Worst Actors Ever

[Jeffrey H.]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

ORIGINAL: Jeffrey H.

Ritter was pretty good in Bad Santa, I never really liked him too much for the same reason as you. But he was well casted in Bad Santa, IMHO.

I always thought he had a lot of talent for acting, but just tried too hard at times which made him seem fake. I saw him in an episode of Kojak last night (retro channel) and he was OK in that. Now in the series of Three's Company, they all overacted! [:)]

Yeah, that was his style, sort of over the top goofy. Normal Fell was one actor in 3's company that I used to really like, they way he ginned ear to ear when he said something funny about his wife.

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: GJK

I hear Tom Cruise on the worst actor's list a bit. I don't think that he's a terrible actor per se, but he just plain over acts in most of his roles ...

How can you over-act when you can't act in the first place?

I heard Cruise almost single-handedly ruined Valkyrie.

[06 Maestro]

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

ORIGINAL: GJK

I hear Tom Cruise on the worst actor's list a bit. I don't think that he's a terrible actor per se, but he just plain over acts in most of his roles ...

How can you over-act when you can't act in the first place?

Yep-he is one of the worst. I will avoid a movie if he is in it.

[Grymme]

Steve Martin.
 
Although being in the "a 1000 movies you have to see before you die"-list "the jerk" might be one of the worst, racist, most horrible movies ive seen in a long time.
 
And Steven Segal of course. My childhood friends love him. One time we rented a Steven Segal movie (i was voted down). How i laughed when he fell out of an airplane and died after 5 minutes. No one else laughed though

[Missouri Rebel]

A quote from the movie;
 'Lord loves a workin' man; don't trust whitey'.

Yeah, you are right. Referring to a Caucasian as 'Whitey' is pretty racist, but it is a movie after all. A darn funny one at that.

mo reb

[Jutland13]

Keanu Reeves, hands down. He is still Bill or Ted, whichever. The guy is just flat out brutal, which leaves hope for the rest of us. 

[Marauders]

If we are talking big name actors that are almost guaranteed to play the role like a piece of wood:

Keanu Reeves
Ben Affleck
Steven Segal
Jean Claude VanDam
Kevin Costner
Hayden Christensen
Jake Lloyd

Watching the overrated Natalie Portman with Jake Lloyd and Jar Jar Stinks was just too much.

So what did we get for Episodes II and III? Hayden "the whiner" Christensen.

Now we have to put up with Ashley "the whiner" Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano in Clone Wars.

George Lucas is an idiot! He ruined Star Wars.

[John 3rd]

I felt Episode III finally delivered the goods.  That movie ROCKED and Hayden almost--maybe not quite--acted in it.

[Charles2222]

He's Dead Jim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJQwHwP0ojI

Followed by Jim being dead. This is the logical conclusion of what should had happened on the ST TOS Dagger of the Mind episode. Even in his latter years, Shat still hadn't lost that dagger style acting. It even has my boy Roddy McDowell in it. It just doesn't get any better than this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y-YR4E3P6E&NR=1

And now, the original DOTM. See the great tension. Kirk at his best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbgGn3LpP44

[PunkReaper]

Sorry couldn't see anything wrong with the above video clips. Great dialogue great acting. Just what point where you trying to make...[&:]
No-one acts as well as William Shatner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srOGcEYLYRw&NR=1

QED

[jagdwolf]

"Worst Actor" is really a terrible category...because you almost have to exclude all the stars who don't even try to act. There is a whole class of "star" that don't really act, they just play themselves. Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, John Travolta, Harrison Ford etc...virtually all the "fashionable leading men" aren't there to act and never have been; same for most comedians turned "actor".

[Marauders]

John 3rd stated: I felt Episode III finally delivered the goods.  That movie ROCKED and Hayden almost--maybe not quite--acted in it.

Episode III was all right despite the very poor acting. Without Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, and Frank Oz, it would have been a total bust as far as acting goes.

Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits were trying to see which one could become the better plank. Natalie Portman finally showed some emotion, but her hair and costumes were the only things above average in that film.

Hayden almost acted? Well, he tried, but he is such an over-the-top whiner that almost no one can believe he was transformed into the great Darth Vader of James Earl Jones and David Prowse.

It's strange that Episodes I-III were created to show the story arc of Anakin Skywalker, yet, the scenes with Lloyd and Christensen are some of the worst and most forgetable of the films. The scenes with Obiwan Kenobi, clone troopers, and other Jedi in the field (not in council) are what drives the action, and those films are all about the action.

[Marauders]

jagdwolf stated: "Worst Actor" is really a terrible category... because you almost have to exclude all the stars who don't even try to act. There is a whole class of "star" that don't really act, they just play themselves. Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, John Travolta, Harrison Ford etc...virtually all the "fashionable leading men" aren't there to act and never have been; same for most comedians turned "actor".

If given a good script, Harrison Ford can be very good. The last Indiana Jones film did not have a good script. It was almost a parody of the other Indiana Jones films. Ford didn't even want to do Return of the Jedi, and with that dozer of a script for his character, it is no wonder why. The largest problem with Harrison Ford is that most of his best acting is done in drama films that are not blockbusters. Most people have seen his acting, but not nearly as many have seen his best acting.

Tom Hanks was an actor that could do comedy, and he often does a great job in realistic leading and supporting roles. One would also have to say that Jamie Foxx can act well with well written and serious material.

I think the problem with comedians is that they still try to be psudo-comedians in action films, and too many actions films are written to allow them to do it. Will Smith often runs into this, and writers tend to add his Schwarzeneggeresque "Hell no" line into too many movie scripts.

[jagdwolf]

There are of course exceptions, Tom Hanks can act...as can say Robin Williams or John Cleese...still not true of most comedians who try to act though..
As for Harrison Ford..we'll have to disagree..I've seen nearly every film he has ever been in and he can't act in any of them. To me he is in the same class of "actor" as many classic "leading men"...he looks good, sells tickets and doesn't flub his lines...so he is a "star".

[andym]

Sadly in this day and age of PR gurus, a house brick can become a star with the right exposure to the media!

[Marauders]

jagdwolf stated: There are of course exceptions, Tom Hanks can act...as can say Robin Williams or John Cleese... still not true of most comedians who try to act though.

John Cleese and Michael Palin can both act well. It is tough to get around their Monty Python days though.

Tom Hanks, we agree on him. Even in support in That Thing You Do he was very good.

The thing about Robin Williams is that he can act well given a good serious part. His comedies are usually a bust though, which holds some irony.

As for Harrison Ford..we'll have to disagree..I've seen nearly every film he has ever been in and he can't act in any of them. To me he is in the same class of "actor" as many classic "leading men"...he looks good, sells tickets and doesn't flub his lines...so he is a "star".

I liked Ford in Regarding Henry, Working Girl, Presumed Innocent, Hollywood Homicide, and Star Wars. Raiders of the Lost Arc and Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade were good films, as was Blade Runner.

When watching the casting of Han Solo, one can see that Ford was much better than anyone else that showed up for a casting call. So was Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. The casting director was smart for that film. It's too bad that the casting and writing of I-III were so very poor. I'd take Harrison Ford from Star Wars over over Hayden Christensen from Attack of the Clones any day of the week.

But you may disagree, and that's fine.

[Brigz]

I like Harrison Ford but I don't think he's that good of an actor. What he has is presence and appeal and that makes him like-able in most of his films. He's the kind of guy women are attracted to and he's the kind of guy men would like to hang out with. I don't think his acting in the Star Wars movies or Indiana Jones movies is that good. I think his best work was in Blade Runner. Don't get me wrong, I like him and enjoy almost all of his movies but he's not what I'd consider an above average actor. He basically plays the same part that he played in American Graffiti.

[milkweg]

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

Charles_22

Thanks Charles_22-a very entertaining clip. It was sort of like watching L. DiCaprio playing H. Hughes.

I was logged in as just a guest but your comment has made me login to my account.

DiCaprio is a very talented actor and your comment just makes me see red. His performance in The Aviator was Oscar worthy. Something I have noticed about people who think he is a bad actor, they are always men and my best guess is they don't like him because he is a pretty boy and can't stand the fact that is what women like instead of their macho idealism of what a man should be.

[ilovestrategy]

Worst?

My 15 year old daughter when trying to make up a story of where she's been or what she's been doing! [X(]

[Marc von Martial]

The italian national soccer team. All of them [:)]