Frieza is one of the most iconic villains in the world of anime. This purple lizard-looking antagonist is just as resilient as Goku and keeps returning to Dragon Ball. If Dragon Ball ever receives a live-action movie (pretend Dragon Ball Evolution doesn’t exist), Frieza would have a huge role to play.

Willem Defoe is one of the best actors to play Frieza, with eyes closed. Yet there are some chosen actors who can also channel the vain, ferocious, and quietly terrifying nature of the villain.

1 Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe is one of the most recognizable actors, but despite appearing in several movies, he is mostly remembered for playing Green Goblin in Spider-Man. He has played several other villainous roles, from being a criminal to an unhinged person; Dafoe always manages to make the stakes feel high.

Dafoe’s iconic evil smile would serve as the cherry on top if he were to be cast as Frieza. His angular face and voice modulation, which drips with malice, already make him a huge menace. Given the fact that Frieza’s most chilling moments arise from his quiet smile just before destroying a planet, Dafoe might be able to put his own menacing spin on it.

2 Christoph Waltz

Christoph Waltz has etched his role as Colonel Hans Landa, the Nazi menace in Inglorious Basterds. His performance even earned him an Academy Award because of his chilling presence and unpredictability. He is the perfect guy to embody Frieza’s uncontrollable temper and madness.

Dragon Ball’s Frieza has a civilized and refined demeanor and often talks in a regal manner. This is suitable for Waltz’s past roles where he has played the regal guy with a threat behind his eyes. His perfect diction would make Frieza’s terrifying nature look even more real.

3 Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio has proven his range as an actor with his role as Calvin Candie, the monstrous slave owner, in Django Unchained. He played his role in an accurately sick and completely unforgettable manner. He also played a villain in The Man in the Iron Mask and the recent hit, Killers of the Flower Moon.

DiCaprio has the perfect charming yet unhinged expressions that would suit Frieza. The character tends to use his pleasant nature to downplay his brutality, and at the same time uses dark humor. The actor would be able to make Frieza look even more iconic, especially when it comes to transformation scenes.

4 Ralph Fiennes

To so many generations, Ralph Fiennes will forever be remembered as Voldemort, the overarching antagonist of the Harry Potter franchise. Fiennes is soft-spoken and elegant but still manages to be terrifying. When it comes to Dragon Ball’s Frieza, the villain has the exact same characteristics that make him such a believable villain.

Fiennes also played Amon Göth in Schindler’s List, where his performance was praised for its disturbing humanity and subtle evil. The casual menace and cold stares are exactly what Frieza needs, especially when the character loves to be a perfectionist and can casually hand out death sentences for the smallest mistakes.

5 Mads Mikkelsen

Mads Mikkelsen‘s Hannibal is the best when it comes to a sophisticated and cunning villain. Mikkelsen has embraced this kind of portrayal in franchises like James Bond and Indiana Jones. He has sharp features and intense eyes, which give him a presence filled with quiet terror. Despite playing several protagonists, it’s his villainous roles that stand out.

Frieza loves to show how refined his demeanour is, while frequently taking in formal tones. This would suit Mikkelsen, who is a master at being inhuman, while maintaining a civilized facade the entire time. His minimalist delivery might even make Frieza a more sophisticated villain.

6 Hugo Weaving

Hugo Weaving has played a bunch of antagonistic roles, including Agent Smith in The Matrix, Red Skull in Captain America, and he is the voice of Megatron in the Transformers franchise. Weaving’s master manipulation of his voice would make sure that the theatrical villain of Dragon Ball gets appropriate representation.

Weaving will be able to morph his voice according to the different transformations of Frieza, and his experience with Megatron means that Frieza’s evil monologues are about to feel even more terrifying. Weaving would be the perfect man for this action-oriented series.

7 James McAvoy

Don’t let Professor X’s calm demeanor fool you into believing James McAvoy can only play positive and uplifting characters. His role as Kevin Wendell Crumb a man with multiple personalities in Split showed how quickly he can change his expressions, demeanor and his entire body language.

McAvoy has the evil and menacing laughter that suits Frieza the best, and the unhinged expressions are the cherry on top. McAvoy has acquired quite a lot of experience playing manipulative characters, and it would all culminate in Frieza, the alien who caused the Genocide of the Saiyans, while also maintaining an army of them for himself.

8 Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter played the sadistic witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter franchise. She also played the cruel Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, Thenardier in Les Misérables, and more. Her portrayals of villains tend to become the standout performance of any franchise that she is involved with.

Needless to say, Helena can also play Frieza. She might be a woman, but with prosthetics on her side and her skills and high-pitched voice modulation, Frieza would be a breeze to play. She carries an unique and unsettling vibe in each of her villainous roles, and any Dragon Ball fan would love to welcome her to the franchise.

9 David Tennant

David Tennant played the suave fallen angel in Good Omens and the charming Doctor Who. Yet, his menacing acting came out the best as Kilgrave in Jessica Jones and Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter. Tennant himself loves to embody characters who do not have any guilt or remorse.

Frieza is the type of character that Tennant would love to experiment with. The Dragon Ball villain is cold, calculating, and someone who can kill millions of inhabitants on a planet without a single shred of guilt. Tennant would be able to play this disturbing antagonist with no holds barred.

10 Tom Felton

Tom Felton played the sneering and privileged bully, Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise. In fact, Frieza is exactly like Malfoy, except with supernatural powers and a tail. Frieza is a bully through and through, and he has the power to make sure no one can go against his wishes.

Since his days in Harry Potter, Felton has matured as an actor with more roles under his sleeve. Yet, his features would fit Frieza’s original form like a glove. Felton won’t even have to create a new range; he just has to channel the same arrogance that he is familiar with to make Frieza come to life.

All of the actors listed above are tremendously talented at playing villains. At the same time, all of them have what it takes to play Frieza, the ruthless tyrant who is feared across the universe.

Who amongst these do you think can play Frieza the best? Let us know in the comments below.

Dragon Ball anime is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll (in the US).