# "Officially" Unattractive Actors/Models
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 25, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525 "2009-09-25T15:50:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/21 "2009-09-25T18:21:54Z")
And then, of course, there’s always [her](http://thebsreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/diller.jpg).
None of her pictures do her justice - they all look exactly like her.
When she was born, her father asked the doctor “Is it a boy or a girl?” The doctor said “No.”
When she goes to the beach, even the tide won’t come in.
When kids played spin-the-bottle, and the boy didn’t want to kiss the girl, he had to give her a quarter. By the time she was twelve, she owned her own house.
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### Author:  [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/22 "2009-09-25T18:30:39Z")
[Jennifer Coolidge](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/television/03jaco.html). As a good southern boy I’m compelled to add, “bless her heart.”
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/23 "2009-09-25T18:33:00Z")
I’d hesitate calling her ugly, but [Tilda Swinton’s](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3298989568/nm0842770) looks are unconventional, at best.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/24 "2009-09-25T18:41:33Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#):
>
> Heh. And searching on Linda Hunt in order to give you a female example, I found this one: [http://alisasperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/02/back-to-hollywood-20-ugly-actors-today.html](http://alisasperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/02/back-to-hollywood-20-ugly-actors-today.html) Though I have no idea why Helena Bonham Carter and Mike Myers are on that list.
And also, Christopher Walken and Willem Defoe aren’t ugly, they’re just old. Maybe they haven’t “aged well” but they didn’t always look the way they do now. I don’t think many people would consider [this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_e6yTNj3TKvE/SYuGQwERh4I/AAAAAAAAAFc/OJ06xGHgt9I/s400/ChristopherWalken.jpg) Christopher Walken to be ugly. Actually, a lot of people would probably be astonished if they knew how handsome he was when he was [much younger](http://www.tigriffith.com/textbilder/the_rose_tattoo_01.jpg) and just starting out in theater productions.
And Helena Bonham Carter…what’s that about? Just because a woman makes herself look weird and ragged for some roles doesn’t mean she’s actually ugly.
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### Author:  [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/25 "2009-09-25T18:47:27Z")
Ron Perlman - I’m not sure I’d call him “ugly”, but he’s a little past “rugged”, and he’s used his looks to his advantage in getting roles of “toughs”. Plus one of his most famous roles, a romantic lead, involved a whole lot of makeup and prosthetics - Vincent in the TV series version of **Beauty and the Beast**.
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### Author:  [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/26 "2009-09-25T18:54:41Z")
Charles Bronson played a lot of heavies before he got a lead role.
So did Raymond Burr, the murderer in Hitchcock’s Rear Window
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/27 "2009-09-25T19:02:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Charles Bronson played a lot of heavies before he got a lead role.
Two current actors who were cast as heavies early in their careers are Ben Affleck and Vince Vaughn.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/28 "2009-09-25T19:26:32Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> And Helena Bonham Carter…what’s that about? Just because a woman makes herself look weird and ragged for some roles doesn’t mean she’s actually ugly.
I’m guessing it’s because she’s short, brunette, small-breasted, and pale and in Hollywood that’s nearly David Merrick territory if you’re female.
That being said, unless you’re living in some alternate universe where all the women are age 21, 6’, blonde, and C or D cupped, I don’t think any woman like HBC who’s been on the covers of Vogue (UK) and Maxim can be considered ugly.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/29 "2009-09-25T19:31:33Z")
> [@Kingspades](#):
>
> [Jennifer Coolidge](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/television/03jaco.html). As a good southern boy I’m compelled to add, “bless her heart.”
The author of that article seems to think she’s quite fetching.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/30 "2009-09-25T19:38:03Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#):
>
> Ron Perlman - I’m not sure I’d call him “ugly”, but he’s a little past “rugged”, and he’s used his looks to his advantage in getting roles of “toughs”. Plus one of his most famous roles, a romantic lead, involved a whole lot of makeup and prosthetics - Vincent in the TV series version of **Beauty and the Beast**.
He’s…unique. His face is very suited for monstrous roles. But the sheer charisma he exudes makes it hard to call him ugly.
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/31 "2009-09-25T20:02:34Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#):
>
> Hey, in looking for a picture of Danny Trejo to give you as an example, I ran into this article: [http://www.behindthehype.com/tag/mickey-rourke/](http://www.behindthehype.com/tag/mickey-rourke/)
I can’t figure Benicio del Toro out. Here he’s considered scary and yet in a certain light he’s hot.
DJ Qualls is no dreamboat. And I always thought Martha Plimpton was plain, but she doesn’t seem to get cast that way.
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### Author:  [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/32 "2009-09-25T20:08:54Z")
> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> I’d hesitate calling her ugly, but [Tilda Swinton’s](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3298989568/nm0842770) looks are unconventional, at best.
I would hit it.
I always thought Gene Wilder wasn’t so… good looking. Even as a very little kid. The male supporting cast members of ‘Young Frankenstein’ didn’t even seem to help his image for me.
[ ](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wHtv2B3nef4/SKWwfC1dw9I/AAAAAAAAAhI/AbxmbpFkb8k/s400/Gene+Wilder.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/33 "2009-09-25T20:09:38Z")
Mike Meyers isn’t ugly. He isn’t Tom Cruise at 20 (or even Tom Cruise at 40), but he isn’t ugly.
As for Helena Bonham Carter, she’s never really done anything for me. And it’s not because she’s short, brunette, small-breasted, and pale – I go for that. There’s just something about her face that is … I can’t put in words, but she just doesn’t do anything for me. And that’s not just going by her Harry Potter and Planet of the Apes roles.
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### Author:  [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/34 "2009-09-25T20:16:06Z")
> [@Irishman](#):
>
> Mike Meyers isn’t ugly. He isn’t Tom Cruise at 20 (or even Tom Cruise at 40), but he isn’t ugly.
>
> As for Helena Bonham Carter, she’s never really done anything for me. And it’s not because she’s short, brunette, small-breasted, and pale – I go for that. There’s just something about her face that is … I can’t put in words, but she just doesn’t do anything for me. And that’s not just going by her Harry Potter and Planet of the Apes roles.
It’s her cheekbones I think.
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### Author:  [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/35 "2009-09-25T21:20:06Z")
> [@Kingspades](#):
>
> [Jennifer Coolidge](http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/arts/television/03jaco.html). As a good southern boy I’m compelled to add, “bless her heart.”
Oh, come on. That’s the woman who had the entire concept of MILFs built up from nothing to a major pop culture phenomenon based upon her attractiveness.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/36 "2009-09-25T21:22:48Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#):
>
> Ron Perlman - I’m not sure I’d call him “ugly”, but he’s a little past “rugged”, and he’s used his looks to his advantage in getting roles of “toughs”. Plus one of his most famous roles, a romantic lead, involved a whole lot of makeup and prosthetics - Vincent in the TV series version of **Beauty and the Beast**.
LOTS of his roles have involved heavy makeup - \*Hellboy \*for one, but there are plenty of others. Part of it is his unique bone structure, but it’s also because he’s supposedly an easygoing guy who has no problem spending four hours a day chatting with makeup technicians.
Terrific actor, BTW. I strongly believe he could have been one of the biggest stars in the business if he looked ever remotely human.
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/37 "2009-09-25T21:25:31Z")
Wallace Shawn, the guy who played Vizzini in _The Princess Bride_.
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/38 "2009-09-25T21:29:10Z")
> [@Irishman](#):
>
> As for Helena Bonham Carter, she’s never really done anything for me. And it’s not because she’s short, brunette, small-breasted, and pale – I go for that. There’s just something about her face that is … I can’t put in words, but she just doesn’t do anything for me. And that’s not just going by her Harry Potter and Planet of the Apes roles.
[QUOTE=Covered\_In\_Bees!]
It’s her cheekbones I think.
[/QUOTE]
I can see that. Of course, others may think that’s her most attractive feature so YMMV. Still, combined with her big eyes and brown hair, it does give her face an owlish appearance (especially when she was younger).
In any case, if Helena Bonham Carter is considered ugly in Hollywood, what hope do mere mortals have?
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/39 "2009-09-25T21:38:12Z")
Amy Sedaris has unconventional good looks, imo, but she works so hard to \*not \* look good.
I’m paraphrasing her brother.
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### Author:  [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/officially-unattractive-actors-models/511525/40 "2009-09-25T22:23:25Z")
[Roni Stoneman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roni_Stoneman) used toothblack and the like to better fit the comedic role of the ugly hag wife on Hee Haw. She may not have been as good-looking as the other Hee Haw girls, but she was definitely not unattractive (not to mention one hell of a banjo player).
I remember vividly when Cass Elliot appeared on the Tonight Show. Carson introduced her with, “… she was once one fourth of the Mamas and Papas… some people’ve said, one-third…”
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