# Heather Graham - the female Keanu Reeves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581 "2007-05-10T19:13:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roboto)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/1 "2007-05-10T19:13:34Z")
I was watching Scrubs last night and noticing Heather Graham’s complete lack of acting ability. The show is a funny show, but she has absolutely no sense of comedic timing or acting chops whatsoever. I feel like I’m watching an actress in a 6th grade play. She’s a robot saying lines with barely any inflection or facial expression. Who do you think is a worse actress, Heather Graham, or Lindsay Lohan? ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/2 "2007-05-10T19:16:45Z")
Lohan; at least HG will drop her clothes, and quite often. ---
**Author:** ![Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roboto)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/3 "2007-05-10T19:18:57Z")
Nice . . . correct answer on the first try! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/4 "2007-05-10T19:19:08Z")
Using the same reasoning, I have reached the same conclusion. Boobiesboobiesboobies. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/5 "2007-05-10T19:19:59Z")
Has anyone mentioned boobies yet? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/6 "2007-05-10T19:37:33Z")
Sorry, Keanu can act circles around Graham. Aside from just a couple exceptions (_Drugstore Cowboy, Boogie Nights_), she’s pretty horrible in everything. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/7 "2007-05-10T19:41:26Z")
What an insult . . . to Keanu Reeves. I’m not one to play into the dumb blonde stereotype, but there’s something about her looks that make her appear absolutely moronic. Then she opens her mouth and any doubt flies right out the window. Maybe she’s actually such a great actress that she has fooled me? ---
**Author:** ![Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Words_on_the_Interweb)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/8 "2007-05-10T19:42:37Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Sorry, Keanu can act circles around Graham. [/QUOTE] Sorry, I’m having trouble with the phrase “Keanu can act…” in any context. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/9 "2007-05-10T21:38:44Z")
Although his popularity seems to have dropped in the last few years, Reeves is an A-list lead actor. It’s more important for those guys to have whatever the “it” factor is that lead actors have. The ability to act (e.g., Johnny Depp) is a bonus. I think of Reeves in the same way I think of Robert Mitchum: wooden acting, limited chops, but definitely the center of attention. Graham has some lead parts, but she’s a B-lister at best. I think she’s a poorer actor than Reeves, and I can’t imagine any reason she gets parts except for her looks. Some people, I guess, are really fond of freakishly long incisors. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/10 "2007-05-10T21:44:32Z")
I noticed here complete lack of acting ability in Austin Powers, but thought maybe that’s how they wanted her to be. Her reactions and line delivery, especially in the scene where Fat Bastard is in his UPS outfit, look like a read through they left in on accident. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/11 "2007-05-10T22:01:36Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] I think of Reeves in the same way I think of Robert Mitchum: wooden acting, limited chops, but definitely the center of attention. [/QUOTE] Robert Mitchum was quite simply one of the best actors Hollywood ever had in the golden era–from _Out of the Past_ to _The Night of the Hunter_ to _The Friends of Eddie Coyle_, Mitchum was remarkably skilled, giving subtle and consistently nuanced performances for decades. Your post does prove how he has been criminally underestimated for much of that time, though. Keanu can act, but he’s no Robert Mitchum. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/12 "2007-05-10T22:34:08Z")
**ArchiveGuy** : I’ll give you _Night of the Hunter_, and add _The Sundowners_. It still don’t think he’s got a lot of range, but yeah, I did underestimate him. Still, I wasn’t really trying to diss him; he just comes closer to Keanu Reeves’s style of acting than anyone else I could come up with. The delivery is usually fairly monotone, body motions not particularly animated, etc. Using the term “wooden” for that was a bit of a nasty shortcut, I admit. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/13 "2007-05-10T23:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] Sorry, Keanu can act circles around Graham. [/QUOTE] Yes, but I’ve never seen Keanu Reeves wearing nothing but roller skates. And I hope I can always say that. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/14 "2007-05-11T00:12:51Z")
Heather Graham may not be much of an actress, but she rose to the occasion in “Scrubs.” She nailed the part of an intelligent-but-ditzy doctor. Her character always seemed slightly distracted and resigned to the fact that the world doesn’t quite make sense. Her episodes of “Scrubs” are some of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/15 "2007-05-11T00:49:19Z")
So how does she compare with Goldie Hawn? Apart from the nakedity. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/16 "2007-05-11T00:59:24Z")
Heather Graham was good in Drugstore Cowboy. Lindsay Lohan was good in Mean Girls. Keanu Reeves was good in The Gift. Give some credit to George Lucas for proving to the world that there is no such thing as bad actors; only bad directors. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/17 "2007-05-11T01:00:50Z")
[QUOTE=Words on the Interweb] Sorry, I’m having trouble with the phrase “Keanu can act…” in any context. 😃 [/QUOTE] Keanu Reeves isn’t that bad an actor, really. Yeah, he was horribly miscast in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” but he’s had his good roles, too. He’s good when properly deployed. That can’t really be said of Graham, who isn’t really a good actress in any context. She’s not absolutely the worst I’ve ever seen, but she’s pretty bad. She has a spectacular body and that’s pretty much her talent. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/18 "2007-05-11T01:04:52Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] **ArchiveGuy** : I’ll give you _Night of the Hunter_, and add _The Sundowners_. It still don’t think he’s got a lot of range, but yeah, I did underestimate him. Still, I wasn’t really trying to diss him; he just comes closer to Keanu Reeves’s style of acting than anyone else I could come up with. The delivery is usually fairly monotone, body motions not particularly animated, etc. Using the term “wooden” for that was a bit of a nasty shortcut, I admit. [/QUOTE] I think Gary Cooper would be a better comparison, but on the other hand I like him better than Reeves too. ---
**Author:** ![Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Words_on_the_Interweb)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/19 "2007-05-11T03:13:03Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Keanu Reeves isn’t that bad an actor, really. Yeah, he was horribly miscast in “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” but he’s had his good roles, too. He’s good when properly deployed. [/QUOTE] You’re right; there are some roles where he’s actually believable. I think it’s the serious roles where he just comes off so wooden, it’s easy to start thinking he’s like that all the time. Heather Graham, I’m not familiar with, but it sounds like that’s probably just as well, heh. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581/20 "2007-05-11T03:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=Words on the Interweb] You’re right; there are some roles where he’s actually believable. I think it’s the serious roles where he just comes off so wooden, it’s easy to start thinking he’s like that all the time. Heather Graham, I’m not familiar with, but it sounds like that’s probably just as well, heh. [/QUOTE] Watching him attempt Shakespeare was truly painful, but he was quite good in \*My Own Private Idaho \* and \*River’s Edge \* and _Parenthood_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heather-graham-the-female-keanu-reeves/403581.md?page=2)