‘Ready Player One’ Villain Ben Mendelsohn Talks Pop Culture’s Biggest Bad Guys

Set in the year 2045, Steven Spielberg’s new film Ready Player One takes audiences inside the OASIS, a virtual world filled with nostalgic pop culture references that allows you to do anything and be anything you want. But the virtual reality haven is at risk of being taken over by the power-hungry Nolan Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn.

Mendelsohn’s performance is a perfect blend of humorous and horrifying, possibly placing him among the pantheon of great pop culture villains — many of which can likely be seen hidden throughout the Easter egg-heavy Ready Player One.

In celebration of his evil character, as well as the film being a veritable pop-culture playground, FANDOM sat down with the Australian actor to learn some of his favorite villains of all time.

When it comes to actors he admires for the way they played evil characters, Mendelsohn says it doesn’t get any better than Gary Oldman’s performance in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

“I adore Gary’s Dracula because of the facets, really,” the actor explained. “And because of that love scene where he wants her so much, but he also knows that he will destroy her or change her forever. That portrayal is probably my favorite villain portrayal.”

But another performance that taught Mendelsohn how to play a bad guy is Michael Lonsdale’s portrayal of Hugo Drax from the 1979 Bond film Moonraker.

“My favorite Bond villain by a country mile,” he said. “That’s the type of villain that teaches you how to play a villain. It’s a brilliant performance.”

And Mendelsohn had no hesitation when it came to naming his favorite evil-doer from the comic book universe.

“Doom, without a shadow of a doubt,” he said. “Doom is by far the greatest comic book character ever. Doom is it. And the Fantastic Four? Whatever. But Doom? Brilliant.”

The actor explained that it was after reading a comic about the character’s backstory almost 30 years ago that sealed the deal for him, adding that “I went on that ride with him and that was it. No one ever comes close to Doom for me.”

But before movie villains inspired Mendelsohn’s future performances, they were scaring him as a young boy back in Australia. And he specifically has memories of being frightened by the evil animals in Disney’s animated Robin Hood.

“The snake in that freaked me out,” he admitted, adding that the rhinoceros guards also gave him a scare as a child as well.

But when it comes to discussing his own character in Ready Player One, Mendelsohn has an easy time describing him.

“He’s a f–k,” the actor said. “When you’re willing to work people to death, you’re a f–king asshole.”

And as for trying to decide if Sorrento has any redeeming qualities, Mendelsohn doesn’t think there’s much of a point.

“You can say anyone’s got tenacity,” he said. “We can sit around in a circle and say, ‘I really like the way you stand.’ And I like your dress sense, you mass-murdering mother f–ker. But in relative terms? No! No. ”

Watch Mendelsohn wreak havoc on the OASIS when Ready Player One hits U.K. theaters on March 28 and U.S. theaters on March 29.