What makes a truly great unlikable character? Following a feature by Guardian writers, readers have flooded in with their own picks for cinema's most compellingly awful anti-heroes. From drunken wasters to gleeful sociopaths, the list celebrates performances that are impossible to forget, even when we're rooting for people we probably shouldn't.
The Charismatic Criminals and Sadistic Charmers
Many reader choices focused on characters who commit heinous acts yet remain weirdly magnetic. Alex DeLarge from Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange was a standout. Described as "a murderer, a gleefully sadistic rapist, an unapologetic sociopath," Malcolm McDowell's performance injects such panache that the character becomes irresistibly charming throughout his horrors. One reader, Thecuregalore94, admitted to even feeling happy for him when he evades justice at the film's conclusion.
This theme of dangerous charisma continued with picks like Tommy DeVito from Goodfellas, portrayed by Joe Pesci. Readers called him an "utterly repellent, unrepentantly vicious thug" who commands the screen like "a hand grenade with a missing pin." From Australian cinema, Mark 'Chopper' Read, played by Eric Bana in a career-high performance, was highlighted for his ever-quotable, scallywag behaviour.
The Flawed Everymen and Selfish Survivors
Not all picks were outright criminals; some were simply disastrous human beings whose struggles resonate. A prime example is Willie Soke from Bad Santa, a "sweary alcoholic without an ounce of dignity and self-respect." Yet, as GusCairns pointed out, the fact he manages to save a child's life while remaining so appalling is "positively heartwarming."
Similarly, Emily Bennetto in Emily the Criminal, played by Aubrey Plaza, is "breathtakingly ruthless." However, thanks to Plaza's formidable screen presence and the even worse characters she encounters, audiences find themselves cheering her on. In classic cinema, Lily Powers from Baby Face was nominated for being a "shamelessly self-centred gold digger" who literally screws her way up the corporate ladder.
The Complex Figures and Cultural Icons
The discussion also honoured complex performances based on real figures. Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol, portrayed by Lili Taylor, was called "an absolute tour de force" in a sadly forgotten 90s indie gem. The film also features what one reader considers the definitive screen Andy Warhol from Jared Harris.
Other iconic nominations included Quint from Jaws, Robert Shaw's "belligerent, blustering bully with a vendetta against wildlife," whose humanity still shines through. John Wayne's Ethan Edwards in The Searchers was praised as a towering performance, despite the criticised sentimental ending. From more recent films, Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems embodies destructive addiction, creating tense sympathy for a truly terrible man who is also a victim of his own compulsions.
The final word, fittingly, went to the character that inspired the original article's header image: Withnail from Withnail and I. Summarised perfectly by a reader, he is "a cowardly, deluded drunken waster who was prepared to let his best mate get sodomised so he could go on holiday." The conclusion? "But … Great, isn't he?" It seems that in the hands of a brilliant actor like Richard E Grant, even the most deplorable characters can earn a place in our cinematic hearts.
