20 Lazarus Redd Black Snake Moan, 2006 “I spent a year learning to play guitar to do the role.”

19 Charles Morritz The Red Violin, 1998 “One of [my] most cerebral characters. I spent time with guys who made violins so I’d understand the process of evaluating their authenticity.”

18 Elmo McElroy Formula 51, 2001 “I got to wear a kilt the whole movie, which was awesome. We shot in Liverpool … they took me to some Liverpool F.C. games, and I became a fan.”

17 Major Marquis Warren The Hateful Eight, 2015 “Because he is who he is. Always fun having a character that explains himself in plain words.”

16 Darius Kincaid The Hitman’s Bodyguard, 2017 “Two really interesting characters with diverse life views, that meshed well. Ain’t it funny?”

15 Ordell Robbie Jackie Brown, 1997 “A good-time guy, his own man. But the wrong guy to cross. He’ll definitely put you in a trunk of a car.”

14 Ken Carter Coach Carter, 2005 “Inspirational. The real Ken Carter was around, [helping] me with some of the characterization.”

13 Carl Lee Hailey A Time to Kill, 1996 “I have a daughter, so I understood the dynamic.”

12 Mr. Barron Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, 2016 “It’s a Tim Burton movie, so I got to be as bizarre and quirky as I wanted to be. Very freeing.”

11 Stephen Django Unchained, 2012 “People didn’t know he could read, didn’t know he could write … he was a very formidable guy.”

10 Zeus Carver Die Hard with a Vengeance, 1995 “Most say I got famous after Pulp Fiction. [But] DHWAV was the highest-grossing film in the world that year. All of a sudden I was an international name.”

9 Richmond Valentine Kingsman: The Secret Service, 2014 “I was like, ‘So how can I shoot this dude … and he still be alive, and I got stabbed in the back and died?”

8 John Shaft II Shaft, 2000 “I was like everybody else: Why do we need to do another Shaft? The one we’ve got is, like, totally good.”

7 Elijah Price Unbreakable, 2000 “I love Elijah.”

6 Gator Purify Jungle Fever, 1991 “Gator was me, I was that character. I’d been out of rehab maybe two weeks when we shot Jungle Fever.”

5 Nick Fury Marvel Universe Films, 2008–2019 “One of those blessings that just kind of fell out of the sky.”

4 Lucius Best/Frozone The Incredibles, 2004 The Incredibles 2, 2018 “He has a superpower. He shows up, he hangs out, he’s got a solution. He never gets flustered.”

3 Mace Windu Star Wars: Episodes 1–3, 1999, 2002, 2005 “He’s a Jedi. Come on.”

2 Jules Winnfield Pulp Fiction, 1994 “Jules is one of those dream roles you get. It was like doing a play on the screen.”