# Have you ever seen an actor who never made a good film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** netflix, movies, actor-characters\ **Created:** [March 22, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203 "2024-03-22T13:35:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/161 "2024-03-26T21:08:14Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Just because he’s successful doesn’t mean he’s not a ham and his movies won’t be watched forty years from now. Since he’s one of the most nominated actors of his generation it may just be you have an unpopular opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/162 "2024-03-26T21:25:20Z")
How about Taylor Kitsch? His [filmography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Kitsch#Filmography) doesn’t seem to have any movies that stand out as good. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/163 "2024-03-26T21:49:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > How about Taylor Kitsch? Yeah, he hasn’t made the best choices, has he? He was very good on television with _Friday Night Lights_, but his big movie break, _John Carter_, flopped big time. Though I think _Savages_ is an underrated film and he was good in that. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/164 "2024-03-26T21:53:15Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > How about Martin Sheen’s brother, Joe Estevez? Small roles in lots of movies but certainly he’s never had a major role in anything remotely good. Come on! You didn’t find _Soul Taker_ to be an absolute masterpiece? Philistine. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/165 "2024-03-26T22:04:50Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > Chuck Norris > > The Way of the Dragon. 92% on RT. > > I didn’t think God Guys Wear Black was all that bad, but…I was young. I was not wise in the ways of hammy acting. > > I don’t think, outside of Tommy Wiseau, that any actor has only appeared in bad films. There’s always at least one good film, somewhere, in their resume. Are you completely discounting the guy who starred in _Glenn or Glenda?_? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/166 "2024-03-26T22:07:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > More modern… Daniel Radcliff. As much as he was the perfect Harry Potter. His few other things are horrible. I enjoyed _Guns Akimbo._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/167 "2024-03-26T22:10:54Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > Though I think _Savages_ is an underrated film and he was good in that. I managed to see all three of the movies Kitsch made in 2012; _Battleship_, _John Carter_, and _Savages_. I’ll agree _Savages_ was the best of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/168 "2024-03-26T22:14:44Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > More modern… Daniel Radcliff. As much as he was the perfect Harry Potter. His few other things are horrible. Looking up his filmography just now, I discovered for the first time that there was [a Playmobil movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-E-WUJl44) four years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/169 "2024-03-26T22:20:29Z")
Well at least he makes interesting choices, and I appreciate that. **Horns** and **Swiss Army Man** may not have been rousing successes, but they had their charms. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/170 "2024-03-26T22:21:49Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Are you completely discounting the guy who starred in _Glenn or Glenda?_? Hey! Bela Lugosi made some great films! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/171 "2024-03-26T22:25:07Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Well at least he makes interesting choices, and I appreciate that. **Horns** and **Swiss Army Man** may not have been rousing successes, but they had their charms. Both _Swiss Army Man_ and _Kill Your Darlings_ are above 70% at Rotten Tomatoes. He seems to have taken his Harry Potter money and used it to be able to take some roles that had risk to them. I say good for him. And by the way, while the Harry Potter movies aren’t great classics, I thought some were very good (like _Prisoner of Azkaban_) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/172 "2024-03-27T00:57:56Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > his big movie break, _John Carter_, flopped big time. It wouldn’t have if the Powers that Be at Disney hadn’t screwed it over big time. No tie-in toys or books, anemic promotion. The new guys had their big money-making franchise (Marvel) and didn’t want to support a project from the Old REgime. Say what you will, **John Carter** was a helluva good movie. Kitsch did a great job, as did just about everyone in it. That it flopped was an intentional failure of Disnmey marketing. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/173 "2024-03-27T02:52:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > More modern… Daniel Radcliff. As much as he was the perfect Harry Potter. His few other things are horrible. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is by far one of the best and funniest things to happen in movies in years. He’s great in it! The whole thing is great! Go watch it! Watch it now! ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/174 "2024-03-27T03:00:37Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > > [@DocCathode](#): > > > > C Thomas Howell. Soul Man had some redeeming qualities. > > Wasn’t he in blackface for that movie? Yeah. Definitely a movie that could not get made today. The basketball scene was hilarious. And Rae Fong Wong was his love interest and I aleays had a crush on her. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/175 "2024-03-27T03:09:27Z")
I believe you mean [Rae Dawn Chong](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001044/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/176 "2024-03-27T05:38:53Z")
If you’re including people who aren’t famous, when I was in college, I worked at a restaurant with a brother, and later his much-younger sister. I found out that the brother died a few years ago (from a rare autoimmune disease) and even though I DID NOT like his sister (and believe me, the feeling was mutual) out of curiosity, I Googled her to see whatever became of her. At the time anyway, she lived in a large city that could be described as an entertainment hub, and her day job was doing some kind of work with children, teaching them stage and dramatic skills. (She wasn’t a schoolteacher, I do remember that.) On the side, she had an IMDB page where she had appeared in several lesbian-oriented romcoms, none of which I’d ever heard of and none of which had a rating over 4 or 5. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/177 "2024-03-27T18:13:30Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Wings Hauser. I’d pretty much forgotten about him, but for a long time I associated him with cheesy movies. He had a small role as a tobacco industry lawyer in _The Insider_, of all things. He gives a great performance in that. So weird that Michael Mann picked him for that role. Mann also used martial artist Jerry Trimble in _Heat_. The only thing I knew Trimble from before that was _The Master_ (aka Wong _Fei Hung '92_), a very early Jet Li movie shot in L.A. years before he became a star. Then Trimble amassed a ton of straight-to-video credits, as well as such middling fare as _Mission: Impossible 3_ and _War of the Worlds_. > [@nightshadea](#): > > another guy is Don “the Dragon” Wilson a martial arts champ who got into alleged “acting” ala Chuck Norris… and for the girls, there’s Cynthia Rothrock who pretty much played herself in every movie no matter what the role or plot Don Wilson had a small role in _Say Anything_ (he’s the kickboxer who breaks Cusack’s nose when sparring) and is also namechecked early on in the film. That’s a classic. Rothrock’s case is harder to argue, even with a lot of her early Hong Kong flicks (particularly _Prince of the Sun_, a _Golden Child_ knockoff in which she plays a Tibetan monk). But her debut film _Yes, Madam_, in which she stars alongside Michelle Yeoh in _her_ debut feature, totally kicks ass. _Millionaires’ Express_ is also terrific, and I quite like _Righting Wrongs_ as well. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/178 "2024-03-28T04:00:40Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Don Adams had a starring role in only one film, _The Nude Bomb_, and it stank. (He did have minor roles in three other films, but the only one that might be considered “good”, _Back to the Beach_, is pretty much forgotten nowadays.) **Back to the Beach** is a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/179 "2024-03-28T06:15:40Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Has Stacey Keach been mentioned yet? “Hey. _Hey!_ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey… **HEY!** ” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203/180 "2024-03-28T06:24:36Z")
Actually, Keach was very good in _American History X_ as a white supremacist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-an-actor-who-never-made-a-good-film/999203.md?page=10)