1960's Psycho made Norman Bates a legendary horror serial killer, but there's been several actors to inhabit the iconic and psychotic role. We all go a little mad sometimes, or so goes Norman's most famous line of dialogue, first said in the original Psycho film. While Psycho might not be the best effort of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock - and there's definitely a lot of contenders for that title - it's definitely in the upper echelon of his output, especially when it comes to the second half of his career.
Psycho was quite innovative for its time, and not just due to Hitchcock's genius marketing around the twist ending, not allowing people to enter the theater after a screening had begun. Not only did Psycho show a toilet flushing onscreen for the first time in cinema history, but it also introduced pop culture at large to the concepts of serial killers and what was then called multiple personality disorder. Today the illness is dubbed Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Norman Bates sports two distinctive personalities in Psycho, himself and his deceased mother Norma, who he murdered due to years of abuse. Yet, despite being a killer, Norman is often oddly sympathetic and likeable as himself. Here's all the actors who've brought him to life.
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins of course originated the Norman Bates role in Psycho 1960, and will forever be the actor most associated with the character. Perkins would reprise Norman in actually quite good 1983 sequel Psycho 2, and both direct and star in 1986's Psycho 3. Perkins' last hurrah as Norman came in the 1991 TV movie Psycho 4: The Beginning, which had Norman setting up flashbacks to his past. Perkins sadly died of AIDS in 1992 at age 60.
Henry Thomas
Henry Thomas, who first gained fame in E.T. and now frequently collaborates with director Mike Flanagan, played Norman Bates as a teenager for a large portion of Psycho 4: The Beginning. Thomas gives a great performance, even if he's clearly trying his best to imitate Perkins' iconic portrayal.
Vince Vaughn
To modern audiences, the idea of Vince Vaughn playing Norman Bates probably seems extremely weird, as he's spent most of his career as a comic actor. In 1998 though, he wasn't that well-known either way. Still, his performance in the widely despised Psycho remake doesn't work, although little about the film does. It doesn't help that the odd decision to make Vaughn's Norman a repulsive creep makes the viewer feel gross.
Freddie Highmore
After attaining fame as a child star, it was Freddie Highmore's work as Norman Bates on A&E's acclaimed series Bates Motel that made the world realize he was a force to be reckoned with as an adult as well. Highmore's version of Norman is alternately incredibly sympathetic and bone-chillingly frightening, and he rides the line of sometimes playing both protagonist and antagonist supremely well.
The Rest
In addition to Perkins, Thomas, Vaughn, and Highmore, there were a few other actors who played Norman Bates very briefly in Psycho films or shows. Anthony Perkins' son Oz Perkins, himself now a director, played child Norman in Psycho 2. Kurt Paul played Norman for a scene in the 1987 Bates Motel TV pilot, after having been Perkins' stunt double for the films. Ryan Finnigan played a kid version of Norman in Psycho 4. Finally, Beckham Skodje, Luke Roessler and Nicholas Holmes played young child Norman on Bates Motel the series at various times.