15 Actors Who Played God Or The Devil

15. Harvey Stephens in The Omen (1976)

The Omen needed a child actor who could be genuinely unsettling without trying too hard, and Harvey Stephens delivered exactly that kind of quiet menace. His Damien never feels like a kid putting on an evil act. Instead, Stephens brings this eerie stillness that makes every scene feel wrong in ways the script alone couldn't achieve. The performance works because it suggests something inhuman lurking behind normal childhood moments. | © 20th Century Fox

14. James Craig in All That Money Can Buy (1941)

James Craig plays the Devil as a smooth-talking businessman in All That Money Can Buy, turning Faust into a Depression-era morality tale about American greed. The film won an Oscar for its score, but Craig's Lucifer steals scenes by making damnation look like the best deal anyone could ask for. He sells evil with the charm of a used car salesman who actually believes in his product. The performance works because Craig never lets you forget that the Devil's greatest trick is making corruption feel reasonable. | © RKO Pictures

13. Vincent Price in The Story of Mankind (1957)

The Story of Mankind casts Vincent Price as the Devil in a cosmic courtroom drama where he debates humanity's worthiness with Ronald Colman's heavenly advocate. Price delivers his trademark theatrical menace while arguing that mankind deserves destruction, citing historical villains and catastrophes as evidence in what amounts to a supernatural legal proceeding. The film tries to cram all of human civilization into one overwrought allegory, complete with celebrity cameos playing everyone from Napoleon to Shakespeare. Price makes the most of his devilish role even as the movie collapses under its own pompous ambitions. | © Warner Bros.

12. Rex Ingram in The Green Pastures (1936)

The Green Pastures cast Rex Ingram as "De Lawd," bringing quiet dignity to a role that could have easily become a caricature in less capable hands. The 1936 film adapted Marc Connelly's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about African American folk interpretations of Old Testament stories, with Ingram's performance anchoring the entire production through his commanding yet gentle presence. His portrayal walked a careful line between the vernacular storytelling style and genuine spiritual gravitas. Ingram made God feel both accessible and magnificent without ever letting the performance tip into either condescension or overwrought theatricality. | © Warner Bros.

11. Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves (1996)

Breaking the Waves asks Emily Watson to play a woman so devoted to God that she destroys herself trying to save her paralyzed husband's soul. Watson makes Bess feel genuinely faithful rather than just mentally ill, even as the character spirals into increasingly desperate and degrading acts she believes are divinely inspired. The performance works because Watson never winks at the camera or suggests Bess is wrong about hearing God's voice. She commits so fully to the character's twisted logic that the film's brutal final act feels like watching someone's faith get weaponized against them. | © October Films

10. Whoopi Goldberg in A Little Bit of Heaven (2011)

A Little Bit of Heaven casts Whoopi Goldberg as God in what might be the most aggressively saccharine cancer dramedy ever made. The film follows Kate Hudson's character through terminal illness while Goldberg's divine presence offers spiritual guidance that feels more like fortune cookie wisdom than actual comfort. Everything around Goldberg's performance seems determined to wring tears from the most manipulative possible scenarios. The real tragedy is watching a talented actress try to salvage material that treats both faith and mortality like Hallmark card fodder. | © Millennium Entertainment

9. Harvey Keitel in Little Nicky (2000)

Little Nicky finds Harvey Keitel playing Satan as a gruff, working-class dad from hell who sounds like he just stepped off a Brooklyn construction site. The casting works because Keitel brings his usual intensity to what could have been a throwaway comedy role, treating the devil's family drama with the same commitment he'd give a Scorsese picture. Adam Sandler gets to play the sweet, bumbling son of darkness, but it's Keitel who grounds the whole ridiculous premise by never winking at the camera. The movie flopped hard, but Keitel's performance remains genuinely strange in all the right ways. | © New Line Cinema

8. Alanis Morissette in Dogma (1999)

Dogma casts Alanis Morissette as God, and the choice works precisely because it feels so unexpected. Kevin Smith could have gone with a booming voice or mystical presence, but instead he gives us the Canadian singer-songwriter speaking in whispers and doing handstands on a park bench. The performance lasts maybe three minutes, but Morissette plays divine authority as something gentle and slightly playful rather than thunderous. It is one of those casting decisions that sounds ridiculous on paper but somehow makes perfect sense when you see it. | © Lions Gate Entertainment

7. Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled (2000)

Bedazzled hands Elizabeth Hurley the role of Satan and lets her play it like a glamorous con artist who enjoys the job way too much. She struts through every scene in a series of increasingly ridiculous costumes, turning each of Brendan Fraser's wishes into elaborate practical jokes that somehow always benefit her more than him. The movie works because Hurley seems genuinely delighted to be the villain, bringing a playful cruelty that makes every double-cross feel like flirtation. Most actors playing the Devil go for menace or gravitas, but Hurley just has fun with it. | © 20th Century Fox

6. Gabriel Byrne in End of Days (1999)

Gabriel Byrne plays Satan in End of Days like he's auditioning for a corporate thriller, bringing quiet menace and calculated intelligence to a role that could have easily gone full ham. The movie throws him into an apocalyptic showdown with Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex-cop, but Byrne never feels like he's in the same cheesy action movie as everyone else. His Devil feels more like a dangerous businessman than a cackling monster, which makes the religious horror land differently than the usual effects-heavy approach. The disconnect between Byrne's grounded performance and the movie's ridiculous premise is exactly what makes his Satan memorable. | © Universal Pictures

5. Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

The Witches of Eastwick turns Jack Nicholson into the kind of devil who shows up to a small New England town with a grin that promises trouble and the charisma to make everyone want it anyway. His Daryl Van Horne is less fire-and-brimstone evil and more like that friend who talks you into bad decisions while making them sound like the most fun you'll ever have. Nicholson leans into every lecherous moment and unhinged laugh, playing Satan as a wealthy eccentric who just happens to have supernatural powers and zero boundaries. The performance works because it feels like Nicholson finally found a character who could match his own manic energy. | © Warner Bros.

4. Robert De Niro in Angel Heart (1987)

Robert De Niro plays Louis Cyphre in Angel Heart, a mysterious client who hires private detective Mickey Rourke to track down a missing crooner in 1950s New Orleans. The name itself is barely disguised wordplay, but De Niro commits to the role with such quiet menace that the obvious becomes genuinely unsettling. He lets his fingernails grow long, speaks in careful whispers, and peels hard-boiled eggs with the kind of precision that makes ordinary actions feel like threats. The performance works because De Niro never winks at the audience about what he is really playing. | © TriStar Pictures

3. Morgan Freeman in Evan Almighty (2007)

Morgan Freeman returned as God in Evan Almighty, but this time the divine comedy felt more like a expensive Sunday school lesson than actual entertainment. The movie asks Steve Carell to build an ark in suburban Virginia, which sounds funnier on paper than it plays when stretched across a full runtime of biblical puns and family-friendly messaging. Freeman brings the same warm authority he had in Bruce Almighty, but even his presence can't save a sequel that mistakes wholesome intentions for actual humor. The ark-building scenes get repetitive fast, and the whole thing ends up feeling like a very costly reminder that lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. | © Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube

2. Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty (2003)

Bruce Almighty needed God to feel approachable rather than intimidating, so casting Morgan Freeman was basically the most obvious choice Hollywood ever made. His voice already carried that warm authority from years of narration work, but here he gets to be playful with divine power while still maintaining the gravitas. Freeman delivers exposition about omnipotence like he's explaining how to change a tire, making the supernatural feel completely natural. The performance works because he never winks at the audience about how perfect this casting is. | © Universal Pictures

1. Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Al Pacino turns Satan into a smooth-talking Manhattan lawyer who loves his work way too much, and the performance is exactly as unhinged as that sounds. The Devil's Advocate lets him chew through monologues about free will and temptation while strutting around a law firm that literally grows more hellish as the movie progresses. Pacino commits so completely to the theatrical madness that he makes a film about supernatural legal drama feel like the most natural thing in the world. When the devil finally drops his mask, the scenery doesn't stand a chance. | © Warner Bros.