# Hot roles by film stars you find otherwise sexually unattractive. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863 "2009-12-19T15:57:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Short\_Guy\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy_1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/1 "2009-12-19T15:57:02Z")
I bet you can all name a few celebrities who are generally considered hot, but who, despite your sexual orientation, do nothing for you. For me it is, and always has been, Uma Thurman. I thought her “femme fatale” effort in Batman and Robin made her look stilted and self-conscious, and all Tarantino has ever managed to do for her was convince me she has the world’s ugliest feet. But then I saw The Producers. When she walked in and Lane and Broderick stared at her all slack-jawed, I was fully prepared to start rolling my eyes. And then came that musical number. She was cute. She was funny. She was sexy and she had all the right moves. I don’t know if it was the accent (it wasn’t great), the costumes (that musical scene!) or whatever, but she really struck me as being hot as hell all of a sudden. So, my question: are there any actors or actresses that generally leave you cold, but still manage to stir something up in one of their films for some reason? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/2 "2009-12-19T16:05:15Z")
Guy Pearce was scorching hot in Memento. In everything else, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Short\_Guy\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy_1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/3 "2009-12-19T16:11:48Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Guy Pearce was scorching hot in Memento. In everything else, not so much. Surely, there’s “Priscilla, Queen of the desert?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/4 "2009-12-19T16:32:07Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Guy Pearce was scorching hot in Memento. In everything else, not so much. Yeah, that’s one for me too. Unlike a vocal segment of womenkind, Jude Law does nothing much for me… except in **eXistenZ**. And then there’s Peter Facinelli. When he was young he was kind of goofy looking, and he looks like a Ken Doll in Twilight, but he was smoking hot in **Fastlane**. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/5 "2009-12-19T18:09:58Z")
Angelina Jolie in the **Tomb Raider** movies. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/6 "2009-12-19T18:12:31Z")
I never thought of Glenn Headley sexually before or after **Dirty Rotten Scoundrels**. During it, however… ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/7 "2009-12-19T18:22:14Z")
Gwyneth Paltrow is very pretty, but not really exciting to me. Until Iron Man. She is smoking hot in that. And the trailer says she’s just as yummy in the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/8 "2009-12-19T19:54:27Z")
I couldn’t stand the sight of Lucy Liu. Her voice grated on me, he mannerisms bothered me, and I thought she was ugly as a pug. Yet she was sexy beautiful and engaging and fun to watch and damned hot in **Lucky Number Slevin**. :smack: She must have had bad lighting in everything I saw before that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/9 "2009-12-19T19:58:55Z")
Liam Neeson in _Rob Roy_. I’ve never before or since thought he was attractive at all, but yikes is he hot in that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/10 "2009-12-19T20:03:33Z")
Sarah Jessica Parker is downright ugly, but in _LA Story_ I could actually sorta see the appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9adbd/32.png) [@Short\_Guy\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy_1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/11 "2009-12-19T22:13:07Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > Gwyneth Paltrow is very pretty, but not really exciting to me. Until Iron Man. She is smoking hot in that. And the trailer says she’s just as yummy in the sequel. Oh yes, her too, definitely. Something about the heels and the dress… ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/12 "2009-12-19T22:34:06Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Sarah Jessica Parker is downright ugly, but in _LA Story_ I could actually sorta see the appeal. i concur, she was very cute in that, but otherwise, she looks like a main character in wizard of oz ---
**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 19, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/13 "2009-12-19T23:10:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Sarah Jessica Parker is downright ugly, but in _LA Story_ I could actually sorta see the appeal. That’s just what I came in to post. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/14 "2009-12-20T02:43:44Z")
Renée Zellweger. She’s not bad looking but she doesn’t float my boat overall. But boy. that scene in Chicago where she’s wearing that silver outfit really jangled my glands. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/15 "2009-12-20T04:05:30Z")
I’ve never thought Robert Downey Jr was attractive. Then I saw him hammering iron into a super suit in Iron Man and it was all I could do not to run up and start licking the screen. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/16 "2009-12-20T08:39:55Z")
Rosario Dawson is downright ugly to me but she really looked fantastic in Clerks II. Her dancing lesson was totally hot. Elizabeth Shue does nothing for me unless she’s wearing a leather miniskirt, which she has only ever done in Leaving Las Vegas. Selma Blair never made an impression on me (even with Cruel Intentions) until The Sweetest Thing. I think it was the scene where after a night with her well-hung boyfriend, she comes out of her bedroom rubbing her crotch and essentially saying “That hurt so much but was so worth it!” Now that made an impression. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/17 "2009-12-20T18:41:06Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Rosario Dawson is downright ugly to me but she really looked fantastic in Clerks II. Her dancing lesson was totally hot. Yep, she was great and very likable in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/18 "2009-12-21T14:54:38Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > I never thought of Glenn Headley sexually before or after **Dirty Rotten Scoundrels**. During it, however… Damn right. Her performance still runs shivers down my spine. In a very good way. ---
**Author:** ![HeadNinja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HeadNinja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadNinja)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/19 "2009-12-21T15:51:15Z")
Joan Cusack in Addams Family Values. I did not know Joan Cusack could look like that. Apparently if you are a good enough actor you can act hot. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863/20 "2009-12-21T16:13:28Z")
Angelica Houston in The Addams Family movies. In everything else in which I ever saw her, she was scary ugly. She was was one smoking hot Morticia, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hot-roles-by-film-stars-you-find-otherwise-sexually-unattractive/521863.md?page=2)