I agree–emphatically–with so many of these: Kevin Costner, Jim Carrey, Gweneth Paltrow, Nicholas Cage, Michael Douglas…
One that hasn’t been mentioned yet: Alec Baldwin. Whoever dubbed this guy an actor? He’s generically hunky and basically stands around looking blank, when he isn’t mugging. I can never figure out if the facial contortions are supposed to denote emotion or he just has gas. There’s nothing behind the eyes.
This might be heresey, but: Glenn Close. Oh, she can act but I can’t ever forget for one second that she’s GLENN CLOSE. Somehow or other she’s never the character for me; she’s always GLENN CLOSE. Skilled but weirdly unconvincing.
Special mention: Hugh Grant. Bag the twinkly amoral British twit schtick, already.
Demi Moore: telegraphs EGO and has the light touch of a ballpeen hammer across the front teeth.
Meg Tilley: just so fey and twee and annoying she gives me hives.
Robin Williams: funny in stand-up work but godawful in movies. He has two gears: mania and bathos. Both are annoying as hell.
Barbra Streisand AND Charleton Heston: I don’t give a whoop about their politics. “Star” opinions are crashingly useless. They both exude so much egomania the screen cringes.
Meg Tilly? Nah, she’s nice, I like her. But Jennifer Tilly??? Argh! Fie, fie and thrice fie, you and your stupid annoying whiny voice! Waaaagh!
In the male section, I’ve always found Avery Brooks (from Star Trek:DS9) to be really annoying. He always had this blank disinterested look in his eyes as they wandered around all over the set, eyelids drooping with nerves and boredom, plus he has a monotone staccato voice. Ugh.
Winona Ryder - although this rant should probably be directed at the casting directors and not her. I have yet to see her in a role where she isn’t horribly miscast, and the thing that annoys me most is that she twice landed a role opposite Daniel Day-Lewis (a god of a man) and they have no chemistry together. Zilch. She was surrounded by awesome actors (DDL, Joan Allen) in “The Crucible”, yet she single-handedly ruined the movie because her part (Abigail) was so woefully miscast. Winona Ryder as smoldering, sexual, devious Abigail??? I don’t think so. (She may have produced this movie, which explained the casting, though.)
Tom Cruise - I loved him when he didn’t realize how good-looking he was – when his nose was big and his teeth were crooked. He had character then. Now he’s just another pretty, phony, Hollywood face who is just going through the emotions. Clench your jaw to look angry, grin widely to evoke charm, flex your muscle to make them swoon. Yeah, yeah. I’ll take Mark Wahlberg over this guy anyday.
Ditto on the Barbra Streisand, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson comments. I have trouble immersing myself in their characters because their real personalities are etched so prominently in my mind.
My boss went to school with Hugh Grant. He told me two things about him:[ul][li]That’s not acting, that clumsy British Public School dork IS what he really is like.[/li][li]He always got picked last for the school plays. :D[/ul][/li]Says it all, doesn’t it?
I don’t think…and can’t believe that nobody has mentioned Rosie Perez…if a movie has her in it…I run away…far away.
I ended up suffering through that movie with Bridget Fonda and Nicolas Cage about the lottery…I can’t even remember the name, that’s how annoyed I was that Rosie Perez starred in it.
You know, I came this close to mentioning her myself. I saw that movie. On a date. And we still left halfway through. Nicholas cage and Rosie Perez are, IMHO, a recipe for disaster.