Pacino
bah xpost

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:47 (twenty years ago)

End of Days: Gabriel Byrne

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:48 (twenty years ago)

Passion Of The Christ: Rosalinda Celentano

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:50 (twenty years ago)

Deconstructing Harry: Billy Crystal.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:51 (twenty years ago)

Harvey Keitel

― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:52 (twenty years ago)

I think in Angel Heart it's pretty clear from the beginning of the film with his name, his finger nails & his "some religions think that the egg is a symbol of the soul" as he chows down on a boiled egg.

― Panther Pink (Pinkpanther), Monday, 8 August 2005 08:59 (twenty years ago)

Jack Nicholson, The Witches Of Eastwick

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 8 August 2005 09:11 (twenty years ago)

Rowan Atkinson played the Devil in that Welcome To Hell sketch he did, but that probably doesn't count.

― C J (C J), Monday, 8 August 2005 09:20 (twenty years ago)

Ned Flanders played the devil once.

― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 8 August 2005 09:21 (twenty years ago)

Trey Parker

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 8 August 2005 09:22 (twenty years ago)

Dean Stockwell in that final episode of Quantum Leap.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 8 August 2005 09:30 (twenty years ago)

John Goodman in Barton Fink, possibly

Mark Benton in (Russell T Davies) Second Coming

Andy Hamilton in an amusing Radio 4 comedy drama from a few years back, can't recall the name, not sure I ever knew it.

― , Monday, 8 August 2005 09:38 (twenty years ago)

http://www.imdb.com/char-search

― Girolamo Savonarola, Monday, 8 August 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

dave grohl- tenacious d tribute video

― battlingspacemonkey (battlingspacemonkey), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:10 (twenty years ago)

Clay Tanner in Rosemary's Baby.

Various Omen based kids of the devil:
Damien: Harvey Stephens, Jonathon Scott-Taylor, Sam Neill
Delia (I know!) in Omen IV: Asia Viera

Luckily they stopped there.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:11 (twenty years ago)

Brad Pitt

He played Death, but not the Devil, I think.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

Constantine: Peter Stormare

Maybe the best Devil performance ever?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

I don't know who it is, or what the film's called (Martin Something?), but it's the one with Gerard Depardieu walking across a field at night.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

A Chinese Ghost Story: Siu-Ming Lau

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:45 (twenty years ago)

Dawn French in the Young Ones?
("She's talking about PERIOD PAIN.")

― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 8 August 2005 10:55 (twenty years ago)

Legend: Tim Curry

The horniest, i.e. the one with the biggest horns, Devil ever.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 11:17 (twenty years ago)

The Devil and Max Devlin: Bill Cosby!

― Applepie Baseball, Monday, 8 August 2005 11:25 (twenty years ago)

Gary Oldman (BMW Films - The Hire, episode: "Beat the Devil")

― Ian Riese-Moraine: a casualty of social estrangement. (Eastern Mantra), Monday, 8 August 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

did Charles Dance play a devil role in the Golden Child ? or was he just yer common-or-garden demon type ?

― Ste (Fuzzy), Monday, 8 August 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

Larry Fishburne in Event Horizon? I'm not sure, a while since I've watched it.

― , Monday, 8 August 2005 11:37 (twenty years ago)

Legend: Tim Curry

The horniest, i.e. the one with the biggest horns, Devil ever.

The best ever devil!

http://wlocks.world.free.fr/heroic_fantasy/heroic/cinema_heroicfantasy/legend3.JPG

― Panther Pink (Pinkpanther), Monday, 8 August 2005 11:40 (twenty years ago)

Brimstone and Treacle: Michael Kitchen

― Masked Gazza, Monday, 8 August 2005 11:43 (twenty years ago)

Walter Huston in The Devil and Daniel Webster - such a classic.

― Huey (Huey), Monday, 8 August 2005 11:56 (twenty years ago)

debatable: Emmanuelle Seigner and then Johnny Depp in The Ninth Gate

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 8 August 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Viggo Mortenson in The Prophecy
George Burns in Oh God, You Devil

― Big Loud Mountain Ape (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Monday, 8 August 2005 13:15 (twenty years ago)

best devil ever: pacino

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 8 August 2005 13:24 (twenty years ago)

Oddly it was watching the Ninth Gate that prompted this, mainly because I think it cops out of ANYONE being the devil (but I guess Emanuelle has the best claim).

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 8 August 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

No, I disagree...I actually think that, for pure terror's sake, Mortenson and De Niro were best. They were just menacing - like you had no idea what they were going to do next. Plus, they had their respective scary-as-fuck behaviors: De Niro has ALWAYS looked way intimidating and scary in a beard, and the fingernails were just plain evil...like "I'm evil and I don't even need to try."

Mortenson, on the other hand, had the whole whispering thing and the perching on things in a way that gravity won't allow. And, he played opposite Christopher Walken, so he HAD to bring the creep on.

Pacino was all of Lucifer's ego without any of the results of being banished from heaven. I understand that, to some extent, that's what Lucifer is - the unbridled ego - and he played a New York Satan like he should have been played. I liked the smaller scale of the other two, however.

And Charles Dance played Sardo Numspa, a demon. There was one scene where he communicated with his "lord", who ordered him to capture and kill the Golden Child.

― Big Loud Mountain Ape (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Monday, 8 August 2005 13:40 (twenty years ago)

Jules Berry in Les Visiteurs du Soir.

― M. White (Miguelito), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

One of the interesting things is how, once they have brought in the Devil (whoever he is) they have to deal with the fact that the current church has very little room for him and hell apart from as "ultimate badness". The dev having the best tunes, and so on, barely comes into it - and his relationship with God is nary spoken of.

If you are not careful he comes off as a slightly hornier Just William.

Ben Chaplin is possessed by the Devil in Lost Souls.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

De Niro has ALWAYS looked way intimidating and scary in a beard

he was a relatively 'cuddly' bearded loser in Jackie Brown though.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

And Charles Dance played Sardo Numspa, a demon. There was one scene where he communicated with his "lord", who ordered him to capture and kill the Golden Child.

and you know who the "lord" was? The fucking Claw from Inspector Gadget!

― g-kit (g-kit), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

I think De Niro looked cuddly in Angel Heart too.

― Pete (Pete), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:30 (twenty years ago)

Is this for another Wikipedia page?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

Brimstone and Treacle: Michael Kitchen

Sting in the film version. Gumph!

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

Ray Walston in "Damn Yankees"

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

Vincent Price in "The Story of Mankind"

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:40 (twenty years ago)

I know the opening questions specifies "no demons", but I think it should be noted that Kevin Smith's Dogma is almost completely redeemed singlehandedly by Jason Lee's performance as the demon Azrael.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

almost

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 8 August 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

OTM, g-kit! OT-fucking-M. I am laughing my ass off and resisting the urge to answer the phone like that...

"I'll get you next time, Eddie Murphy! Next tiiiiiimmmmeeeee......."

― Big Loud Mountain Ape (Big Loud Mountain Ape), Monday, 8 August 2005 15:02 (twenty years ago)

Pacino's performance was weakened by the fucking ten-minute monologue. (Haha, that fits almost any Pacino film!) I still say Peter Stormare was the best devil. Have any of you seen Constantine? It was better than anyone expected.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 15:06 (twenty years ago)

Thomas Jay Ryan in Hal Hartley's The Book of Life.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 8 August 2005 15:07 (twenty years ago)

Terence Stamp in "Teorema".... possibly

― Vicious Cop Kills Gentle Fool (Dada), Monday, 8 August 2005 15:07 (twenty years ago)

The Black Hole: Maximilian

TRON: the MCP

― TOMBOT, Monday, 8 August 2005 15:07 (twenty years ago)

Does Peter O Toole in The Ruling Class count?

Peter Stormare in Constantine seconded as one of the best ever.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 8 August 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)

Juliette Caton (sometimes voiced by Leo Marks) in The Last Temptation of Christ

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 8 August 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

Also, something on another thread reminded me of The Company of Wolves, in which imdb thinks that Terence Stamp played the Devil (again).

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 8 August 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

I have no idea who Clay Tanner is, but according to IMDb he played the Devil in Rosemary's Baby.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

Wasn't there an urban legend that Aleister Crowley played the devil in Rosemary's Baby? Or that he provided "consultation" or something?

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

You're thinking of Anton LaVey. Maybe Clay Tanner was a pseudonym or maybe Clay Tanner was the guy in the suit and LaVey did the voice.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:23 (twenty years ago)

I AM thinking about Anton LeVey, thanks.

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:29 (twenty years ago)

And it's apparently not true (though it's still treated as true in a lot of sources):

LEGEND: One of ASL's most widely-accepted falsehoods is his claim that he served as technical advisor for the 1968 Roman Polanski film Rosemary's Baby. ASL also claimed to have played the curiously-uncredited part of the Devil in that film.

REALITY: ASL had no involvement with Rosemary's Baby. Polanski's close friend Gene Gutowski (original producer of the film) stated that there was no technical advisor, nor did ASL ever even meet Polanski. Producer William Castle, who details all aspects of the film's production in his autobiography, never mentions ASL. He does describe Polanski's diligence in basing the film exactly on the Ira Levin novel from which it was adapted, eliminating any need for technical advice. The father of the actress who played Mia Farrow's body-double in the Devil scene recalled that a young, very slender professional dancer played the part, dressed in a small rubber suit. In 1971 this suit was acquired by Studio One Productions in Louisville, Kentucky, for use in a low-budget horror film Asylum of Satan. Michael Aquino, technical advisor for that film, examined the suit and concluded that the 200-pound, 6-foot ASL could not possibly have worn it. [The suit was worn by a girl in the Asylum film.] Not a single member of the cast or crew of Rosemary's Baby has ever mentioned ASL's involvement. In 1968 a San Francisco theater did ask ASL to make an appearance at the film's local opening as a promotional event. This appears to have been ASL's only connection with the film that engendered the 1960s' popular interest in Satanism.

SOURCES: Gene Gutowski; William Castle, Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America, New York: Pharos Books, 1992; Diane LaVey, Michael A. Aquino (COS, page #17).

― n/a (Nick A.), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:31 (twenty years ago)

Remember that American Gothic programme? Weren't there hints that Nasty Sherriff Man was actually Satan?

― chap who would dare to thwart the revolution (chap), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:33 (twenty years ago)

The greatest trick that Anton LaVey ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't play the devil in Rosemary's Baby.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Monday, 8 August 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

Mark McKinney of the Kids in the Hall as Satan:

"... and so you always shall!"
"Thank you Satan!"

― Bnad, Monday, 8 August 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

awesome golfers

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 9 August 2005 00:14 (twenty years ago)

John Glover in Brimstone.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Tuesday, 9 August 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

Adam Sandler in Dirty Work... (I actually used to like The Waterboy!)

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Tuesday, 9 August 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

You guys are all mentalists. It's so obviously Bejamin Christensen, dude from Haxan. I mean, come one, THE TONGUE!!!
http://www.cnca.gob.mx/cnca/nuevo/diarias/230198/artzoyd3.jpg

― Fetchboy (Felcher), Tuesday, 9 August 2005 04:44 (twenty years ago)

Smart guys, De Niro in Angel Heart might have been devil-like, or a devil figure, but this former teenager and his friends didn't see the end coming. Admitedly, unless a film stinks from go, I tend to shut off the part of my mind that tries to predict what happens next.

― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 9 August 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

Peter Cook in Bedazzled.

― Star Hustler, Wednesday, 10 August 2005 03:24 (twenty years ago)

Earl Pastko in Highway 61

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 10 August 2005 04:01 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

I have to agree that my favorite Satan is Mark McKinneys satan, especially in Bobby vs the Devil

― Andrea Howe, Saturday, 27 August 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

In Little Nicky Harvey Keitel was on the throne in hell so I guess he was 'the devil', but ROdney Dangerfield was 'Lucifer' proper iirc

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Saturday, 27 August 2005 01:04 (twenty years ago)

twelve years pass...

nice analysis of the visual grammar of The Devil and Daniel Webster

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2018/07/09/filmstruck-goes-to-the-devil-a-guest-post-by-jeff-smith/

― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, 16 July 2018 19:40 (seven years ago)

Cool article. I still stand by my nomination upthread.

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 17 July 2018 01:48 (seven years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.