The Bad Actor/Actress Thread

[ClassyCo]

Have you ever seen an actor or actress in any film or television show and wonder how in the world they became famous? They might be attractive, but you cannot --- for the life of you --- understand who thinks this person can act. Their degrees of bad can certainly vary, but yet they very rarely (if ever) give a performance that could even graciously be deemed as "good".

I mean, I understand that everyone is not Oscar-worthy, but at least most people have a likability factor or good on-screen chemistry. But there are some that are just downright bad no matter how you look at it.

Does anyone come to mind for you?

The first one I thought of when writing this thread was Bo Derek. Of course, she was an "It Girl" in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, but her movies are horrendous. She hasn't the slightest notion of how to be an actress. She had the "look" but lacked any talent whatsoever to go with it.
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[Crimson]

I think people often don't discern between an actor who is bad and one they just don't like. I don't care for Joan Fontaine and Deborah Kerr, but I don't think that means either were incapable actors. For me, screen acting as two absolute bare minimum requirements: the performer has to look comfortable on screen, and be able to credibly register basic human emotions.

I haven't seen much of her work, but Ali MacGraw seemed woefully awkward on screen.

 

[ClassyCo]

For me, screen acting as two absolute bare minimum requirements: the performer has to look comfortable on screen, and be able to credibly register basic human emotions.

There are some out there, however, that do not possess this whatsoever. You look at them like "Duh..." wondering how on earth they got to where they are in their career.​

 

[Angela Channing]

People are going to hate me for this but Joan Collins, a great star but a wooden actress.
William Shatner, another great star but a wooden actor.

 

[Barbara Fan]

People are going to hate me for this but Joan Collins, a great star but a wooden actress.

Nope, totally agree re wooden actress and

Spoiler: Spoiler

Dont think she is a great star either - over rated and lucky IMHO - sorry folks

Another I think very lucky is Jennifer Anniston - and the simmpering and sickly sweet (I want to vomit) Julie Andrews and I know many will disagree but I cant watch anything they are in and iyts the only time i have ever walked out of a cinema watching J A

I also agree re Deborah Kerr, Catherine Zita Jones and I find Angela Lansbury very hammy indeed, and she ruined Bedknobs and Broomsticks for me as a child and Death on the nile - i was glad she met her maker there!!

 

[Willie Oleson]

I think people often don't discern between an actor who is bad and one they just don't like

Surely that's not going to happen in this thread [/tongue in cheek]

I usually get weird vibes from Tom Cruise but he's a superstar so he must have done something right. I don't feel compelled to find out what that is.

Is it too easy to mention Pia Zadora?

 

[Monzo]

Another I think very lucky is Jennifer Anniston

I never understood why it was Jennifer Aniston who became be the biggest star out of Friends cast. Was it her haircut or her marriage to Brad Pitt?

 

[Crimson]

I've never thought Jennifer Anniston was bad, but I admit I've been perplexed by her sustained success. Credit where it's due though, I thought she was excellent in the recent Apple TV series THE MORNING SHOW.

 

[Jessie]

David Spade, Kathy Griffin, Madonna, Seth Rogen, Alec Baldwin, Dwayne Johnson, are some I would say are not great actors.

I also think Woody Allen , I can’t watch movies he is in.

 

[Sarah]

For me it's Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta Jones and Leonardo di Caprio. Good looks yes but can't bear to watch them. Winning an Oscar does not make a good actor. Catherine especially has yet to convince me of any real acting talent - she can sing and dance which carried her through Chicago but in anything else it's like she's just shown up to look pretty. Brad for me is just a snoozefest. The only thing so far aside from Dallas that I've managed to enjoy him in was Seven.

Leo for me is all very samey. I was initially put off by him in Titanic with his constant repetition of 'Rose! Rose! Rose!' Yes we know her name and I'm sure she knows her name and doesn't need reminding of it every two seconds. But every time I see him I feel like I'm watching a little boy try to be a grown up. I just can't take to him at all and don't understand what all the fuss is about.

I'm in agreement about Tom Cruise also.

 

[Sarah]

David Spade, Kathy Griffin, Madonna, Seth Rogen, Alec Baldwin, Dwayne Johnson, are some I would say are not great actors.

I also think Woody Allen , I can’t watch movies he is in.

I wouldn't even class Madonna as an actor. Showing up to be in a movie based on your worldwide stardom as a pop star doesn't make you an actor by the standards of what real actors class actors to be.

 

[Justine]

The first person that came to mind when I saw this thread was Gwyneth Paltrow - I find her so unlikeable/unwatchable.

 

[Grant Jennings]

Nicolas Cage: his bad (often laughable) performances far outnumber the few good ones.
Tom Cruise: a space alien attempting to impersonate a human being and doing a very poor job of it.
Cameron Diaz: her "cute, slightly ditzy" schtick was adequate in My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary but not in anything else. The Last Supper was good in spite of her, the rest of the cast was far superior to her.

I don't think Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Melanie Griffith, Demi Moore, or Gwyneth Paltrow are without talent but, in the words of the Pet Shop Boys "you've both made such a little go a very long way".

I think Lucille Ball and David Caruso are very similar (not just their hair color): they started their careers showing a lot of promise but once they became established they began to rely on a "bag of tricks", using the same vocal inflections and facial expressions. Watching them is like watching someone assemble a piece of furniture from Ikea: widen eyes C while curling lower lip E and exclaiming "ewww".

 

[darkshadows38]

Shatner in some roles can act good you are just talking about stuff he did in Star Trek and a lot of stuff after that. if you watch Boston Legal or hell his Twilight zone he doesn't do that. and by doing that i mean the way he speaks

 

[darkshadows38]

Brad Pitt's acting has gotten better i think, i wish i knew why Caruso decided to act the way he does on CSI: Miami cause he does not speak that way on NYPD Blue at all

Nick Cage can be good when it's the right material

Madonna i think can be good but not oscar worthy at all it just depends on the material and who the director is i think. she was simply dreadful in Swept away (2002) though that is her worst acting gig by far. Brad Pitt was awful in Burn While Reading (2008) and though i'm a fan of Clooney and have been since his Roseanne days

if you want to go that far back he was dreadful in the same film too.