Keanu Reeves is often cast as a hero in movies, but he has ventured into playing the villain a few times in his career to varying degrees of success.

Keanu Reeves has built an incredible career playing action and supernatural-style heroes, but he has occasionally strayed into playing the role of a villain with interesting results. Reeves has been acting since 1984, and it wasn’t long before he found himself in a leading role. In 1989, Reeves starred as Ted “Theodore” Logan in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. From this point on, his career typically saw him starring in films, or tackling a major leading role, often as the hero.

However, in the next few years, Keanu Reeves delivered several performances where he played the bad guy, but after 1993, his typecast was firmly set with him playing more heroic roles, and his performances as a villain became much more spread out and rare. Despite this, he has delivered a quality performance as the bad guy, with some truly dark and intimidating characters in his career where he played against type, and showcased his versatility as an actor.

9Don John – Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Much Ado About Nothing is a Shakespearean comedy revolving around two young couples and the politics of love and war. While the film was an overall success, being nominated for a BAFTA and taking home several other awards, Reeves’ performance as the villainous Don John actually earned him a nomination for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor. While Reeves excelled in heroic roles, he was an odd fit for the theatrical and farcical film based on a Shakespearean play.

However, the film’s farcical nature did provide some saving grace to Reeves’ performance. While he may have appeared wooden and out of place, this fit the general tone and silly nature of the film, which ultimately resolved with all of the trouble and struggles being for naught. It was at the very least an opportunity for Reeves to rub shoulders with some tremendously talented actors, such as Denzel Washington, Kenneth Braanagh, and Emma Thompson.

8Evil Ted – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

Continuing on with the trend of playing silly and goofy villains, Reeves also had a role playing two versions of the same character in the Bill & Ted sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Adventure. The film sees an evil villain send duplicate robots back in time to kill the boys and take over their lives. As such, Reeves played both the hero, Ted Logan, and an evil robot copy of himself. Once again, the films’ nature contributed to making this performance enjoyable, despite it not being a technical triumph.

Reeves was still finding his feet as an actor, but being able to explore two opposing sides of the same character made for a positive and unique experience early in his career. The Evil Ted is a perfect copy in every way, except he is pure evil. Playing with a character who had so much in common, yet such a distinctive difference in nature made for a great juxtaposition in the comedy movie, as well as developing Reeves’ talents as a performer with a wide and varying range.

7Donaka Mark – Man Of Tai Chi (2013)

In 2013, after establishing a decades-long successful career in huge blockbuster movies, Reeves decided to try and expand his talents and challenged himself by directing and starring in a film. Reeves played the villain in his directorial debut, and thus far his only film in that role, Man of Tai Chi. The film follows a young gifted martial artist who is in desperate need of money. Fortunately for the hero, Tiger, he stumbles into an underground fighting ring where he can potentially win large sums of money.

Reeves plays the leader of this underground fighting ring, the dark and treacherous Donaka Mark. Mark is obsessed with seeing Tiger leave behind his master’s teachings about self-defense, balance, and mercy, in order to make him a ruthless, bloodthirsty fighter like himself. Reeves does a great job considering he was trying to deliver on screen, and pull the entire project together from the directors’ chair. However, it is not his best villain performance, with several other roles seeing him take things a step further when he is able to focus on performing.

6The Dream – The Bad Batch (2016)

In 2016, Reeves played one of his most significant departures from his typical roles of all time in The Bad Batch. The dystopian horror mystery movie is a trip from beginning to end, and Reeves’ role as the cult leader, Dream, is a standout performance in the movie overall. As a young girl wanders the wastelands and ruins of civilization, she stumbles upon odd settlements and societies which have pulled themselves together in the new world.

Dream is one of the most successful leaders in this new world, having excited a community to worship him with religious vigor. He also employs drugs and strategic addiction in his community to ensure those that worship him as their leader continue to stay in line, and become reliant on him to provide for their needs. Dream is an intense and twisted villain, and an excellent performance from Reeves as he finds an evil character to lock in and play to a high standard.

5Hank – The Neon Demon (2016)

Again in 2016, Reeves was cast to play another villainous character in the suspenseful horror movie, The Neon Demon. The movie stars Elle Fanning as a young aspiring model, who becomes immersed in a world she has no experience with. Moving from a small town in Middle America into the constantly in motion Los Angeles, she finds herself out of her depth, and in danger at almost every corner. One such incident occurred when she was staying at a motel in town.

Reeves has a fairly minor role in the movie, but he leaves a lasting impression. Reeves plays the motel owner, Hank, who creates an intimidating and frightening environment for young, attractive guests like Jesse (Fanning). While Hank doesn’t explicitly do anything to Jesse, he is the object of her trauma in her dreams when he assaults her in her room. In reality, Hank remains a seedy and dark character, thanks to the intense performance by Reeves.

4Detective Tom Ludlow – Street Kings (2008)

While many of the villains on this list have been straightforward evil characters, Reeves also shines when he plays characters with a more ambiguous and gray moral standing. Characters like John Wick, who clearly fight for a moral reason, but perform acts that could be seen as villainous. However, while Wick fights to escape from a world of darkness and villainy, Reeves’ character in Street Kings fights purely for revenge and to satisfy his inner darkness.

Detective Tom Ludlow was a well respected and high performing officer in the LAPD before the death of his wife completely changed his outlook on life. Now, a raging alcoholic, and a dirty corrupt cop, Ludlow is willing to do anything to get the job done, and gives into his tendencies for violence and brutality. Ludlow kills criminals, and frames their deaths as justified, as well as generally bending the law to fit his own will. The nuance and complexity of the character make it one of Reeves’ best outings as an anti-hero.

3David Allen Griffin – The Watcher (2000)

The Watcher is a complex psychological horror starring James Spader and Keanu Reeves as a down-on-his-luck detective who always appears to be a step behind, and an arrogant murderer who forms a misguided symbiotic relationship with the detective who is in pursuit of him. The film had a number of challenges getting made, with Reeves being forced into appearing in The Watcher, and plenty of negative reviews after release, but it still marks one of Reeves’ best appearances as a villain.

Reeves plays David Allen Griffin, a murderer who gets a thrill from being chased and evading capture. His performance was up for a Golden Razzie Award once again, but the writing for his performance far exceeded the writing and narrow-minded idea for the character. Reeves may not have been happy about his major role in the project, but his performance as Griffin is completely different to his other roles, and showcases a side of Reeves where the lovable charm slips away to reveal a truly repulsive villain with a monumental ego.

2Marlon James – I Love You To Death (1990)

Returning to the early days of Reeves’ acting career, and following the recent success of his work on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, he appeared as a drug addict who is hired to kill an unfaithful husband. While the role is not quite as nefarious as some of his other villains, it did combine together several of the elements that he knew how to play best. Reeves plays Marlon, one half of the dim-witted duo who are hired to commit murder.

The film is a dark comedy story with Harlon and Marlon providing some highlights during the film as their plans fail to work, and they continue to be unreliable for-hire criminals. From forgetting who the target is, to getting easily caught, they may not be great criminals, but it was a perfect role for Reeves to explore playing a more negative character than he was accustomed to.

1Donnie Barksdale – The Gift (2000)

However, Reeves absolute best performance as a villain came a decade later, as his reputation and talents continued to scale to new heights. In 2000, Reeves was cast to play Donnie Barksdale in Sam Raimi’s supernatural psychological mystery. In a quiet town where s sudden murder shakes up the whole community, everyone is a suspect. However, when Cate Blanchett’s Annie Wilson arrives in town, her psychic powers may be the key to solving the murder, and uncovering other dark secrets in the community.

Reeves plays the violent and abusive Donnie, who treats his wife abysmally and becomes a prime suspect in the murders. He actively tries to interfere with Wilson’s investigation, and proves a generally unfavorable and disdainful character. The role is an incredible departure from Reeves’ typical roles, but it also remains one of his best, as he embodies a character that is unlike anything he has done previously or since. Ultimately, Keanu Reeves clearly has a talent for playing the hero, and he can equally descend to play a terrifying villain.