# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/61 "2013-12-19T18:35:13Z")
> [@Lillith\_Fair](#): > > Jim Carrey. Please. He’s always the same person Really? I mean, you really think that? I guess we can agree to disagree. Watch ‘Ace Ventura’, then watch ‘Eternal Sunshine’. ‘Man on the Moon’, ‘Truman Show’, even in ‘The Majestic’ he wasn’t bad, it was just a bad movie. I never saw ‘The Number 23’, I know it was a bad movie, I just don’t know if he was bad in it, I can tell you that ‘The Cable Guy’ is underated. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/62 "2013-12-19T19:16:53Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > What George Clooney does is he looks down moving his whole head, then looks back up with just the eyes. Drives me nuts (not in the good way). Had a friend who worked with Clooney back on ER and said that, while he’s a good actor, he’s absolutely crap at remembering lines. When he looks down like that, he’s actually looking at a script that someone has taped to the floor/gurney/patient. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/63 "2013-12-19T19:45:19Z")
- Bruce Dern often used to punctuate sentences with “Darlin” - Daughter Laura seems to nearly always be making the face of someone with a turd right under their nose - Scarlett Johanssen (sp?) seems to nearly always be making a face like a big dumb fish - Remember Eddie Murphy’s “eh, eh, eh” laugh? - Richard Gere always blinks and squints to show “emotion” Or so they seem to me. I haven’t done exhaustive studies. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/64 "2013-12-19T21:50:50Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > - Scarlett Johanssen (sp?) seems to nearly always be making a face like a big dumb fish **Scarlett Johanssen** is the biggest tit-tease in Movies. Unless there is a movie in which she shows her boobs that I don’t know about, she is the one actress that always wears outfits that she looks like she is busting out of, but we never get to see those magnificent mounds of flesh. I hate her. 😃 As for tics, the one I have noticed since his days on Family Ties, **Michael J. Fox** says “Sorry” or “I’m sorry.” in everything he has ever made. And it is so noticeable because he has the Canadian accent and his “o” sound is more of a long “o”. If you’ve ever heard a Canadian hockey player say “Offense”, you know what I mean. They say “Oh-fense” not “ah-fense”. **Sarah Jessica Parker** (another tit-teaser) has a lisp that is annoying. **Robert Iler** (played AJ Soprano) has a very odd speech tic. He starts every sentence with a slight “drawn out” sound. I’m not even sure how to describe it, but it’s almost like he stutters on the first letter of the first word in every sentence. So if the line is “Hey, Dad,”. It sounds like “ehhhhhhHey Dad.” Trust me, it’s there, and once you notice it, it will drive you crazy. I can’t watch old Soprano episodes because of the way he speaks. Drives me bonkers! (Not to mention **Edie Falco** ’s lisp, which grates on my last nerve.) I am happy to say I’ve never heard of **Brian Blessed** , and I didn’t recognize him from the links, either. **Nicholas Cage** always has a permanent half-open eye thing going on. I’m sure it’s his natural look, but he plays the same exact character with the same facial expression in every movie. He won an Oscar because he naturally looks and sounds like a drug addicted drunk on the verge of committing suicide through drug abuse. But he has no range. He is a no-trick pony that gets paid for speaking his lines and looking the way he looks without any “acting” whatsoever. **Barbara Hershey** has a strange “smile”, if that’s what it is. **Sally Field** has a perma-frown. Her natural, relaxed face look is a frown that looks as if someone around her just farted. I could go on. But I’ll stop there so I don’t ruin every show and/or movie for folks that haven’t noticed these things. 😛 ---
**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:** [December 19, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/65 "2013-12-19T22:02:36Z")
John Wayne…I didn’t see these posted, but everybody knows them. That’s probably why they haven’t been posted - everybody knows them. First, his walk (that leading with the shoulders and almost-dragged heel follow)…which I always thought was natural until I heard from Harry Cary Jr. that Wayne got from Harry Cary Sr. (a silent and early talkie star). and the right-hand knuckle to the nose with the head just slightly tilted and shoulders just slightly hunched to create the honest “aw-shucks” moment. Gary Cooper…The scratched top of the head (Will Rogers used to do this regularly, too) to create the “aw-shucks” moment. The only film of Cooper’s I can not remember the scratched head moment being in was Fountainhead. It still might have been but I just didn’t catch it. He also had a unique “Straight-back” riding style that was always there. This was, however, a physical necessity, I am told. Apparently he had injured his lower back as a youth and the only way he could ride without pain was that straight-back style. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/66 "2013-12-19T22:07:03Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > I am happy to say I’ve never heard of **Brian Blessed** , and I didn’t recognize him from the links, either. What you fail to understand is that **GORDON’S ALIVE!** ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/67 "2013-12-19T22:12:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Patrick Warburton. > > …is the joke I would have made back in 2009. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > If you’re referring to his squinty eyed, low voice that is simultaneously monotone and dismissive, that joke is still alive on _Rules of Engagement_. > > By the way, I like him and RoE, just sayin’ his delivery is pretty much the same. Patrick Warburton is my man-crush. Just thought I’d share. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/68 "2013-12-19T22:14:49Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > **Nicholas Cage** always has a permanent half-open eye thing going on. I’m sure it’s his natural look, but he plays the same exact character with the same facial expression in every movie. He won an Oscar because he naturally looks and sounds like a drug addicted drunk on the verge of committing suicide through drug abuse. > > But he has no range. He is a no-trick pony that gets paid for speaking his lines and looking the way he looks without any “acting” whatsoever. See if you can tell which is Andy Samberg and which is Nicholas Cage in [this](http://www.videobash.com/video_show/nicolas-cage-vs-nicolas-cage-on-snl-246147) sketch. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/69 "2013-12-19T23:23:24Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > 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. Harrison Ford seems to crop up a lot in this thread. [Here he is angrily pointing at stuff](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Rqx9TvtlM) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/70 "2013-12-19T23:28:13Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Patrick Warburton. > > …is the joke I would have made back in 2009. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > If you’re referring to his squinty eyed, low voice that is simultaneously monotone and dismissive, that joke is still alive on _Rules of Engagement_. > > By the way, I like him and RoE, just sayin’ his delivery is pretty much the same. Actually, I think you’ve been whooshed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/71 "2013-12-19T23:29:48Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > See if you can tell which is Andy Samberg and which is Nicholas Cage in [this](http://www.videobash.com/video_show/nicolas-cage-vs-nicolas-cage-on-snl-246147) sketch. 😃 Interesting clip. Was this recent? Nick Cage seems to have had some recent facial work done. He looks more plastic than usual. I wonder if this was part of the bit, making him look as plastic as the guy next to him, or he really did have work done. Man, he looks bad. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/72 "2013-12-19T23:32:40Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > When I was a kid I used to do impersonations of actors. I did Uncle Bill (Brian Keith) from Family Affair a lot. All I did was sigh and then mash my hand all over my face. Even as a kid I recognized how much he did that. That captures the “Brian Keith” maneuver so well - I can instantly picture just what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935/73 "2013-12-20T00:53:13Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Actually, I think you’ve been whooshed. 😉 Yeah, for like the third time today (I mean \*that \*day). I must remember to take note of the thread’s birth date :smack: I realized it afterward but just let my post stand because it’s still apropos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acting-tics/498935.md?page=3)