# Actors you try really hard to respect. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376 "2003-03-06T00:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![boo\_boo\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@boo\_boo\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boo_boo_bear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/21 "2003-03-07T15:13:27Z")
I used to think Nicole Kidman was a stinky actor - the only movie that I ever thought she was passable in was **To Die For**. But in the past couple of years, I’ve changed my mind. I thought she was perfect in **Moulin Rouge!** , **The Others** and **The Hours**. I think she has some movies coming out in the next couple of years that will test her mettle - we’ll just have to wait and see. -bbb- ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/22 "2003-03-07T16:41:39Z")
I’m with you, **boo\_boo\_bear**. She was ok in **Dead Calm** , but then, the script didn’t call for much acting. Far and Away was terrible. She was ok, in Batman. To die for was very good and then nothing for a while. But somehow, since divorcing cruise, she’s done a very, very good job in a number of pictures. The thing is, **quietman** , I really think she has a very big range. As I mentioned before - if you don’t beleive me, pick up **Birthday Girl**. I’m also wondering how she’ll work out the the next Lars von Trier movie, **Dogville**. She certainly not my type (which is more like Eliza Dusku), but from what I’ve seen of her, in interviews and stuff, she’s certainly not the tall, cool, strawberry blonde, that she’s often casted as. More of a very down to earth prankster, so I doubt your nightmares about a knife. As for Aniston, you should rent [The Good Girl](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0279113) if you think she’s ‘vacuous’. Maybe you mix her up with Rachel Green. I think Aniston is very smart. She makes truckloads of $ on Friends and makes indie movies on the side. I’ve yet to be disappointed with her and she’s expanding her range as an actress in these smaller films. Cate Blanchet or Juliet Lewis, she is not, but knowing your limitations and working up from there deserves my respect. ---
**Author:** ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/23 "2003-03-07T19:00:52Z")
**Kevin Spacey** – Great actor, but lately, his films have been so blah. I’m not sure if it is him or the script or directing, but I’ve been underwhelmed with his recent projects. ---
**Author:** ![Kn\_ckers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kn\_ckers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kn_ckers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/24 "2003-03-07T19:41:05Z")
I just really like James Earl Jones’ enthralling performances is those Verizon commercials. I’m joking, of course. He’s up there at the top of my “I _want_ to respect you, but…” list, if only because he’s in those damned ads. Someone mentioned Nicole Kidman, for whom I never had a lot of respect until I saw **The Others**. With all the hullaballoo over **Moulin Rouge** , her work in **The Others** didn’t get the attention I thought it deserved (probably because there was way less dancing and singing). Anyway, it impressed me with her abilities, so now I don’t have to try to respect her… ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/25 "2003-03-08T00:50:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gonzoron \* > \*\*Tim Curry > > Amazingly talented, and almost always funny. But c’mon… Addams Family Reunion? Earth 2? Family Affair? He’s practically got “will act for food” written on his forehead. poor guy. \*\* I like the explanation Curry gave for doing “Family Affair”. “I’d rather do this than fly out yet again to Romania to play yet another Technicolor villian”\* - I’m paraphrasing, but his statement was along those lines in a “USA Today” from last fall. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/26 "2003-03-08T06:05:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vorae \* > \*\*Jet Li is also majorly underperforming. He needs to stop hanging out with DMX and get himself in a good picture, one that lets him actually fight instead of forcing the editor to do all the tricks. \*\* Ummm… that’s just in his American movies. I hope that you know that. I’ve noticed that American directors have no damned clue how to work with people like Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun-Fat. Nor do American producers know how to let directors like John Woo make their kind of film. _Windtalkers_ could have been Woo’s best movie EVER, but it seemed like he was shackled. I’ve got to second John Goodman. I’ve loved him in everything he’s been in. Hell, I watched “Roseanne” just for him. And the hot daughter with the dark hair. Strangely enough, mostly for Goodman, though. I’ll watch something just to see William H. Macy or Philip Seymore Hoffman, too. Gotta love those Mamet and PT Anderson ensemble flicks! ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/27 "2003-03-08T06:10:24Z")
I also have respect for any actor who’s been in a Kubrick movie. Matthew Modine, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Shelley Duvall, R. Lee Ermey, Kier Dullea, Ryan O’Neal, Gary Lockwood, Alan Cummings, Leelee Sobieski, Vincent D’Onofrio, – regardless of anything else they may do or might have done, they were good enough for Kubrick. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/28 "2003-03-08T13:16:36Z")
**Tom Hanks** has had a few clinkers in his career but he usually picks good movies. **Daniel Day-Lewis** could act out Little Bunny Foo-Foo and I’d go see him. I just love **Emma Thompson** and try to support her movies. Oh, yes. **Ed Harris**. He’s a great actor. And those good bones in his face don’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/29 "2003-03-08T14:11:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RawkStah \* > \*\*I also have respect for any actor who’s been in a Kubrick movie. Matthew Modine, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Shelley Duvall, R. Lee Ermey, Kier Dullea, Ryan O’Neal, Gary Lockwood, Alan Cummings, Leelee Sobieski, Vincent D’Onofrio, – regardless of anything else they may do or might have done, they were good enough for Kubrick. \*\* I’m paraphrasing here, but I remember reading a quote from Malcolm McDowell (Alex in **A Clockwork Orange** ) who said, “Anybody can seem like genius in a Kubrick film”. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/30 "2003-03-08T14:14:14Z")
Oh, I almost forgot: Malcolm McDowell! He’s done some great work with Lindsay Anderson ( **if…** , **O Lucky Man** and **Britannia Hospital** ), and did **A Clockwork Orange** , and **Time After Time** and has had great reviews with a newer movie called **Gangster Number One**. But some of his movies are less than steller, like **Caligula** (although why he was in that movie is a long story in itself), or **Firestarter II**. ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/31 "2003-04-29T01:55:50Z")
We just finished watching _Windtalkers_, directed by John Woo. It was very bad, very bad indeed. It could have been really good subject matter–I thought there would be more secret code stuff, but no! It alternates between sappy male bonding bullshit and bloody stumps/ garagling on blood. Bad director! Bad! ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376/32 "2003-04-29T02:00:26Z")
uhhh… that should have gone in the worst director thread… sorry.:smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-you-try-really-hard-to-respect/159376.md?page=1)