7 Heartthrobs Who Shattered Their Images With Terrifying Roles

Zac Efron has always been quite the lady killer, but no one ever anticipated he'd undertake a role that was, well, just that. His upcoming movie, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, follows the trail of serial killer, kidnapper, and necrophile Ted Bundy, who murdered dozens of women in cold blood throughout the '70s. A horrific story like that is a far cry from High School Musical, Hairspray, and Neighbors.

Christian Bale is known for his ability to play a wide range of characters, but once upon a time, he won our hearts in Newsies and Little Women. His history playing such lovable characters made his interpretation of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho all the more horrific. The meticulous, devilishly handsome psychopath who charmed (many) people to death basically took an ax to our innocent, crushable image of Bale.

Following a string of squeaky-clean roles on Disney Channel, Lynch graduated to the dark world of a young, budding serial killer in My Friend, Dahmer. He portrayed the infamous serial murderer, sex offender, and cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer, back in his high school days. Although Dahmer didn't begin his killing spree until later on in life, we do see his sociopathic behaviors begin to develop in this flick, which is a drastic change from the bright-eyed blonde boy from Teen Beach Movie and Austin & Ally.

Heath Ledger was the blonde, brown-eyed heartthrob that everyone had a crush on back in the '00s. Easy to write off as another one-dimensional pretty boy, he took on a lot of different roles to shake this stigma – including the Joker in The Dark Knight. Unfortunately, Ledger passed away before the film was ever released, but he remains one of the best villains to ever see the silver screen. In fact, his rendition of the Joker earned him a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor.

Leto became famous playing bad boy Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life, but he was always more sexy than psychotic. His casting as the Joker in Suicide Squad was surprising, but what came as even more of a shock? What he did off screen. Leto sent used condoms and dead animals to his costars, amongst other eclectic and downright strange packages. Some believe that the role of the clown prince can mess with actors' heads, and those gestures might prove that rumor is true.

Think Fight Club was a dark film for Brad Pitt? Think again. Several years before that movie's release, he played a violent parolee named Early Grayce in Kalifornia. Early gives a couple a grand tour of some of the most famous spots of top serial killers, but what the couple doesn't know is that Early is in the middle of a murder spree himself. This flick was a total game-changer for the (gorgeous) actor, and remains one of his creepiest and most intense roles ever.

Most of us remember Darren Criss from Glee, as the ultra-talented Blaine and handsome other half to Kurt (um, talk about ultimate vocal powerhouse #goals). Criss is back on the small screen playing cold-blooded killer Andrew Cunanan on American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. He gives a fresh take on the mysterious sociopath who shot famed fashion designer Gianni Versace, and we'll never look at Blaine the same way again.