# Why do Americans like really awful actors so much in films.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-like-really-awful-actors-so-much-in-films/654409>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 31, 2013, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-like-really-awful-actors-so-much-in-films/654409 "2013-03-31T10:54:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 21

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-like-really-awful-actors-so-much-in-films/654409/21 "2013-04-01T04:22:07Z")

</div>

I’m going to quote myself on this one and show you just how bad of an actor US audiences will provide ratings / ticket sales for. Check out the guy’s IMDb page. He’s been working as an actor for nearly a quarter of a century. And not in just garbage either. He had a central role in Cop Land in which he “acted” against De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Stallone, and Ray Liotta.

From [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15296768) thread:

> [@Who's the worst actor on tv?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-on-tv/628422/38):
>
> [Michael Rapaport](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001650/).
> 
> [I win](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zcj6eqkzjY). You can just watch the first 10 seconds in which his direction is to enter and remark on the pleasant smell in the kitchen. What a natural. Or you can watch him in literally anything else. He’s the only bad thing in True Romance 'fer instance.

ETA: Damn, that clip was pulled, but I can link to anything else in his career, so here’s this:  
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FJz5ZYNaYDA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-like-really-awful-actors-so-much-in-films/654409)._