"Good to be Bad"

In the February 2014 issue of British GQ, there is a great interview with director Tom Hooper and actor Sir Ben Kingsley about Jaguar's Superbowl ad ("Good to be Bad") featuring notable British villains (including Tom Hiddleston, of course). Some very interesting observations are made about British actors and the Shakespearean legacy:

Can you explain the appeal of the movie villain?
Tom Hooper: There's something about being cerebral, intellectual, and yet emotionally repressed. If you think someone's doing this [bad] stuff and they're in complete control, that's more scary than if they're out of control.

You're satirising Hollywood's predilection for casting British actors in villainous roles. Sir Ben why does the movie industry do this?
Sir Ben Kingsley: Because of Shakespeare. His villains were so extraordinary. Macbeth, Iago, Richard III . . . They're so richly layered that a British actor would find it almost impossible to create a two-dimensional villain, if he's explored in his early years or continues to explore his Shakespearean heritage. You can almost not judge them, if they're played really well. I've seen Richard III seduce an audience. But in order to inhabit a villain, you mustn't care what the audience thinks of you. That's not why you are there. You mustn't care for a second whether the audience likes you or dislikes you. Your villain has to be way beyond that.

Are villains more fun to play?
Sir Ben Kingsley: If it's a really well written villain, he probably has more layers than the archetypal good person. So that would be very attractive to an actor. No one chooses to be a villain; it's usually a reaction to something else. So if I can find that layer or uncover the thing he's reacting to, it makes for a very thrilling journey.