# Somewhere there must be a worst actress **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773 "2008-12-11T21:49:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![mrpayday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@mrpayday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrpayday)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/81 "2008-12-12T08:34:06Z")
since Amy Irving has been mentioned I’ll raise you Kate Capshaw. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/82 "2008-12-12T08:40:52Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > What makes a bad actress (& actor) bad? I see many examples here, but few specifics. Is it that they can’t handle an emotional scene without coming across as unitentionally comic, as Emma Watson did in the 4th Harry Potter movie? Extremely limited range? Do we expect more from a female than a male, in that a Clint Eastwood can remain stoic for an entire film, and get kudos for it, while a similarly understated woman can’t? Not trying to start any flames, just curious about specifics-movies, roles, scenes. I haven’t seen every Clint Eastwood movie ever made, but I’ve also never seen Clint Eastwood sit like a blackhole of suck in the middle of a film, either. Look at **Groundhog Day**. Bill Murray is awesome in it. There are great lines. It’s a really charming film that even manages to be a bit deep. And at the very center of the movie is Andie McDowell. She is Phil’s main motivation. He isn’t freed from his hell until he learns to be the kind of a man that she could fall in love with. Except…there’s never any reason to ever believe that he would fall in love with her. It’s not because of the script. On paper, she’s a fine lady. But Andie McDowell is so expressionless, so utterly without charm, that it’s hard to believe anybody would even befriend her. She delivers her lines without any real emotion. She laughs without joy. Her eyes are vacant. She always has the sense of being somewhere _else_. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/83 "2008-12-12T09:05:49Z")
Have we all forgotten about Katie Holmes? And Tara Reid?? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/84 "2008-12-12T09:30:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Who the heck is Rebecca Pidgeon? My buddy’s brother’s ex-girlfriend. She was pretty hot when he was dating her. Never seen her act, but I like her song “Bloomsbury Blue”. Apart from that, this post has just been a transparent excuse for namedropping. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/85 "2008-12-12T09:41:41Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > Denise Richards > > How dare they cast her as a physicist in _The World is Not Enough_. Real physicists have shits smarter than her. To be fair, that’s the one really Wall-Banging appearance of hers I’ve seen. Then again, she’s not an actress I seek out. ---
**Author:** ![tirial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@tirial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tirial)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/86 "2008-12-12T16:54:41Z")
> [@Nan\_Sequitur](#): > > How have you all managed to wipe the horror that is Darryl Hannah from your brains? Please tell me, because I can’t. Um…I liked her in Kill Bill… And I can’t stand Andi MacDowell in anything I’ve seen her in - even adverts. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/87 "2008-12-12T16:58:27Z")
This long with no mention of Juliette Lewis? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/88 "2008-12-12T17:02:51Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Sandra Bullock, \ Hmm. The only films I recall watching with her in them, they were not serious dramatic roles. Is there a chance that she has not been given a chance to show her potential? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/89 "2008-12-12T17:03:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > No, he’s gay. And he loves _ **me!** _ He loved me when he was an underwear model. We’ve grown apart since. 😃 ---
**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:** [December 12, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/90 "2008-12-12T17:29:17Z")
I’m pretty sure Rebcca Pidgeon was already working as an actress when Mamet met her and started directing her in a play. Pia Zadora’s hubby bought her a career. But I like Rebecca Pidgeon. I think she is great. And it has _nothing_ to do with the fact that inexplicably turns me on. Now Julliette Lewis? SHE sucks. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/91 "2008-12-12T17:55:31Z")
Clint Eastwood should never have been given any awards. Whatever good works he did could never make up for Sondra Locke. She was terrible .She could not be explained. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/92 "2008-12-12T17:56:41Z")
> [@](#): > > How have you all managed to wipe the horror that is Darryl Hannah from your brains? Please tell me, because I can’t. > [@](#): > > Um…I liked her in Kill Bill… I’ll say the same thing I said about Soderbergh - Darryl Hannah’s performance in the _Kill Bill_ movies is a testament to Quentin Tarantino. When I see an actor giving a performance that’s several notches above their average, I assume it was the director who was able to bring it out of them. (George Lucas is an example of the opposite effect - a director who can take good actors and get a mediocre performance out of them.) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/93 "2008-12-12T18:42:13Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I’m pretty sure Rebcca Pidgeon was already working as an actress when Mamet met her and started directing her in a play. > > Pia Zadora’s hubby bought her a career. But Pidgeon’s husband has sustained hers. I think Lissener’s argument fails to hold water because she (unlike any other principle actors in his films, including Crouse) has been virtually unemployable in the film industry despite making movies for Mamet for over a decade. Does she only want to work with him exclusively? Or does nobody else want to touch her? Ditto her TV output. I haven’t seen her in _The Shield_ but her only other major contribution to the small screen is in _The Unit_, another Mamet production. I don’t think she’s as bad as everyone makes out (I found her sweet in _The Winslow Boy_), but let’s be honest: The only reason anyone is familiar with her body of work is because 90% of it has been working for her husband. She’s hardly demonstrated a degree of skill to sustain a non-nepotistic career of even marginal visibility. As for Andie McDowell, she was fantastic in _sex, lies_ so that’s how I choose to remember her. And Sofia Coppola gets a pass because she’s not an actress, she’s a Coppola, and has never shown any interest in actually maintaining an acting career outside of doing favors for her family. Daryl Hannah, though. Her _KB_ performance was fine but nowhere close to the Andie/_sex lies_ league necessary to redeem a truly horrifying career. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/94 "2008-12-12T18:46:20Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > But Andie McDowell is so expressionless, so utterly without charm, that it’s hard to believe anybody would even befriend her. She delivers her lines without any real emotion. She laughs without joy. Her eyes are vacant. She always has the sense of being somewhere _else_. Considering she’s playing a news producer snow-stuck in rural PA, I submit this is her most believable role. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/95 "2008-12-12T18:50:04Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > But Pidgeon’s husband has sustained hers. I think Lissener’s argument fails to hold water because she (unlike any other principle actors in his films, including Crouse) has been virtually unemployable in the film industry despite making movies for Mamet for over a decade. Does she only want to work with him exclusively? Or does nobody else want to touch her? Until you find a definitive answer for this question, I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt; it’s quite possibly she does only want to work for her husband. I’m sure neither of them really \*needs \*to work. Anyway, every performance I’ve ever seen her in has struck me as pitch perfect, with exactly the nuances that Mamet seems to be asking of her. Again, watch \*Oleanna \*and imagine it without the Mamet context, and compare the acting styles; definitely Pidgeonesque. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/96 "2008-12-12T19:11:25Z")
Agree with **Lissener** that The Pidgeon’s performance in The Shield was absolutely fine. Fine in a way that someone like Andie MacDowell would never manage. I do find her appalling in stuff like Heist or The Spanish Prisoner, though. Mamet’s style just weighs heavy on her it seems. I mean the Heist in particular was a giganitc ham-fest really, but everyone else in it managed to pull it off OK. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/97 "2008-12-12T19:35:47Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > I do find her appalling in stuff like Heist or The Spanish Prisoner, though. Mamet’s style just weighs heavy on her it seems. I loved _The Spanish Prisoner_. I found ALL the performances to be deadpan, especially Steve Martin’s. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/98 "2008-12-12T19:55:48Z")
OMG, I think I just cracked the Da Vinci Code: maybe Mamet requires that flat, affectless style because he’s trying to keep his wife employed!!! We’re through the looking-glass, people… Also, just FYI, the OP should be using _worse_, not _worst_. For example: “Rebecca Pidgeon is the _worst_ actress ever, since she’s even _worse_ than Michael Michele.” ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/99 "2008-12-12T20:00:08Z")
> [@choie](#): > > OMG, I think I just cracked the Da Vinci Code: maybe Mamet requires that flat, affectless style because he’s trying to keep his wife employed!!! Wait, that reminds me. Two words, people: Rain. Phoenix. Thread over. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773/100 "2008-12-12T20:07:45Z")
> [@Nan\_Sequitur](#): > > How have you all managed to wipe the horror that is Darryl Hannah from your brains? Please tell me, because I can’t. I thought she was pretty decent in KILL BILL 2. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somewhere-there-must-be-a-worst-actress/476773.md?page=6)