24. Daniel Plainview

Appearance: There Will Be Blood (2007)

Creators: Paul Thomas Anderson, Upton Sinclair

Performer: Daniel Day-Lewis

Defining moment: “We offer you the bond of family that very few oilmen can understand…” claims Plainview, luring dumbfounded landowners to his cause with Molotov sincerity. A monologue doubly astounding given that Day-Lewis improvised most of it.

Fascinating fact: Plainview’s mansion in the film is, in fact, Greystone Mansion in LA, the home of Edward Doheny Jr., son of the real oil baron upon whom Plainview was partly based.

Buy There Will Be Blood now on Amazon