Villains We Love: William Atherton
Filed under: Comedy
So there I was on the Twitter, conversing with a few friends and rambling aimlessly about some movie minutiae that was hopping through my head. One of those Tweets was this one, and it prompted an immediate response from several Twitter pals ... and Erik Davis. He insisted that my admiration for character actor William Atherton would make for an appropriate edition of "Villains We Love," and here's why: Mr. Atherton is at his best when he's playing a smug, smarmy, officious authority figure who exists mainly to give a movie's hero something fun to play off of.Case in point: Val Kimer vs. William Atherton in Real Genius. Bill Murray vs. William Atherton in Ghostbusters. Bruce Willis (and Bonnie Bedelia) vs. William Atherton in Die Hard and Die Hard 2. Pauly Shore vs. William Atherton in Bio-Dome. Certainly no one-trick pony (you also know this actor from The Sugarland Express, The Day of the Locust, and The Last Samurai), but the man's just great at playing a snooty villainous bastard. For those who require some evidence, I refer you to the post-jump territory.
More on Atherton: To find out which giant TV show he'll be guest starring on during its final season, head over to SciFi Squad.
A little salty language in this classic Ghostbusters clip:
A simple-but-amusing capper from Die Hard:
And here's a lengthier segment from Real Genius that truly showcases Atherton's mustache-twirly awesomeness:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-28-2009 @ 2:17PM
lw said...
John C McGinley also has this same smarmy,shitty quality when he plays the officious jerk. Particularly in Point Break, Highlander II, On Deadly Ground, and even Platoon & Office Space. You just want to smack him in the face.
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10-28-2009 @ 5:11PM
Marlowe said...
It was a tiny (and historically inaccurate) role, but I thought Atherton was great as Thomas Dewey (of Truman-defeating fame) in "Hoodlum".
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10-28-2009 @ 5:22PM
MYMHM said...
I've had the pleasure of working with Atherton, and while being a perfect gentleman in real life, he just effortlessly portrays some of the most prick-ish characters you can imagine.
He's a lot of fun to direct.
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