# Acting tics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935 "2009-06-06T17:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/1 "2009-06-06T17:00:01Z")
After watching [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IXCK1EyP4s) from the Shia LeBeouf [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=520141), I got the idea for this post. In the comments section on the video, someone mentions the fact that Will Smith says ‘Aww, Hell naw!" in every movie. The only thing I could come up with is Keanu Reeves’ ‘Whoa’. Also I haven’t seen too many Hugh Grant movies but don’t his characters stammer a lot? So anything an actor says or does in every role he plays, especially if it annoys you, is fair game. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/2 "2009-06-06T17:04:15Z")
Austrian accented groaning. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/3 "2009-06-06T17:34:22Z")
No matter the role, Al Pacino will go from talking quietly and without much emotion to SHOUTING LOUDLY FOR MAXIMUM HAM EFFECT. Every time. Then of course, there’s BRIAN BLESSED! (capitals and exclamation point non optional) who’ll always ham it to the max. The man’s volume control is stuck at 11. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/4 "2009-06-06T19:31:50Z")
I _think_ that in each turn as Indiana Jones or Han Solo, Harrison Ford says, “Trust me.” Perhaps not in the most recent one, can’t remember. I don’t think of that as a “tic” but as sort of an inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/5 "2009-06-06T20:48:26Z")
Jessica Lange’s take on mental illness, whether playing Maggie the Cat or her wtf Oscar win in _Blue Skies_, is to play the character “_talking casual and low like this_ AND THEN FASTER AND SLIGHTLY LOUDER _and then back down here again_ AND RINSE LATHER REPEAT…”. Damn but I find her annoying. If Owen Wilson grabbed the lead in a remake of _The Elephant Man_ or a biopic of Audie Murphy you can be absolutely assured the Elephant Man or Audie Murphy would now be an obnoxious sneering fratboy alum with a perpetual “as if…huh” expression, almost like he’s molding every character from Sean Penn’s Spicoli. No range whatever and always that sneer. (Sorry to hear about his or anyone else’s emotional problems, but I’ll never understand how he keeps getting roles.) Meryl Streep affects a “somewhere that’s not here” accent for roles in which she plays non American characters and though an Italian dialect sounds like a Polish one or a German one she gets Oscar nods anyway. But I think Mike Myers probably owns this category. Yes, we know you can mug at the camera and do a comic Scottish accent, how 'bout a plot? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/6 "2009-06-06T20:52:38Z")
Or Woody Allen- it’s impossible to imagine him playing a character who doesn’t talk in a rapid fire nasal smartass cadence. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/7 "2009-06-06T23:21:53Z")
Denzel Washington is always coughing into his fist; I have no idea what he is trying to convey in terms of the role, but once you notice this you’ll always be on the lookout for this particular tic during his movies. Robert DeNiro shows anger by always repeating a line, the second time with more anger. “You blew it. YOU BLEW IT!” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/8 "2009-06-06T23:50:44Z")
Jason Lee does his patented “head bob” with pretty much every character he’s ever played. Try not to notice it the next time you see him. ---
**Author:** ![Lillith\_Fair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lillith\_Fair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lillith_Fair)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/9 "2009-06-07T01:28:45Z")
Jim Carrey. Please. He’s always the same person. Helen Hunt squints. That is her entire repetoire. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/10 "2009-06-07T01:47:26Z")
David Caruso. If I have to explain it to you , first I will take off my sun glasses and tilt my head. Then I am completely sincere. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/11 "2009-06-07T05:07:02Z")
Nicholas Cage coughs in all his roles. Not sure if it’s on purpose or if he has a health issue. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/12 "2009-06-07T05:08:31Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Denzel Washington is always coughing into his fist; I have no idea what he is trying to convey in terms of the role, but once you notice this you’ll always be on the lookout for this particular tic during his movies. I saw a sneak preview of **The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3** the other night and I didn’t see him do that. Decent movie, btw, very tense. I still love the original but this was a worthy remake. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/13 "2009-06-07T05:42:10Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Robert DeNiro shows anger by always repeating a line, the second time with more anger. “You blew it. YOU BLEW IT!” He also shows anger with a menacing grin while squinting his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/14 "2009-06-07T06:05:07Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > David Caruso. If I have to explain it to you , first I will take off my sun glasses and tilt my head. Then I am completely sincere. I rent a room to a Theater Major. (He played Hamlet in a college road production). He is a mystery nut and must watch all mysteries on TV. He calls Caruso a graduate of the Lee Majors school of acting. I think Caruso is so bad it is laugh out loud funny. His line readings aren’t stilted or off, but is so entirely without emotion that he makes Nimoy or Kenau look like Pacino. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/15 "2009-06-07T07:09:47Z")
No-one has mentioned Shatner’s INSANE. FRAGMENTATION. Of sentences. For no apparent reason. With emphasis ON (pause) trivial words, designed TO (pause) create maximum effect. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/16 "2009-06-07T08:39:05Z")
Michael Cera does that thing where he’s talking and his voice gets quieter and kind of trails off into nothing. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/17 "2009-06-07T14:37:52Z")
Brian Keith (long time ago actor — male lead in the original Parent Trap?) would practically maul his face with right hand. He would rub it so hard. I swear he would move his nose two inches to the left when showing “thinking” on the screen. Screen legend Clark Gable would half close his eyes, tilt his head (usually to the right) and slightly turn it in the same direction and then half smile. Women would then melt. George Clooney does something similar but more straight on. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/18 "2009-06-07T17:34:07Z")
Denzel Washington going into inordinate rage and yelling at someone within one sentence. I know I will be hanged in effigy, but I’m not a Denzel fan. He is like Brenden Frasier in that he alternates between a great role and a mediocre/bad one. In his bad roles, the overacting is unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/19 "2009-06-07T17:48:43Z")
Brad Pitt scratches his face. It’s subtle, but once you notice it, you’ll keep noticing it. The quirkier the character, the more he scratches his face. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/20 "2009-06-07T17:55:20Z")
I agree Shatner’s is the best because of the cheese factor. One that always takes me out of the movie is Mel Gibson’s _BLLEEARRRRGHHHH_ cry. Hit him again, Endo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935.md?page=2)