In case anyone isn’t familiar with the term, “Chewing the Scenery” is defined as: Displaying excessive emotion or acting in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant. Normally this is considered to be a Bad Thing, worthy of criticism and ridicule, but on occasion there is a need for it and actors (and by this I mean good actors, not some refugee from a SyFy monster movie) use it to enhance the movie.
Reason I mention it is I just watched “Buckaroo Banzai”, where John Lithgow, who has won more than a few awards for his undeniable acting ability, simply owns the movie with his way over-the-top portrayal of alien-possessed Dr. Emil Lizardo (“Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife; doomed is your soul and dammed is your life.”)
The other one that come immediately to mind is Brian Blessed as the Hawk King Vultan in “Flash Gordon”. In an otherwise barely competent acting troop, Blessed not only chewed the scenery, he probably chewed the director’s chair and part of the building, but damn, he’s the only reason to watch the movie. ("Oh well, who wants to live forever? DIVE!!)
So what have I missed? Again, it has to be actors that have done competent work before or after and their overacting enhance the movie instead of dragging it down.
Al Pacino’s performance in The Devil’s Advocate is crazy over the top, and I love every second of it. I would say the same for Scarface. I guess one could argue that most of his work now is scenery-chewing, but those are my favorites.
The best example of scenery chewing recently was the UK TV series * Vicious*, where Ian McKellan, Derek Jacobi, and Frances de la Tour compete to see who can chew the most.
Anthony Hopkins in “Silence of the Lambs”. Most people are surprised to learn that he was only on screen for 16 minutes total, but he’s been a serious ham in other films, as well.
Jack Nicholson improved nearly every movie he was in over his career, but was most memorable when he was at his most manic.
McKellan and Jacobi can be subdued as well, though.
Robert De Niro does it in virtually every movie.
Gloria Swanson was not the first, nor was Sunset Boulevard the first film in which she did it. Donald Crisp did it in Broken Blossoms in 1919, for example, and Swanson did it in an early talkie called Indiscreet. Joan Crawford was a master of it, and so was Barbara Stanwyk, but Crawford’s career reaches back to the silents.
Lucille Ball started out as a dramatic actress, and could chew scenery with the best. She has quite a list of credits before she found comedy.
On a good day, with the wind behind him, Geoffrey Rush can make you forget that there is anyone else in the cast, let alone sharing a set / stage with him.