# Which actors do you dislike to watch? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945 "2015-06-08T03:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/101 "2015-06-09T19:14:40Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Richard Gere. to me he’s nothing but a pretty-boy. He projects smugness, but I don’t think that’s acting. I feel the same way about Warren Beatty. I also got tired of the whole Robin Williams act. I want to believe it wasn’t his fault. It felt like in every role he played there was some producer or director coaxing him to “Do the schtick, do the schtick. You know, the Robin Williams schtick where you talk real fast and do funny voices.” I like him best when he wasn’t doing his “thing”. He was great in Insomnia and One Hour Photo. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/102 "2015-06-09T19:34:12Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Michael Douglas - Can’t.Stand.Him. This was the first name that occurred to me. His characters all seem uninteresting. But maybe the problem isn’t his acting, so much as the roles he plays. Other names that occur to me are Tom Cruise (problem might be his youtful good looks – he doesn’t seem like an adult!) John Travolta Bill Murray Sylvester Stallone > [@Chefguy](#): > > Meg Tilly: this is what happens when one universe bleeds over into another. I didn’t realize there were Tilly _sisters_ until I saw this. I loved Jennifer Tilly in _Bound_. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/103 "2015-06-09T20:07:12Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I feel the same way about Warren Beatty. > > I also got tired of the whole Robin Williams act. I want to believe it wasn’t his fault. It felt like in every role he played there was some producer or director coaxing him to “Do the schtick, do the schtick. You know, the Robin Williams schtick where you talk real fast and do funny voices.” I like him best when he wasn’t doing his “thing”. He was great in Insomnia and One Hour Photo. Robin Williams could be an asshole. I remember tha biography of Andy Kauman. There was Robin Williams criticizing him for taking his comedy too far…‘come back to us, Andy’. Who the hell was he to criticize? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/104 "2015-06-09T21:20:20Z")
My dislike of Robin Williams was spectacular. Also, David Thewliss. Something about him in Total Eclipse poisoned me to him, but I’ll be damned if I’m going back to remember what. And Joaquin Phoenix. ::shudder ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/105 "2015-06-09T21:27:18Z")
Coming back to note that I never liked Robin Williams, either. I have avoided his movies as much as having a spouse who likes him permits. Also, I remembered what an irritant Jack Nicholson is. I think I hate Christian Slater so much because he is an ersatz, and therefore even worse, Jack Nicholson. Oh…and Milton Berle. He didn’t do many movies, but he stunk up every one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/106 "2015-06-09T21:37:23Z")
Richard Dreyfus. Will Ferrel. Richard Dreyfus. Adam Sandler. Richard Dreyfus. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/107 "2015-06-09T22:19:54Z")
Specifically for me, Richard Dreyfuss in **The American President**. He played slimeball so well it rubbed off on every other performance I see him in. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/108 "2015-06-09T22:54:27Z")
I feel so guilty about typing this: Tom Hanks. It’s something about his voice, coupled with his forehead. Also Jim Carrey, post “Duck Factory”, plus most of the others mentioned in this thread. But I only feel guilty about disliking Tom Hanks. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/109 "2015-06-09T22:59:31Z")
Let me put it this way. Every year I pick one actor that sucked the most energy and life out of a movie and give them my Kathleen Quinlan Award[sup]TM[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/110 "2015-06-09T23:28:37Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I disagree on the “great actress” part - I think she’s just the only female actor who has managed to get non-“the love interest”, dramatic roles reliably in their careers. But on getting those roles, it seems like her entire acting ability comes down to swiveling two levers, one for “voice pitch” and another for “drunkeness”. In “Julie & Julia” her voice pitch is a +3, in Dangerous Liaisons it’s a -1. In Death Becomes her, her drunkeness varies between a 1 and a 4. > > It’s the voice pitch one that gets me. I can live without watching a whole movie of someone cooing and harping with a shrill, high-pitched voice, just because that’s the only way the actress had to distinguish her character. If you’re a voice actor then sure, it makes sense to use your voice to create a character. If you’re a live action actor though, you should be “acting”. ::nitpick:: Meryl Streep wasn’t in _Dangerous Liaisons_ - I think you’re thinking of Glenn Close. How do you feel about her? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/111 "2015-06-09T23:37:09Z")
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Ashton Kutcher - pretty good as animated characters, not so good as actors. Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey. Both of them seem to be far to into the “look at how FUNNY I AM!!!” style of comedy that I find annoying. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/112 "2015-06-09T23:49:46Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Let me put it this way. Every year I pick one actor that sucked the most energy and life out of a movie and give them my Kathleen Quinlan Award[sup]TM[/sup]. I see that name and think of the dope who put herself into a drug/alcohol coma many years ago, what was her name? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/113 "2015-06-09T23:53:44Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I see that name and think of the dope who put herself into a drug/alcohol coma many years ago, what was her name? Karen Ann Quinlan, which is who I thought **Saint Cad** meant at first and it gave me a whole different meaning to his post. A much darker one :eek: . ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/114 "2015-06-10T00:02:00Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > ::nitpick:: Meryl Streep wasn’t in _Dangerous Liaisons_ - I think you’re thinking of Glenn Close. How do you feel about her? Thinking about it (I always forget that Meryl has a clone out there), I actually don’t think I had any problems with the character in Dangerous. So it’s just Streep that I don’t care for. One might assume that if I’d seen all the Disney movies that Close has done that I’d like Meryl Streep better, simply because I wouldn’t have realized that I was watching someone else. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/115 "2015-06-10T00:36:05Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Tom Cruise (problem might be his youtful good looks – he doesn’t seem like an adult!) I’m inclined to give the Brat Pack (and TC, who studiously avoided being in the Brat Pack) a waiver on this one. There were few if any breakout actors born in the late fifties/early sixties: the Baby Boomers held their grip on the youth market well into the 80’s. Finally Hollywood realized that teenagers wouldn’t pay to see Warren Beatty or Jack Nicholson as relatable figures, so they codescended to creating a new class, mostly born in 1965. They were never going to be allowed to grow up, unlike Jazz-age swains like Frederick March or Tyrone Powers who would play generals and executives in the 1950’s; the post-baby boom actors are still making shoot-em-ups in middle age. And pre-Baby Boomers Jane Fonda and Martin Sheen just opened a romantic comedy, for Christ sake. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/116 "2015-06-10T00:42:51Z")
Seth Rogen, James Franco. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/117 "2015-06-10T08:57:30Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I disagree on the “great actress” part - I think she’s just the only female actor who has managed to get non-“the love interest”, dramatic roles reliably in their careers. I disagree with your disagreement. I watched _The Iron Lady_ recently and she is exceptionally good at capturing and conveying tiny character nuances that elevate the performance. Admittedly she’s often in roles I dislike (and don’t get me started on _Mamma Mia!_) but she’s definitely got acting chops. > [@Velocity](#): > > Seth Rogen, James Franco. I don’t _hate_ Seth Rogen; I just don’t understand his appeal. Aren’t there enough actors doing the “big babyman” schtick out there without adding Rogen to the pile? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/118 "2015-06-10T14:57:25Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Tom Hanks. It’s something about his voice, coupled with his forehead. I’ve never thought about his forehead, but he just always seems ready to scream AW C’MON GUYS! at any moment. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/119 "2015-06-10T15:52:12Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I didn’t realize there were Tilly _sisters_ until I saw this. I loved Jennifer Tilly in _Bound_. Thank you. It’s actually Jennifer that I loathe beyond all measure. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945/120 "2015-06-10T16:50:21Z")
Adam Sandler has been justifiably listed here by many people, but how in Og’s name did we get past 100 posts with no one mentioning a couple other talentless refugees from SNL: David Spade and Mike Myers. Spade is clearly the worst of these three. Every time I see him, I just want to punch him in the face. Sandler is almost as bad, but somehow I feel a little sorry for him, as I might for a “special needs” child. Myers was good in Shrek, so maybe I just hate looking at him. All three of them have this smug, precious manner that just oozes the attitude “I’m just _so_ funny, I’m just _so_ wonderful. Don’t you think I’m the greatest?” I get the feeling that all three of these guys (and many other slightly less offensive SNL alums) were told by a well-meaning kindergarten teacher that they were very funny and talented, and grew up believing it, despite all evidence to the contrary. Sady, no one ever explained that the teacher was just being nice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-actors-do-you-dislike-to-watch/721945.md?page=7)