# Great actors who've whored themselves out in bad movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690 "2009-12-10T03:40:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/101 "2009-12-12T22:16:16Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Geoffrey Rush - Mystery Men? Really? He was great in that movie though! ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/102 "2009-12-13T01:12:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I read an article about or interview with him once where he said his view was that he’s an actor. He’s paid to act. That’s his job. If someone wants to pay him to act in a crappy movie, he’ll act in a crappy movie because he’s still getting paid to act. He’s not ashamed of any of his roles because they were all paying jobs and he worked to the best of his ability in each one with what he was given to do. Not only that, but I heard an interview with him in which he admitted he has a narrow range of performances. He told of a director asking for something quite different from what Walken was giving in rehearsals, and Walken told him that if he didn’t like what he was getting, he should find someone who could give it to him, because this was what Walken had to offer. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/103 "2009-12-13T01:23:31Z")
> [@WomanofScorn](#): > > I came in here to mention Cuba Gooding Jr. What a shame… Upon consideration I think it’s clear that Cuba Gooding Jr. should win the thread. From Oscar winner to _Snow Dogs_ and _Boat Trip_ in five years. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/104 "2009-12-13T01:40:20Z")
If Englishman David Niven is considered a great actor - I win! He made a lot of notable movies like Prisoner of Zenda and Dawn Patrol decades ago, palled around with his good friend Errol Flynn - then did a lot of smarmy sex farces later in his career: The Statue (1971) - wife Virna Lisi sculpts a 20 foot nude statue of her travelling hubby, but it has some other guy’s private parts! Mayhem ensues as Mr. Niven tries to find out who modelled those parts… The Impossible Years (1968) - teenage daughter has sex before marriage, much to the shock of Mr. Niven! Prudence and the Pill (1968) - 58 year old Niven and 47 year old Deborah Kerr in a farce about switching birth control pills for aspirin and become parents. He may have done these for money, but I have a feeling he saw himself as young, swingin’, hip, and attractive as ever and wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest. BTW - whatever happened to that Rocky and Bullwinkle movie, anyway? I should think it would have turned up on basic cable on a steady basis by now, but it sank like a stone. Deservedly so, but still… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/105 "2009-12-13T01:46:53Z")
Oh good lord the OP actually mentioned Michael Caine, & in a role I hadn’t seen, to surprise me. Before reading the thread I went to [tvtropes.org](http://tvtropes.org), searched for Michael Caine, & found their page on this (well, one of): [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoneyDearBoy](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoneyDearBoy) Yes, I associate this with Michael Caine in general (not to take anything from Olivier, Welles, or Brando). ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/106 "2009-12-13T06:02:05Z")
Joan Allen in Death Race. Entertaining movie, but shocking to see her in it somehow. ---
**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 13, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/107 "2009-12-13T06:33:03Z")
What about Louise Flethcher? After Cuckoo’s Nest her career seemed to sink. Wasn’t she offered any decent parts afterward? . ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/108 "2009-12-13T06:59:09Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’ve seen an interview with Caine in which he admitted a deathly fear of not working, and claimed it’s common among actors. It’s hard enough to break in to the big time, and it’s easy to be forgotten if you take a break from it. I’ve seen it as well in consultants, another project-based line of work. Some of my colleagues will do amazing feats of sleeplessness in order to avoid being out of work for a single week; some are willing to move from a country to another overnight for the same reason (of course, most of these are the kind who’s happy, if happy you can call it, crashing in a hotel bed for six months). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/109 "2009-12-13T15:49:49Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > What about Louise Flethcher? After Cuckoo’s Nest her career seemed to sink. Wasn’t she offered any decent parts afterward? The only other big part of hers of which I know (and she was very good in it) was as an intolerant, scheming, power-hungry Bajoran religious leader on _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_: [Winn Adami | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Winn) And say what you will about Christopher Walken’s career ups and downs, you have to admire his commitment to the kids: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob37KzlUEPA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob37KzlUEPA) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/110 "2009-12-13T17:13:16Z")
Just to chime in on the ‘british actors treating it as a profession’ thing…sometimes it surprises you. I recall seeing an interview with Patrick Stewart on his taking the role of Jean-Luc Picard. He said something to the effect that he had a hole in his schedule, thought the idea was something that could fill six weeks of his time and he’d be back on stage in England by Christmas. He seemed honestly surprised that it went as far (and as lucrative) as it did. There is nothing…NOTHING…wrong in taking the paycheck when offered. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/111 "2009-12-13T20:45:41Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The absolute king of this phenomenon is **Jon Voight.** Seriously…_Karate Dog?_ Actually, this [fight scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hywK7SsqE8Y) is pretty good entertainment and I’m sure Voight laughed all the way to the bank. I’ve often wondered if he is deeply in debt or something. Noy quite ‘great’ but after this clip you have to add Chevy Chase to the list. At least he had the good sense to keep his face out of _Karate Dog_, though. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/112 "2009-12-13T21:30:32Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Noy quite ‘great’ but after this clip you have to add Chevy Chase to the list. At least he had the good sense to keep his face out of _Karate Dog_, though. Coincindentally, I mentioned Chase in [last night’s blog.](http://rickthegreat.wordpress.com) Chevy Chase isn’t anything near a “great actor.” He appears in the stuff he appears in because those roles are what he’s good at. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/113 "2009-12-13T22:53:04Z")
I thought Charles Laughton would sometimes act in movies in order to get money for his art collection. “Abbott and Costello meet Captain Kidd” would appear to fit this build but apparently it was because Laughton admired Lou Costello’s talent and wanted to work with him. [http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=92546&mainArticleId=208724](http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=92546&mainArticleId=208724) As Fee Waybill of The Tubes said when he defended his group’s decision to sell out to AOR radio with “The Completion Backwards Principle”-we had to. We are broke. We can not go on with only 120,000 Tubes fans buying our records. Remember what Lily Tomlin says: they call it show business, not show art. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/114 "2009-12-13T23:14:16Z")
Actually, after re-watching the _Karate Dog_ clip, I don’t think Voight was “whoring” himself out - I think he was actually enjoying it. During that whole scene, especially when he’s spinning around on the ground and break-dancing, Voight looks like he’s having the time of his life. Seriously, he’s smiling and laughing with joy which appears to be quite genuine. I think he realized how silly it was, and went with that. Other than _Fearless Frank_ and _Catch-22_, early on in his career, I don’t think Voight has ever played a comedic character. He appeared in a lot of very heavy-handed roles. He probably saw _Karate Dog_ as a lark. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/115 "2009-12-13T23:46:59Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > In the Eighties and Nineties, Gene Hackman always seemed to be working, regardless of the quality of the film. However, I do not ever recall seeing him phone in a performance. He always gave the film makers a solid day’s work. Agreed. Even in _Reds_, where his performance was little more than a cameo and he didn’t even get an onscreen credit iirc, he was good. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/116 "2009-12-13T23:55:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If you did something crappy JUST for the money once you had more money than you “needed” thats “whoring” in my opinion. And that presumes that we know that any of these actors have more money than they “need.” And yes, need is a very subjective thing, but the fact that someone made $10 mil on a picture five years ago doesn’t mean that they’re not currently in hock up to their tuchas. Work is work. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/117 "2009-12-14T00:02:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Other than _Fearless Frank_ and _Catch-22_, early on in his career, I don’t think Voight has ever played a comedic character. There was his cameo on “Seinfeld”. ---
**Author:** ![WomanofScorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@WomanofScorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WomanofScorn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/118 "2009-12-14T00:28:03Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Upon consideration I think it’s clear that Cuba Gooding Jr. should win the thread. From Oscar winner to _Snow Dogs_ and _Boat Trip_ in five years. I was happy when I saw _Radio_ because I thought he was getting back to good roles. Then… _Daddy Day Camp_ Happened… Oy ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/119 "2009-12-14T02:24:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The only other big part of hers of which I know (and she was very good in it) was as an intolerant, scheming, power-hungry Bajoran religious leader on _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_: [Winn Adami | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Winn) I thought she was pretty good in 1983’s [Brainstorm](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085271/), which, incidentally, also starred Christopher Walken. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690/120 "2009-12-21T13:25:31Z")
Eugene Levy. I think it’s clear from the “American Pie” straight-to-DVD sequels and horrible movies like “The Man,” that this guy will happily throw his legs behind his head if you cut him a big enough check. Either that, or someone in Hollywood has video of him fucking a pie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-actors-whove-whored-themselves-out-in-bad-movies/520690.md?page=7)