# Actors whose acting skills don't keep them from being big box-office successes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272 "2006-05-18T16:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/1 "2006-05-18T16:22:04Z")
Maybe you can think of exceptions to the general statement in the title, but for the most part these stars never had to rely on any great acting skills to become major moneymakers: Steve McQueen Charles Bronson Kevin Costner Keanu Reeves Tom Cruise I know there must be some women in this category but I’m having real trouble naming them. I guess I need help in that effort. Name some more or point out where those already named did some legitimate acting. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/2 "2006-05-18T16:50:01Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Maybe you can think of exceptions to the general statement in the title, but for the most part these stars never had to rely on any great acting skills to become major moneymakers: > > Steve McQueen > Charles Bronson > Kevin Costner > Keanu Reeves > Tom Cruise > > I know there must be some women in this category but I’m having real trouble naming them. I guess I need help in that effort. > > Name some more or point out where those already named did some legitimate acting. My first reaction is that McQueen actually doesn’t belong on this list as he was quite a decent actor (Nevada Smith and on television’s “The Bounty Hunter” and also in “The Great Escape.”) The others have never wowed me though both Costner(okay, I can’t think of anything off-hand – “Bull Durham”) and Cruise (“The Color of Money,” “Magnolia” and “Rainman”) can do decent work with a good director. Reeves couldn’t even do a decent job with Brannaugh as his director. Rock Hudson certainly belongs on the list for not really being all that talented (though he became better later on – on the job training and everything-- he still wasn’t anything to write home about). Steven Segal, Vin Diesel, Dean Martin (no matter how hard he tried), Jean Claude VanDamme, Sylvester Stallone, (and though I like him) John Wayne was outside himself whenever he tried to play anything but John Wayne. Oh, Bill Shatner, though he has a genius for comedy (like Lelie Nielson) who knew? Ronald Regan was never very good either. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/3 "2006-05-18T17:11:04Z")
Julia Roberts was the first woman that came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/4 "2006-05-18T17:35:25Z")
To look natural and deliver lines fluidly and with good timing on film is much more difficult than it appears. All those on the list (with the possible exception of Keanu) are very likable on screen and can make you care what happens to his character. This doesn’t mean they’re great actors, but they all are good or very good at a skill-set that falls under the term “acting.” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/5 "2006-05-18T17:42:31Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > To look natural and deliver lines fluidly and with good timing on film is much more difficult than it appears. All those on the list (with the possible exception of Keanu) are very likable on screen and can make you care what happens to his character. This doesn’t mean they’re great actors, but they all are good or very good at a skill-set that falls under the term “acting.” I must confess that I agree with this in general and that Steve McQueen’s skills stemmed from his ability to convey emotions and thoughts nonverbally. I believe it may have been Chuck Norris who attributed to McQueen the idea that the more he could _show_ without dialog, the less his weakness at dialog would interfere with his getting the point across. Viewed in this light, I’d move McQueen to the top of the list in that school of “acting.” His performance in _Bullitt_ is a masterpiece of that category. On the other hand, even in the performances already cited above, I can’t recall a McQueen movie where his ability to handle dialog was anything beyond acceptable. Certainly not exceptional. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/6 "2006-05-18T17:53:48Z")
Re: Steve McQueen’s non-verbal acting skills To quote an old professor of mine: “Acting is what you do in between the times you are speaking.” This was later validated by Russian director Slava Steopnov in which I quoted the professor and was told, through a translator: “You have had an excellent teacher.” Acting is so much more than what you say. It is your whole being at all times. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/7 "2006-05-18T18:03:41Z")
I second **Julia Roberts** wholeheartedly! Some other women: **Sandra Bullock** **Drew Barrymore** **Elizabeth Hurley** All adequately talented, but not a **Bette Davis** or **Merly Streep** in the bunch, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/8 "2006-05-18T18:04:59Z")
Sorry, **Meryl**. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/9 "2006-05-18T18:11:34Z")
Hey, Vin Diesel is good in _Boiler Room_. He’s just a savvy guy who enjoys making money, and I can’t say I fault him for that. I think he really could be quite a decent actor with a good script. Julia Roberts shares that “general likeability” factor previously mentioned. In terms of being a bankable star, it’s really almost more important than real genuine acting ability. I mean, I don’t care for Kevin Costner, but I _love_ **Bull Durham**. He’s just so likeable in that movie! In terms of women, it’s kind of unfair to get the Hot Young Starlets on the acting front - that’s not really what they’re supposed to be good at. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/10 "2006-05-18T18:17:06Z")
There was at least one point when the most highly paid and least talented actress was the same person: Demi Moore ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/11 "2006-05-18T18:25:51Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Steven Segal, Vin Diesel, Dean Martin (no matter how hard he tried), Jean Claude VanDamme, Sylvester Stallone, (and though I like him) John Wayne was outside himself whenever he tried to play anything but John Wayne. > > Oh, Bill Shatner, though he has a genius for comedy (like Lelie Nielson) who knew? > > Ronald Regan was never very good either. Bill Shatner is showing some dramatic skill on Boston Legal, if you ask me, though it is still, you know, Shatner. Sly Stallone was great in Copland, and has perhaps been poorly used. Actually, I think the same might apply to Keanu, or anyway I think Keanu just doesn’t care and phones it in because all he really wants is to play with his band. If he made the effort, he might be okay. Vin Diesel is very good at what he does, but I’m not sure it’s acting. I nominate Bruce fucking Willis. Are you kidding me with this guy? Okay, he has acted in his life, but what has he done for me lately? ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/12 "2006-05-18T18:27:50Z")
And John Cusack! Hey, I love Better Off Dead and Grosse Point Blank too, but all I see when I look at him is one of those Plymptoons where the guy’s face is sucked into his nose. He’s been in a coma for like ten years, what is the appeal? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/13 "2006-05-18T21:12:09Z")
I think John Cusack does a great job - he’s best at being subtle, though, so he’s not always the best as the sole star. He did get to where he is on acting skills, too (e.g. Say Anything… & The Grifters). There are some parts he isn’t suited for, but that’s applicable to many movie actors. Keanu Reeves is, in my opinion, excellent at playing ‘natural’ (It certainly seems like ‘playing himself’ but I don’t know the man). If you look at his characters in _River’s Edge_ and _Hardball_ and yes, even _Bill & Ted_ to some extent, he really does do a great job (though that first movie is the only one worth watching). It is a mystery why he’s been so often miscast, though. As for a big-money star who never needed to act ? Will Smith ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/14 "2006-05-18T21:23:18Z")
I love Jeff Goldblum, but IMHO he couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag if it was on fire. Goldblum is absolutely perfect and priceless as a certain kind of eccentric wild-eyed geek guy, but I don’t think he can do anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/15 "2006-05-18T21:30:12Z")
> [@Sir Prize](#): > > There was at least one point when the most highly paid and least talented actress was the same person: Demi Moore Isn’t that often true? From a 2004 list, the top ten highest-paid were: [ol] Julia Roberts Cameron Diaz Nicole Kidman Reese Witherspoon Drew Barrymore Halle Berry Sandra Bullock Angelina Jolie Renee Zellweger Jennifer Lopez[/ol] Now that will have moved around a little - I believe that Reese is now number one, and some of those women may have dropped off entirely. However, none of those women are great actresses. Sure, we’ve got some Oscars there, but mostly for one-off roles that we won’t see the likes of again. Julia’s not a great actress, Cameron’s cute but can’t play two-dimensional roles, Drew Barrymore is cute and likeable and so on but not a great actress, Halle had one good role, I can’t even tell you why Sandra Bullock would be on this list, and Jennifer Lopez can act, sing, and dance, but do none of those things well. Nicole Kidman is a good actress. Reese Witherspoon is America’s Sweetheart, and a good actress. Angelia Jolie is a sex goddess who used to put out really good dramatic performances, but kind of got stuck in an action-movie slump, which she’s just coming out of now, and I don’t know what she’ll do post-baby. Renee is a good, boring actress. I don’t think I’d put any of these ladies on a list of the Great Actresses of Hollywood, and though several have bland blonde good looks, I’d only call two of them really sexy and gorgeous (Jolie and Berry). “Likeable” seems to be much more important than looking good or being able to act. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/16 "2006-05-18T23:01:12Z")
> [@Amaranta](#): > > …“Likeable” seems to be much more important than looking good or being able to act. My contension is that being likeable on screen **is** acting. It requires a script to match, just like dramatic acting. Moving into dramatic roles, only some of these likeability experts can adjust to the different skills required, and not everytime, either. Good directors help. (for example, Demi Moore in Ridley Scott’s _G.I. Jane_) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/17 "2006-05-19T01:58:42Z")
Burt Reynolds. Loni Anderson. Close the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/18 "2006-05-19T02:00:10Z")
Re-open the thread: Adam Sandler Pauly Shore _Now_ close it. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/19 "2006-05-19T02:03:32Z")
Woody Allen He plays Woody Allen in every single movie I’ve ever seen him in. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272/20 "2006-05-19T03:41:49Z")
Re: Keanu Reeves Watch _The Gift_. He’s a _lot_ better than he often gets credit for. He was genuinely creepy in that movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-whose-acting-skills-dont-keep-them-from-being-big-box-office-successes/357272.md?page=2)