It’s a match made in heaven: Richard E. Grant, one of our greatest screen talents, and the Celebrity Traitors. And since the man himself has – light spoiler warning – been instantly picked as a Traitor (and blurted out to his fellow players that he was selected as a baddie), it seems he’ll be living up to his reputation as a livewire screen presence even on a reality celeb gameshow.
Of course, right from his first film performance in Withnail & I, Grant has been an iconic actor – and being a Traitor on The Traitors is far from his first time breaking bad. While you wait for more episodes of Celebrity Traitors to arrive (Thursdays and Fridays on BBC One, if you’re watching), have a watch of these Richard E. Grant villain and antihero roles.
Logan (2017)
Director: James Mangold | Runtime: 2hrs 17m | Streaming on: Disney+
Okay, okay, so Richard E. Grant may be doing the odd murder or two in the Traitor Mansion in the coming weeks (if he can somehow survive that first episode clanger), but no amount of celeb slaying will put more red on Grant’s ledger than his turn as Dr. Zander Rice in James Mangold’s mutie masterpiece Logan. Not only did Rice secretly engineer and distribute a genetically modified virus to suppress the X-gene and decimate the mutant population, but the Essex Corp head and leader of the Reavers also engineered, enslaved, and tortured his own mutie kiddos, too, illegally experimenting on them for profit. On the plus side, he does meet a satisfyingly grim end as the last person Hugh Jackman’s Logan kills before he meets his own maker.
Read Empire‘s review of Logan.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
Director: Marielle Heller | Runtime: 1hr 48m | Streaming on: Disney+
‘Can you ever forgive me?’ is surely what Grant will be asking his Traitors co-stars as he bumps them off one by one. And he was a standout in Marielle Heller’s wonderful drama of the same name, full of morally grey characters. Jack Hock is far from a villain, but he’s not someone you’d trust either; with a shoplifting habit, the kind of connections that can help you sell forged letters from literary greats, and poor form as a cat-sitter too. You’ll feel plenty of sympathy for him, and Melissa McCarthy’s Lee Israel too, as they pull off their illegal scheme – but hey, you also feel some sympathy for the Traitors too as they go about their murderous business.
Read Empire‘s review of Can You Ever Forgive Me.
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)
Director: J.J. Abrams | Runtime: | Streaming on: Disney+
Whatever your thoughts on Episode IX, few would argue that one of its highlights is the arrival of new First Order baddie, Allegiant General Pryde. Grant fills that uniform with venomous glee, evidently thrilled to do the bidding of both Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, and the resurrected Emperor Palpatine – and you can retroactively imagine him in previous iterations of the Empire, just left of camera. From his delicious line deliveries (“Tell him we’ve found our spy!”), to the way he menaces General Hux at FO meetings, to his full-throated role in the Exegol finale, it’s a brief role that has Grant on brilliantly evil form.
Read Empire‘s review of The Rise Of Skywalker.
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Have these dastardly Richard E. Grant roles got you wanting it darker? Why not check out our list of the 50 greatest movie villains next? Or the most iconic horror characters? Heck, why not go all-in on the dark side with our rundown of the best horror movies ever made? Spooky season is upon us, after all…
