No actor can play monsters as memorable and unique as Doug Jones. With a career spanning decades, this talented physical actor has endured countless hours in the make-up chair to bring some of pop culture's most recognizable and strangest-looking monsters to life on the big and small screens.
Jones has brought a beautiful elegance to his characters with his background as a skilled mime and contortionist. He uses body language and gestures to express emotion underneath all his make-up and gives the monsters he plays more personality to make them all the more memorable. Whether he's playing terrifying demons or darkly re-imagined fairytale creatures, there are no limits to what this highly talented actor could play.
10 Gentleman - 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' (1997-2003)
Appearing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4, episode 10, "Hush," The Gentlemen are slim, pale, and bald-headed demons with terrifying grins and a desire to keep everything silent. They've arrived in Sunnydale with the horrifying goal of stealing the voices of everyone in town.
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Jones plays the lead Gentleman who manages to stand out as the most menacing demon of the group. With his amazing mime abilities, his eerie movements add to the character's scare factor. Despite all his make-up, he can give so much personality to playing the Gentleman that the audience can tell what the character is feeling and about to do.
9 Baron Afanas - 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2019-)
What We Do in the Shadows follows the darkly comedic misadventures of four out-of-place vampires as they live out their boring eternities in Staten Island. Facing constant dangers and bizarre supernatural creatures, they sometimes have to deal with the bloodthirsty antics of their frightening but childish master, Baron Afanas.
The Baron has become one of the more likable characters on the show, and his popularity even managed to bring him from the dead after initially being killed off in the first season. Jones does fantastic work with this character and sticks to his physical talents while being given a more prominent speaking role.
8 The Angel of Death - 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' (2008)
In this underrated sequel to the first Hellboy film, Jones' talents for playing multiple and unique creatures shine in this film thanks to its bigger budget. In the film's most pivotal moment, he plays the towering and cryptic immortal being, The Angel of Death, who offers to save Hellboy (Ron Perlman) but at a cost to the entire world.
The fantastic attention to detail and make-up put in to bring The Angel of Death to life is incredible. Despite wearing a headpiece that made him almost blind and carrying heavy prop wings, Jones still performs remarkably well in this physically demanding role and comes across as professional and elegant as always.
7 Saru - 'Star Trek: Discovery' (2017-2024)
Star Trek: Discovery was a popular sci-fi adventure series that followed a fresh and unique Starfleet crew of planet explorers ten years before Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise crew made their epic voyage. Among the new crew members, the ambitious commander Saru quickly rose to become the show's best and most compelling character.
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With a curiosity to learn new worlds, this Kelpian explorer was eager to prove himself as the first of his species to become a Starfleet officer, and he wanted to brave the many dangers in the universe, even if it would cost him his life. Jones shines in this leading role, and he's allowed to play Saru with so much depth and well-written character development that he easily becomes a fan favorite.
6 The Silver Surfer - 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' (2007)
The underrated Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer has superhero fans divided on its quality, but many would agree that Jones' remarkable performance as the titular Silver Surfer stole the show. During the film's events, the Surfer acted as a reluctant servant sent to prepare for Earth's destruction to the planet-destroying cosmic entity Galactus to protect his species.
Though Laurence Fishburne dubbed his voice, the role was still very much Jones' as he could display his emotions and strength through his body expressions. He was able to flush out this tragic hero and made him interesting and very sympathetic.
5 Billy Butcherson - 'Hocus Pocus' (1993)
1993's charming cult classic comedyHocus Pocus saw Jones in a darkly comedic role as the unfortunate undead zombie Billy Butcherson. After the three witch Sanderson sisters are accidentally resurrected for one night on Halloween, they raise poor Billy from the dead to be their reluctant servant to retrieve their lost spell book.
Jones was dedicated to his role here, performing many physical acts and even allowing living moths to fly out of his mouth in the scene where his character can finally speak to add believability to the shot. This role was early in his career and showed his future collaborators that he would go above and beyond in his performances to steal the show.
4 The Pale Man - 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth shows the creative mindset of Director Guillermo del Toro and the magically dark fantasies he creates within his stories. Once again, Jones plays multiple creatures, but his performance as the nightmarish fairy-eating monster, "The Pale Man," is easily his most unsettling role.
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Taking full advantage of his tall and slim physique, Jones creates a truly disturbing presence as The Pale Man. Audiences couldn't help but be both frightened and mesmerized by this creature's appearance as it looked so detailed and unique. Though only appearing in one scene, The Pale Man's brief screen time has easily become one of the film's most recognizable parts.
3 Amphibian Man - 'The Shape of Water' (2017)
Del Toro's Best Picture Winning film, The Shape of Water, tells a unique and compelling romance drama mixed with his usual fantasy and suspense elements. It follows a mute and lonely female janitor at a top-secret research facility who slowly sparks a friendship with a mysterious amphibian creature held in the facility against its will.
Doug has performed many of his roles, with either his voice being dubbed by another actor or his part being completely silent. Here, he once again plays a mostly quiet creature that uses gestures and facial expressions to evoke sympathy from the audience. It's hard not to root for the Amphibian Man as he struggles to escape captivity and save the woman he's grown to love.
2 Abe Sapien - 'Hellboy' (2004)
The Amphibian Man was not the first aquatic humanoid creature Doug Jones has played, nor was it the first one he did with Del Toro. 2004's Hellboy saw him playing the titular demon slayer's helpful side-kick and best friend, Abe Sapien.
Many of Guillermo del Toro's films feature misunderstood monsters who want to be accepted by the world. Jones brilliantly portrays this theme with his performance alongside Hellboy actor Ron Perlman as the two pull off amazing chemistry together. With their mutual respect and bond as outcasts, the two worked incredibly well together as they took on the sinister forces from the underworld.
1 The Faun - 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006)
The eerie, magical world within Pan's Labyrinth is full of bizarre and beautiful creatures. When the imaginative young girl Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) dreams up her strange fantasy land to escape her troubled reality, she's aided through this dangerous world with the help of the morally complex spirit guide, The Faun.
The Faun is undoubtedly Jones' most iconic character, as no other actor could have performed this unique role quite like he did. He uses his precise movements and body language to bring believability to this otherworldly creature, and at no point does he appear stiff or uncomfortable on screen. The Faun is a character that brought this talented actor into the spotlight and showed audiences how much professionalism and care he brings to his amazing roles.
NEXT: Guillermo Del Toro: His 10 Best Characters, From Hellboy to The Pale Man
