Bill Sykes was sexy

[PrincessHoneysuckle]

Wasn't he? Oliver Reed 1968.
Just watching Oliver! and I think i would

Oliver Reed was incredibly handsome, not my type due to the drinking and behaviour but no one can say he wasnt decent eye candy

Wasnt he related in some way to Alan Bates or some director he worked with?

Absolutely

I mentioned The Fall earlier and it's something that show played with quite explicitly. Imagine there's a guy who wants to kill you, but you find him attractive? There was a great scene where the Jamie Dornan character is on a train and a woman is flirting with him, then she recognises his likeness in a photo fit in a newspaper lying on seat. Absolutely chilling.

I remember my friend being quite creeped out by how attractive she found the main character.

Good Lord you're right! Where on earth did I get Jones from...

I can't separate one from the other in Bill Sykes. He's a violent psychopath, which kind of overshadows the "quite handsome" part.

Yes, Oliver Reed was very handsome -.
very easy on the eye in Sons and Lovers. Not so much as a werewolf though

Was in a nude wrestling scene with Alan Bates in Sons and Lovers. Highly scandalous at the time.

His uncle was Carol Reed, who directed Oliver

Oh yes thats what Im thinking of

Hard agree

He killed poor Bullseye

The OP says "Bill Sykes" was sexy. Bill Sykes is a violent criminal who murdered his lovely girlfriend. He was an abuser. Oliver Reed, Tom HArdy et al are attractive ACTORS.
The Bill Sykes character was vile. You are basically using the "Rough Sex" trope just because the character gets played by good looking actors.

Well use the actors' names then not the character name! Even in the movie he's vile.

The character exists in real life with different names.

Suspect that may be the hotel where my ex used to work and met him on a few occasions.

Largely playing himself in a lot of roles was ex's verdict.

Honestly, I don’t think it’s even that deep. We’re talking about a work of historical fiction here.

I have no interest in bad boys IRL but Oliver Reed as Bill just does it for some of us clearly! I hate it when I end up liking the villain at times, but that’s a sign of good character development imo.

To the other posters here going on about him being evil, and how could you like him… how are you going to guilt people for liking a fictional character😂

Nope.

Cracking film - also the ridiculous one with him and Diana Rigg - The Assassination Bureau.

Yup.

It's a problem with actors, they tend to be very charismatic, an Oliver Reed was a really good looking man, sort of breathtaking imo. So when someone like that plays a shitwad like Bill Sykes, the character can be quite appealing despite his awful qualities.

Although - there is no reason to think Sykes couldn't have been a good looking man who could have some kind of charm, if he wanted to. Sure, maybe Nancy loved him just because she needed to love someone. But maybe it was also because she found him physically attractive. It's not unheard of.

I thought Sean Penn seemed completely odious in DMW. He managed somehow to rein in his charisma, in the sense that he came across on screen, but not in a way that was actually appealing. I suspect that's quite difficult.

Gabriel Oak was not a bad boy! The sexy villain of that piece was Captain Troy.

You mean the murderous abuser/thief with his devil dog and club? And when he came home after a night of thieving I doubt he would take NO as an answer.Can't see it myself. Oliver Reed on the other was sexy but he was a victim of the lifestyle

Yes, Oliver Reed was very attractive. Bill Sykes is a fictional character who is most unappealing however.

Him and Nancy were two of Fagin's children. Bill Sykes earned enough to get their own lodgings, he was doing well by the standards of the day. Domestic violence was the norm. Nancy hadn't been continually pregnant, so there might have been some consideration there. He wasn't womanising. He wasn't particularly violent, given who he was. Up in the 'big houses' they were whipping children for not working hard enough and hanging starving children for stealing food. Out in the colonies, natives were hanging from trees as an example to the rest. There's affection between Bill and Nancy. Casual prostitution was the norm, even for married women. You can't look at history with today's judgement.

No he doesn't. He tries to drown him but Bullseye gets away and leads the angry mob back to Sykes. Hurrah for Bullseye!

This.