# Actors who have negative charisma **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795 "2006-06-15T12:35:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Locat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Locat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/101 "2006-06-16T23:46:55Z")
Demi Moore. She has an utter lack of facial expression and no ability to convey any emotion aside from boredom. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/102 "2006-06-17T14:49:49Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > William Holden: I guess he was supposed to be the guy at the center of the movie with integrity, but he always came off as cranky. Oh, **Slithy** , no. I gotta disagree with you here. William Holden was crazy beautiful. Mesmerizing voice. What you saw as “cranky” I saw as “wounded vulnerable covering up the pain with cynicism needs a good woman to throw her life away in a futile effort to save him from himself.” Which I go for. Maybe that’s just me. I would like to nominate [Robert Wagner](http://www.robert-wagner.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/103 "2006-06-17T15:57:38Z")
_Three pages_ and no one here has mentioned **Halle** “Great Tits, Nice Smile – But Still Seems A Bit Self-Loathing and Can’t Attract A Decent Man” **Berry?** ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/104 "2006-06-17T18:10:07Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > He may be “better”, but Wendy Hiller & Wilfred Lawson wipe the floor with him in the former, and he’s completely miscast (as gigi notes) in the latter. We’ll just have to disagree on this. I like this version of _The Scarlet Pimpernel_ better than the 3 or 4 later adaptations I’ve seen, in large part because of Howard’s performance as Regency fop vs. Reign of Terror man-of-action, even if it’s not as the Baroness Orczy originally envisioned the character. George Clooney? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/105 "2006-06-18T03:58:56Z")
Edward Norton ---
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/106 "2006-06-18T14:35:51Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I saw it, I own it, I watched it the other day and Bill Pullman is excellent and charismatic as Daryl Zero. > > My nomineeis Ben Affleck. The guy just drains a movie of any interest at all for me. I used this think Bill Pullman was dull, but he sort of grew on me until now I look for him … he is excellent in The Zero Effect, and very funny that total hoot of a movie, Lake Placid. And I’m absolutely with you on Ben Affleck. He’s a black hole of charm and interest in anything I’ve seen him in. Plus, despite the fact that he’s sort of attractive in a blockish kind of way, the camera seems to hate him and he always looks sort of lumpish and sulky. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/107 "2006-06-18T20:46:32Z")
David Caruso David Caruso David Caruso ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/108 "2006-06-18T20:55:08Z")
Disagree. Disagree. Disagree. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/109 "2006-06-18T21:09:58Z")
Caruso has been a black hole of charisma in every motion picture he’s been a lead in. His best movie roles were always supporting ones (_King of New York, Proof of Life_) and far more energized than the recessive whisperer he’s become notorious for on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/110 "2006-06-18T21:17:16Z")
Tightly wound =! lacking charisma. Agree on his suckitude in leading man roles, though. He was great in _Mad Dog and Glory, too._ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/111 "2006-06-18T23:58:00Z")
I think some people are confusing ‘lacking charisma’ with ‘I don’t like him/her’. Some of the people mentioned in the thread baffle me, because I think they just ooze charisma. Among them: Dennis Quaid Jeff Bridges Steve Buscemi James Spader Nicholas Cage These are people who are the exact opposite of what the OP is looking for, IMO. Steve Buscemi is a scene-stealer par-excellence. He elevated **The Sopranos** with every scene his was in, and that’s no mean feat. He was awesome in **Reservoir Dogs**. James Spader is completely fascinating on Boston Legal. It doesn’t matter what his lines are, or what the plot is - he finds a way to make everything he does completely interesting. Even if it’s just staring at someone. Dennis Quaid stole every scene he was in in **The Right Stuff** , and was charismatic as hell in **The Big Easy** and **Undercover Blues**. And of course, Jeff Bridges is The Dude. And The Dude abides. Nicholas Cage can be annoying. He has a tendency to overact. But he’s got charisma. He tends to take his characters way out on the edge, and sometimes it doesn’t work. He chose to make his character in **Peggy Sue Got Married** have a strange nasal voice for some reason, which I found annoying, but in the end it sure made the character memorable, and he did a great job of acting. I’ll throw in another vote for **Sarah Jessica Parker** and **Jennifer Love Hewett**. Totally forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795/112 "2006-06-19T00:47:02Z")
I’d have to second (third?) Gwyneth Paltrow. I have never seen the attraction for her, and she just kills any scene she’s in for me. For those of you who hate Kirstie Alley, have you ever seen “Sibling Rivalry?” It’s one of my favourite comedies of all time, and Kirstie is brilliant in it. Her most recent work is definitely not her best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-have-negative-charisma/360795.md?page=5)