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{{trope}}
In [[Real Life]], this is more the rule than the exception with actors who've played villains. People are, [[Rousseau Was Right|on the whole, pleasant to each other]], and this holds true for performers as well -- awell—a performer who's pleasant on set improves the experience for everyone. Actors are always talking about how nice their co-workers were on set, while stories of being a genuine bastard are much rarer. Many performers will actively cultivate a [[Jerkass]] persona, feeling this makes them more marketable. This is especially true with comedians, because it can be easier to get away with saying shocking or controversial things for the sake of laughs if the public sees them as a jerk to begin with.
This page is not for listing actors just because they've played both villains and nice guys.
 
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* [[Rie Kugimiya]], known for voicing extrememly abusive and jerkass Tundere's, is actually a quiet and shy bookworm in real life, who wouldn't even hurt a fly.
* [[Paul Dobson]], who voices [[Inuyasha|Naraku]], [[Ranma ½|Happosai]], [[Transformers Armada|Sideways]], and of course [[Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes|Dr. Doom]] is one cool guy to get to know of.
* [[Yuuichi Nakamura]]'s roles are mostly peppered with [[Jerkass|Jerkassery]]ery, and in case of [[Blaz Blue|Hazama/Terumi Yuuki]], it's a [[Complete Monster]] so blatant it hurts. The person himself? An actually nice and playful dude, who often hangs around and goofs offs with his buddy [[Tomokazu Sugita]] (who played [[Blaz Blue|Ragna]], the number 1 [[Troll]] victim of Hazama).
* [[Michelle Ruff]], who voices [[Femme Fatale|Fujiko]] [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Mine]] from ''[[Lupin III]]'' and [[Jerkass|Crimson Viper]] in ''[[Street Fighter IV]]: Ties that Bind'', as well as the [[Tsundere]] Rukia in ''Bleach'' is known to be sweet to her adoring fans.
* [[Noriaki Sugiyama]] who is most well known for being [[Naruto|Sasuke Uchiha]] is actually a very soft spoken, sweet guy, and he loves animals [[Kindhearted Cat Lover|especially cats.]]
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* [[Ashley Tisdale]]'s most known role is [[Jerkass|Sharpay Evans]], but Ashley herself is quite nice.
* [[Kurtwood Smith]], according to the commentary on the special edition of ''[[RoboCop]]''.
* Warner Richmond, who plays the disgusting villain with a [[Lolicon|hankering for eleven-and-a-half-year-old]] Jennie in the [[Exploitation Film]] ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029989/ Child Bride]'', was so nice to her actress--twelveactress—twelve-year-old Shirley Mills--betweenMills—between takes that she had a hard time pretending to hate him while the cameras were rolling.
* [[Ernest Borgnine]] doesn't always play a bad guy, but someone who only knows him from, say, ''[[The Wild Bunch]]'', ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'', or ''[[Bad Day At Black Rock]]'' will be amazed at what a sweet, warm teddy bear of a man he is.
** While filming ''Marty'' on location in the Bronx, Borgnine was continually harassed by locals who were mad because his character in ''From Here to Eternity'' {{spoiler|kills [[Frank Sinatra]]'s character}}.
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** [[Kane Hodder]], the most famous portrayer of [[Friday the 13th (film)|Jason Voorhees]], likewise has a reputation for being very friendly and enjoying meeting his fans. He also does volunteer work with burn victims.
* On screen Moe Howard was the bullying "leader" of [[The Three Stooges]] always ready with a scowl or a [[Dope Slap|smack]] to keep the other knuckleheads in line. Off-screen Moe Howard was a quiet, dedicated family man who loved weekend BBQs and working in his garden.
** In fact, it was thanks to Moe that Larry Fine was able to retire later in life. He persuaded both Larry and Curley (both of whom were notoriously bad with money -- Curleymoney—Curley spent his on nightlife and Larry gambled compulsively) to turn over a part of their salaries to him to invest for retirement. Although Curley died young (of a stroke in 1952), Larry was able to live comfortably on the proceeds from this arrangement until his death in 1975.
** Likewise, ubiquitous Stooge supporting player Vernon Dent was usually typecast as the villain or the hot-tempered comic foil. In real life, Dent was known as being very easy-going, generous, and sociable.
* [[Christopher Walken]], in contrast to the numerous crazy and/or evil roles he's known for, has been married to the same woman for 40 years, a non-famous casting director who has never used her pull to get him a job.
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*** [[David Tennant]], who played [[Harry Potter|Barty Crouch Jr.]], gave a really cute interview at the ''Goblet of Fire'' premier in which he, among other things, referred to playing a murderous psychopath as "Doin' a bit of [[Dastardly Whiplash|mustache twirlin']]".
** In the same vein as Tom Felton and Fiona Shaw, kids tend to run away from [[Alan Rickman]] when they see him dressed up as Snape on-set. And, like Felton and Miss Shaw, he's a very nice guy in real life. Also, he loves kids; according to an interview from the deluxe edition of ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'', he has several nieces, nephews, and god-children (and yes, he took the role [[So My Kids Can Watch|for them]]. ''Aww.'').
** [[Anna Shaffer]] (Romilda Vane) and [[Jessie Cave]] (Lavender Brown) both played [[Abhorrent Admirer|Abhorrent Admirers]]s, but in real life both are friendly fashionable young ladies.
** [[Scarlett Byrne]] has got to be one of the crowning examples of this trope. She plays Pansy Parkinson, a character that author J.K. Rowling patterned her after every girl who was ever cruel to her growing up. But Scarlett herself is known to be extremely friendly, mixing it up with convention goers at Leaky Con 2011, tends to be quite thorough in personally answering fan mail, and replies to her legions of fans on Twitter regularly.
** While we're at it, we can include the other two Pansy actresses here as well, Genevieve Gaunt and Lauren Shotton, both of whom go out of their way to interact with fans on Twitter too.
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** Lorre was also a skilled comedian, but was rarely given the chance to show off his comic talents.
** According to his biography, "The Lost One," he was also extremely vocal against the Nazis, to the point that his own family back in Europe suffered for it. Then there was another incident where Lorre was in a restaurant, and noticed a crowd of people standing behind a barrier, despite plenty of empty tables. When Lorre was told "They're only tourists. We want to seat more important people first, like yourself," he responded by taking down the barrier, seating the tourists himself, and telling the restaurant worker, "I know how it feels to be kept out" (this referring to his experience as a Jew in Nazi Germany, at the start of his career.)
* [[Vincent Price]] was a great friend, apparently, and a really personable guy. And yet he's most famous for playing [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]]s in William Castle movies.
** And a professional chef! He and his wife even wrote [http://www.amazon.com/Treasury-Great-Recipes-Specialties-Restaurants/dp/B001K24CP6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259880632&sr=1-5 cookbooks].
** And an expert in art. He even picked out personally some great masterpieces for the Sears Roebuck store chain to reproduce in the '70s to allow the owning of fine art by the masses. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQj7_zVzxA Watch the film] Sears employees saw to learn more about the collection.
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** He and Vincent Price teamed up on the art collecting. They used to put on exhibitions of their collections to raise money for charity. There's also a famous photo of Eddie selling baby dolls for same!
* On the set of ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'', Cary "Wesley" Elwes and Robin "Buttercup" Wright had an absolute blast with Chris Sarandon and Christopher Guest (who played Humperdinck and Count Rugen, respectively).
* William Atherton--whoAtherton—who played Walter Peck in ''[[Ghostbusters]]'', and equally hateable characters in ''[[Real Genius]]'' and the first two ''[[Die Hard]]'' films--isfilms—is nowhere near the bastard he appears on screen. He may come off as a little stuffy and pretentious, but that's probably due to his origins in the theatre. Most importantly, unlike other actors, he is happy to talk about the time filming the movies that made him infamous, and has shared many funny stories of on-set occurrences.
* R. Lee Ermey, who played [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|Gunnery Sergeant Hartman]] from ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' was allegedly forbidden to interact with the rest of the cast prior to shooting [[Enforced Method Acting|to make his performance more threatening to them]]. He also comes across as very soft-spoken in interviews, and got along very well with director [[Stanley Kubrick]].
* According to the commentary track for ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'', Colm Feore, who played the downright sinister Lord Marshall, was an absolute blast both on and off the set. Two noteworthy examples are given: During filming, he didn't realize the camera was rolling during one take, and when a dead body is tossed in front of him, he looks directly at the camera and tosses off a [[Bond One-Liner]]. Another time, during a party, one of the cast or crew members makes some mention that he's never seen one Shakespeare play or another, whereupon Colm gets up and performs a 5 minute rendition of the play form beginning to end, playing multiple roles simultaneously.
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* [[Mark Strong]], reknowned for playing villains of all calibres, is by all accounts an incredibly nice gentleman going by interviews.
* [[Kevin Bacon]], who has made a career out of playing devious psychopaths and ''[[Complete Monster]]'' types, is soft spoken, friendly and a dedicated professional. He has said in interviews that he took the part of Sebastian Shaw in ''[[X-Men]]'' because he strongly believed in the ideas that the comics represented.
* Lance Henriksen, whose characters are often deeply troubled [[Anti Heroe|Anti Heroes]]s or outright villains, is a family man and known to his fans as one of the nicest men you could hope to meet.
* [[Lee Van Cleef]], best known for playing "the Bad" in ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'', said that he would never hurt a woman, kick a dog, or harm a child in a film.
* [[Laurence Olivier]], known for his Shakespearean characters and playing the cruel triumvir Crassus in ''[[Spartacus]]'', apparently refused to carry on a conversation with anyone who wouldn't call him Larry and was such a nice guy that Marlon Brando couldn't bring himself to try and seduce his then wife Vivien Leigh.
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** Pretty much every actor/actress who's played a mean character on his show.
** Mark A. Sheppard, who plays [[Magnificent Bastard]] Crowley, is known to be extremely personable and nice to fans.
* The bulk of [[John Glover]]'s resume involves him playing jerks, [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastards]]s, and [[Brimstone (TV series)|Satan]]. He is often described by directors and co-stars to be one of the sweetest men you'll ever meet. He finally got to play someone more like himself in ''[[Gremlins]] 2''.
** Believe it or not, Daniel Clamp was also written as an evil guy, an example of a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]. Glover, tired of being typecast, [[Off the Rails|ignored the script]] and played him as a good guy.
** It apparently got to the point that when Glover returned to ''[[Smallville]]'' after three years absence in Season 10, the new makeup people were scared of him. Apparently they expected him to be far more like his character, [[Magnificent Bastard|Lionel]] [[Abusive Dad|Luthor]].
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** The first time [[Hugh Laurie]] hosted ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', he lampshaded the fact that his real-life persona is different than the [[Jerkass]] doctor he plays on American TV.
* Out of character, [[Stephen Colbert]] is a total sweetheart, as many coworkers, ''[[The Colbert Report|Report]]'' guests, and fans can attest. When ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' was first pitched, Colbert's main worry was that he wouldn't be able to cope with "playing an asshole".
* David Hewlett. You probably know him as arrogant scientist Rodney McKay from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', who, among other things, can't stand kids. In real life, he has a (as of October 6th6, 2009) 2-year-old son whom he adores - to the point where he merrily Twitters about his latest antics at ''least'' once a day.
* Ken Jenkins, who plays devil-turned-slightly-goofy Bob Kelso in ''[[Scrubs]]'', is regularly noted by the cast for being just a sweet, crunchy guy everybody likes.
** In fact the initial portrayal of Dr. Kelso in the first episode (where he seems like a nice guy until halfway through) was described as how he is in real life. This made his sudden transition into the demonic heartless Kelso frightening even to the cast while filming it.
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* Lana Parrilla, who plays the icily wicked Regina Mills and the Evil Queen on ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'', is very sweet in real life. She frequently retweets fanart of her character on Twitter, and has a devoted fanclub of followers who call themselves the "Evil Regals".
* John C McGinley, who plays the relentlessly abusive [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] Dr Cox on ''Scrubs'', has been described as intimidating at first but is very nice and a pleasure to work with. Heck, just listen to some of his commentaries where he heaps praise on his co-stars, including Zach Braff.
* Mark Pellegrino has pretty much built his career on playing assholes that include [[Dexter|abusive husbands]], [[Lost|Jacob]] and [[Supernatural (TV series)|Lucifer]]. In real life, he is a devout christian and family man who comes across as very sweet, relaxed, funny and very appreciative of fans.
* One of the biggest bastards in British soap opera is ''[[Emmerdale]]'' 's Cain Dingle, a villain who would sell his own grandmother into prostitution if he thought there was any money in it, a man who has robbed, conned, raped and seduced his way around Yorkshire just because he can. In real life, the actor playing him seems to be one of the nicest and most pleasant guys out and is very easy to like and get on with (at least, going by his interviews). He also used to present a Christian radio programme on his local radio station.
* Rival soap ''[[Coronation Street]]'' has the psychotic and manipulative David Platt, a youth with serious mental health issues throughout his adolescence and young manhood. His repulsiveness is part-explained by his being the spawn of Gail Tilsely and one who has seen his mother the victim of murder attempts by assorted husbands (Gail is atrocious at pattern-recognition). Even so, he is played as a contender for Young Psychopath Of The Year by an actor who is not only sane and decent, but perfectly pleasant and likeable. Is this a trend in soap?
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* [[Alberto Del Rio]] is known for being the [[Smug Snake|smuggest snake]] in the WWE, but in real life seems like a very humble guy who idolizes his father and uncle and seems very honored that he gets to wrestle against top wrestlers in the WWE.
* Back when he was the Doctor of Thuganomics, [[John Cena]] was this trope. By all means and accounts, the "Superman" that he portrays now seems to be how he is real life.
** Ironically, it's the very reason that his character (which tends to be loathed amongst [[Smark|Smarks]]s) tends to be this way instead of turning darker and edgier or outright heel.
* "Rowdy" [[Roddy Piper]] also fit this trope, especially when he was at the height of his villianry during the WWF's "Rock-n-Wrestling" era.
* [[Andre the Giant]] often played a monster heel. While filming ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'', whenever one of the actresses was cold, he'd put his hand on her head--saidhead—said hand was big enough to ''cover'' her head.
* Luna Vachon was downright scary in the ring, acting far more vicious than any woman, having a very unorthodox look for a woman, and speaking in a very harsh growl that could give anyone goosebumps. Outside the ring she was incredibly sweet, very approachable, and was one of the most popular Divas at public appearances and conventions.
* Similarly, Kia Stevens, known as Awesome Kong in TNA and Kharma in WWE, because of her strong almost [[Brawn Hilda]] type build, has played the [[Scary Black Man|Scary Black Woman]] for much of her career. However in real life, she seems to be an absolute sweetheart and comes across as girlier than the Barbie dolls she's been ripping in half in her introductory vignettes.
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* One important thing to remember is that by the time they've reached any kind of national audience, it's been Enforced at some point. Especially in the WWE, but to a lesser extent with other companies as well, the wrestlers spend an obscene amount of time together (different accounts by different WWE Superstars have said they are on the road anywhere from 300 to 350 days a year, spending most of that time sharing cars, hotel rooms, etc.) Very likely, anybody who doesn't fit this trope will quickly be filtered out. (One such example is Teddy Hart, whose controversial actions and massive ego have gotten him black-balled by almost every major company he's worked for.)
* [[Chris Jericho]]. Too easy. In [[Kayfabe]], he's a self-important [[Jerkass]] of a Heel (his feud with [[CM Punk]] will prove this) but in real life, he's the lead singer for the band Fozzy, and is actually a very nice and respectable person.
* Big John Studd (1948-1995) was a heel during his time in the WWE during the 80s, but he was often describe "too nice for this business" by [[Bobby Heenan| Bobby Heenan]].
* While in the ring, Roman Reigns is one of the most intimating men many wrestlers would see. Outside of the ring, he has a soft side, especially towards his daughter.
 
== Radio ==
* [[The Jack Benny Program|Jack Benny]]'s comic persona was famously cheap, petty, and pompous, while the real Benny was a great guy--asguy—as evidenced by the fact that he let the other actors get the better of his character all the time. He was famous for saying "I don't care who gets laughs on my show, just so long as the ''show'' gets laughs."
** Although he and his wife had their spats, apparently he arranged his will so that after he died, she would get a rose delivered to her every day for the rest of her life.
** It's been said that the greatest testament to his character is that even after he died, nobody in Hollywood who knew him had a nasty thing to say about him, according to Dick Cavett.
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== Web Comics ==
* In the commentary for [[Rooster Teeth Comics]], the writer, Griffon Ramsey, says she makes the representations of the other Rooster Teeth staff member's wives much more harsh than they really are and that Jordan Burns, the wife of [[Red vs. Blue|Burnie Burns]] is "one of the nicest and most disarming people I've ever met."
* Randy Milholland, creator of ''[[Something Positive]]'', is a much nicer guy than ''S*P'''s [[Sadist Show]] of [[Deadpan Snarker]] [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es or his own irritable appearances in ''Rhymes With Witch'' would lead you to believe. He's noted on the site that fans sometimes seem disappointed when he doesn't act like a jerk. It's something of a [[Berserk Button]] for him, however - pointing this out to him is likely to get him acting just like you'd expect.
 
 
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** One marked example of the difference between the personalities of Doug Walker and That Guy With The Glasses comes in [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/ask-thatguy/33077-episode-66 Episode 66] of Ask That Guy, in the stinger at the end. Doug makes a crack as That Guy that comes off as so stunningly insensitive that he ultimately breaks character to apologize to the person who'd asked the question. It's also been mentioned that he can't watch Ask That Guy episodes because he'd be ashamed at finding them funny.
* Brad Jones is ''not'' [[The Cinema Snob]]. He interacts extensively with his fans on his website, and admits to actually ''liking'' most of the movies his arrogant, [[True Art]]-devoted character savages. The fact the Jones hosts no less than three shows (''Current Movie Reviews'', ''Brad Tries'' and ''DVD-R Hell'') as himself and not as a character probably helps his real self to be more visible than other TGWTG contributors'.
** It's possible to tell which movies the real Brad doesn't like -- helike—he allows the Cinema Snob to get even more acidic than usual.
*** Or in ''Salo 120 Days of Sodom'''s case, praises it.
** Just check out the notorious outtake from his ''Sherlock Holmes'' review with Obscurus Lupa, where he accidentally punches her in the face and instantly drops out of character, repeatedly apologizing and asking if she's all right.
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* A frequent occurrence in online roleplaying (see [[Journal Roleplay]], [[Character Blog]], [[Play By Post Game]]). There are many instances of people not realizing this and thinking that the other roleplayer is a jerk, while in reality they're simply roleplaying as a jerk character.
* Niclas Lundberg of [[Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time]] is really a quite genial, laid-back guy who cracks up a lot, and is genuinely sorry about messing up his friends' kitchens.
* Many Internet [[Troll|Trolls]]s would probably qualify when they can't [[GIFT|hide behind their usernames]].
 
 
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** Also voiced [[Mass Effect|Nassana]] [[Complete Monster|Dantius.]]
* [[Dante Basco]], who voices [[Big Bad]] then [[Anti-Villain]] {{spoiler|and then [[The Atoner]]}} [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Prince Zuko]], also has fans remark how nice he is compared to his character. Basco also voices the title character in ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'', who, while not evil, is nevertheless quite the cocky and brash [[Anti-Hero]].
* David Warner is probably best known for voicing villains such as [[Batman: The Animated Series|Ra's Al Ghul]], [[Freakazoid|The Lobe]], [[Toonsylvania|Dr. Vic Frankenstein]] (though Dr. Vic was more of a [[Jerkass]] -- particularly—particularly to Igor -- thanIgor—than a villain), [[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy|Nergal]] (who is also more of a [[Jerkass]] than anything), and [[Men in Black (animation)|Alpha]], as well as the Master Control Program in the movie ''[[Tron]]''. In real life, he's a sweet English gentleman.
* [[David Kaye]], best known as the voice of Megatron in several ''[[Transformers]]'' series, has consequently been a guest at a great number of conventions. He's a great guy in real life, and very friendly with the fans.
* Frank Welker, voice actor par excellence, is known for, among other things, giving voices to the likes of [[Inspector Gadget|Dr. Claw]], [[Transformers Generation 1|Soundwave, Megatron, Galvatron]], [[Transformers (film)|Soundwave, Devastator, Shockwave]], [[Transformers Prime|Megatron]], [[Mortal Kombat (film)|Shao Kahn, Goro]], [[Superfriends|Mr. Mxyzptlk, and Darkseid.]] When not voicing some of the most well known animated villains of the past 30 years, he is a gregarious, pleasant, and humble man who happily replies to fan inquiries and is not above [[Corpsing|being a joker]] with his fellow voice actors.
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* [[Mary Kay Bergman]], the original voice of the female characters on ''[[South Park]]'', was very nice in her life, even giving her friend [[Tara Strong]] a dog on her 26th birthday (the last birthday Bergman was actually around for), in complete contrast to the character of [[Moral Guardian|Sheila]] [[Jerkass|Broflovski]] whom she voiced most notably in the movie (and scored her an Annie nomination).
* [[Tony Jay]] made it clear in an interview for ''[[Disney Adventures]]'' (that was published right around the time that ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' was released) that he was actually a very nice man in [[Real Life]], despite continually playing villainous roles.
* Christian Potenza, who voices the [[The Sociopath|sociopathic]] Chris McLean from the ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama]]'' series, is a friendly guy who interacts with his fans online and at conventions. His v-logs on his [http://www.youtube.com/user/TheChristianPotenza YouTube channel] also reveal that many of the people behind the series' resident [[Jerkass|Jerkasses]]es are some of the nicest people in entertainment, particularly Rachel Wilson ([[Alpha Bitch|Heather]]), [[Emilie Claire Barlow]] ([[Tsundere|Courtney]]), and Drew Nelson ([[Rebellious Spirit|Duncan]]).
* As mentioned in the T.V. section, Phil Hartman was best known to a generation of children as the voice of such sleazebags as Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure on ''[[The Simpsons]]''. In real life, he was known as one of the nicest actors in Hollywood and, by all accounts, an absolute delight to work with. This made his untimely death all the more tragic and sad end to a wonderful legacy.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Trivia Trope]]
[[Category:{{BASEPAGENAME}}Real Life]]
[[Category:{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]
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