Who was the first actor to play the devil in a movie?
Feared by many – and worshipped by others – the Devil is the epitomising symbol of evil, transcending borders and languages to become a universal sign of sinfulness. The most common depiction of the Devil is a red-skinned figure with horns, a tail, and a pitchfork, but throughout history, many actors have played human embodiments of the figure, allowing him to take many forms.
So, while the Devil is said to be a fallen angel, hence the fact that the figure is often shown to have wings, depictions of the Devil on the big screen have ranged from a tyrannical businessman to greedy lovers, enticing humans or making their lives simply hellish. There have been many iconic depictions of Satan throughout the years, like when Al Pacino starred as John Milton in The Devil’s Advocate, a character who turns out to be Satan himself. Or how about when Jack Nicholson played the devilish Daryl Van Horne in The Witches of Eastwick?
From Robert De Niro (Angel Heart) to Elizabeth Hurley (Bedazzled), many actors have uniquely interpreted the role of the Devil throughout cinema history, but who was the first? Many short films from the early days of cinema featured Devil characters that have since been lost or the actors remain uncredited, like the first pornographic film, El satario or The Devil, which was released in 1907 and featured an unknown actor playing the Devil.
However, film historians seem to be in agreement that the first proper portrayal of the Devil on film came in 1921 with George Arliss’ performance in James Young’s The Devil. The actor, who was known on Broadway, made his film debut with the movie, and like many future productions of movies featuring the Devil, Arliss’ character disguises himself as a human man, in this case one who makes it his mission to split up a young couple he meets.
Arliss won an Oscar in 1929 for Disraeli and continued to have a successful career, although his time on Broadway was key to shaping his tenure under the spotlight. The actor first played Satan on stage, landing the leading role in the theatre version of The Devil in 1908.
What about the worst?
While many great actors have played the Devil, there have been various stars who have given rather questionable depictions of the villain. Many people were far from keen on M Night Shyamalan’s Devil, released in 2010, which saw five characters trapped in a lift, with one of them being Satan. Of course, the big plot twist happens by revealing the one you would stereotypically least expect to be the human embodiment of the Devil, with Jenny O’Hara giving a rather lacklustre performance.
However, one of the worst films to feature the Devil, in this case a woman possessed by Satan, is The Devil Inside, released in 2012 to a widespread negative reaction. People slammed the movie for being genuinely terrible, with Suzan Crowley giving an incredibly bad performance as the possessed character.
Clearly, the Devil is a complex character to play, and it takes a really skilled star to strike the right balance between terrifying the audience and luring them in.
