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You already know Stanley Tucci is on here.
We recently asked members of our BuzzFeed Community, "If there was an Academy Award given for 'Most Terrifying Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture,' what are some of the performances that would've for sure taken home the gold?" and people really came through with some truly terrifying potential nominees.
ABC
So, with that in mind, here are just a few of the most popular performances people would like to nominate for this fake Oscar that we 100% made up:
1. Stanley Tucci as George Harvey in The Lovely Bones (2009)
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
2. Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth in Blue Velvet (1986)
De Laurentiis Group / ©De Laurentiis Group/Courtesy Everett Collection
"A sadistic, psychopathic rapist and murderer who can turn insanely violent at the slightest provocation (or, sometimes, none at all)."
3. Lupita Nyong'o as Red in Us (2019)
Photo Credit: Industrial Light & / ©Universal/courtesy Everett / Everett Collection
"That performance never fails to scare the crap out of me."
4. Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in It (2017)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
"His acting was phenomenal, but — because of how scary the movie was — his performance was not as celebrated as it should've been."
5. Shirley Stoler as Martha Beck in The Honeymoon Killers (1970)
Courtesy Everett Collection
"Her path from petty crime to cold-blooded (and I mean COLD. BLOODED.) murder was terrifying. Frankly, it was the best female performance of 1970, and deserved a standard acting nomination, if not a win."
6. Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000)
Lions Gate / ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection
7. Toni Collette as Annie Graham in Hereditary (2018)
A24
"She deserved an Oscar for the last act of the movie alone."
8. Edward Norton as Roy in Primal Fear (1996)
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
"And also in American History X. He was equally frightening in both."
9. Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery (1990)
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
"She could go from friendly, and even a little silly, to terrifying in a matter of seconds."
10. Kenneth Branagh as Andrei Sator in Tenet (2020)
© Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
"He was so menacing to me. He was so controlling, and really had the whole 'if I can’t have it, no one can' vibe."
11. Ben Kingsley as Don Logan in Sexy Beast (2000)
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
"An absolutely magnificent performance. He was completely psychotic and utterly chilling."
12. Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler (2014)
Courtesy Everett Collection
"I was horribly disturbed by his performance. He was absolutely insane in such a quiet, upsetting way. When I finished that film, I felt sick. I went and saw him live on Broadway a few years later and still couldn’t quite forget how he made me feel watching that movie."
13. Dame Judi Dench as Barbara Covett in Notes on a Scandal (2006)
20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
"Like, are you kidding me?!"
14. Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
"It gave me anxiety for weeks — especially the 'Why so serious?' speech scene. To this day, that scene makes my stomach drop, even though I know what's going to happen."
15. Tony Todd as Candyman in Candyman (1992)
Tristar Pictures / ©TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
16. Robert Helpmann as the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Courtesy Everett Collection
"That dude gave me the heebie-jeebies."
17. Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin in Spider-Man (2002)
Columbia Pictures / ©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
"For the longest time, I didn't understand why Dafoe's face made me uncomfortable. I recently realized that his Green Goblin left me subconsciously afraid of him."
18. Viggo Mortensen as Lucifer in The Prophecy (1995)
Miramax / ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
"It's a criminally underrated performance. He plays the character with this cold detachment and arrogance that perfectly depicts how much he thinks of humans — which is nothing."
19. Bette Davis as Jane Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Warner Bros. Pictures
"I get full body shivers just thinking about her. A truly mesmerizing performance."
20. Mark Duplass as Josef in Creep (2014)
The Orchard
"The absolute creepiest performance I have ever seen. He might be a serial killer in real life, he was that good!"
21. Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987)
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
"An iconic performance, and — while there was good competition that year, including Cher in Moonstruck and Holly Hunter for Broadcast News — I think Glenn Close deserved that Oscar."
22. Christopher Walken as the Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Paramount / ©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
23. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men (2007)
Miramax / ©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection
"I'm pretty sure the Oscar he actually won boiled down to it being an extremely frightening performance. Just terrific."
24. Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream (2000)
John Baer / © Artisan Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection
"Her depiction of a lonely elderly woman who fell to addiction hit me so hard, and personally, really changed how I saw my grandparents and loved ones."
25. Robert Mitchum as Harry Powell in The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Courtesy Everett Collection
"Adding an oldie, but goodie to the list. He played that con man preacher with LOVE/HATE on his knuckles."
26. Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther in Orphan (2009)
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
"That little girl was playing a 33-year-old woman, and did it SO well that I almost forgot it was still a little girl acting!"
27. Malcolm McDowell as Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection / Everett Collection
"He played a psychopathic narcissist with a smile."
28. And finally, of course: Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Orion Pictures Corp / ©Orion Pictures Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection
"He wasn’t kept in a dungeon behind ballistic glass for nothing!"
You've read their nominees, but now it's your turn! If there was an Academy Award specifically focused on honoring the year's most terrifying performances, which would you nominate? Who'd they miss? Share your pick(s) in the comments below!
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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