# Worst actor/actress that still manages to get work?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 16, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385 "2004-04-16T16:43:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/41 "2004-04-16T19:48:23Z")
> [@wmulax93](#):
>
> Juliette Lewis was awesome in _Requiem for a Dream_, so I can’t condemn her either.
Juliette Lewis wasn’t in _Requiem_, that was Jennifer Connolly.
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### Author:  [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/42 "2004-04-16T20:01:19Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> LEt’s see, would that include:
>
> Ewan McGregor?
> Liam Neeson?
> Christopher Lee?
> Samuel L. Jackson?
> Ian McDiamid?
> Jimmy Smits?
> Terrance Stamp?
> Just checking.
Welcome to the…WORLD OF YESTERDAY! _dun dun dahhhh_
Read other people’s posts before contributing your own.
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### Author:  [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/43 "2004-04-16T20:05:48Z")
[Tara Reid](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005346/)
Pee-uuuuuuuu.
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### Author:  [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/44 "2004-04-16T20:40:52Z")
If you changed the word ‘manages’ in the OP to managed’ I would nominate Chevy Chase.
Some of his SNL work (the pratfalls, Weekend Update) was at least memorable, although he pretty much never made me laugh. “Hey, I’m acknowledging the fourth wall – isn’t that hilarious?”
And it was all downhill from there.
And I always considered Adam Sandler the heir to Chase’s ‘legacy’.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/45 "2004-04-16T20:55:13Z")
And the winners are:
For completely unable to act in the least but still gets hired anyway award:
Freddie Prinze Jr.
For making a career out of only one ability, jaw clenching division:
Tom Cruise.
The lifetime achievement award for falling from great to terrible actor:
George Segal. (“King Rat” & Biff in “Death of Salesman” to “Just Shoot Me”)
The Fran Drescher memorial one-note award goes to:
Fran Drescher. (Kelsey Grammar, honorable mention)
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### Author:  [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/46 "2004-04-16T20:56:33Z")
**Alec Baldwin** \* _puke_ \*
**Mel Gibson
Adam Sandler
Angelina Jolie**
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/47 "2004-04-16T21:30:49Z")
> [@Fiver](#):
>
> **HumptysHamhole** has obviously not seen _Monster_.
And Khadaji obvoiusly hasn’t seen Donnie Darko.
Juliette Lewis isn’t awful, she’s just one-note.
Angelina Jolie deserved her Oscar, so hush up.
(And who the hell is David Spade?)
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### Author:  [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/48 "2004-04-16T21:43:25Z")
I haven’t seen _Shattered Glass_ (goes to add it to my Netflix queue), but Haydn Christensen was pretty good in _Life as a house_, but maybe being in scenes with Kevin Kline helped. Perhaps a little overdramatic in parts, but he was playing an angsty teen, so it was in character.
My nominees:
Rob Schneider
Matthew Lillard (although I admit his casting as Shaggy is pretty spot-on)
Denise Richards
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### Author:  [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/49 "2004-04-16T21:49:18Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#):
>
> Not that I’m a Judd fan exactly, but do you think you’d like her better if she didn’t consistently pick such shitty movies? She has staked a pretty fair claim to the title, “Queen of the Implausible Thriller.” And, of course, she was in the “Ya-Ya” movie, which is a whole different kettle of suck.
You know what? I was actually thinking that very thing when I posted. My Madonna reference reminded me of when she was asked if she thinks it’s fair to call her a bad actress, and she said; “I think I’ve been in a lot of bad movies.”\*
But Ashley just seems to alternate between underacting and hamming it up, with no in-between.
Whenever I bring up her awful performances, I do point out that in 1998, she was the only actor who looked any good at the Oscars. Gwyneth looked like a scarecrow in that awful pink bag she wore, and the whole trend was ill-fitting, unflattering gowns in dreadful colours. Then out came Ashley in that fabulous curve-hugging white thing with a magnolia in her hair, looking very Old-Hollywood. She was the most beautiful woman there.
\*I say: it’s both. Madonna’s only good if she is playing herself, or has a director who will smack her down.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/50 "2004-04-16T22:22:50Z")
Another vote for Denise Richards.
And C. Thomas Howell.
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### Author:  [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/51 "2004-04-16T23:04:51Z")
> [@sciguy](#):
>
> Matthew Lillard (although I admit his casting as Shaggy is pretty spot-on)
I believe that if you had seen **SLC Punk** you would change your mind on this one. Masterful.
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### Author:  [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/52 "2004-04-16T23:07:23Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#):
>
> You know what? I was actually thinking that very thing when I posted. My Madonna reference reminded me of when she was asked if she thinks it’s fair to call her a bad actress, and she said; “I think I’ve been in a lot of bad movies.”\*
> But Ashley just seems to alternate between underacting and hamming it up, with no in-between.
>
> Whenever I bring up her awful performances, I do point out that in 1998, she was the only actor who looked any good at the Oscars. Gwyneth looked like a scarecrow in that awful pink bag she wore, and the whole trend was ill-fitting, unflattering gowns in dreadful colours. Then out came Ashley in that fabulous curve-hugging white thing with a magnolia in her hair, looking very Old-Hollywood. She was the most beautiful woman there.
> \*I say: it’s both. Madonna’s only good if she is playing herself, or has a director who will smack her down.
I also gotta recommend a viewing of **Ruby in Paradise** before you pass final judgement on Ashley Judd. She definitely HAD talent, at least.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/53 "2004-04-16T23:12:36Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#):
>
> I’ve always said that Keanu Reeves must have the greatest agent in the history of Hollywood. How he keeps landing all those great rolls just boggles my mind.
>
> “Whoa!”
You know, for almost 10 years, I agreed with you 100%. He tried playing a very diverse set of roles, but came across like a dumb California surfer dude in ALL of them.
And yet… while I still don’t think he’s a great actor, I think he’s actually improved tremendously. I don’t see him winning any Oscars, but he’s actually been personable, likeable and even charming at times, in the past few years. It’s been quite a while since he was embarrassingly bad.
I never dreamed I’d see the day Keanu became a decent (not veru good, just decent) actor… but he has.
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### Author:  [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/54 "2004-04-16T23:14:36Z")
I HATE Andie McDowell. With the burning passion of a thousand white hot suns.
My sisters and I were obsessed with St. Elmo’s Fire (we were definitely children of the '80’s) and we still fast-forwarded through all her parts.
I would like to nominate David Schwimmer. He makes me want to kick my tv.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/55 "2004-04-16T23:49:02Z")
No one has mentioned such class “acts” as
Chuck Norris
Steven Segal
Jean Claude van Damme
and all those other martial arts “performers”
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### Author:  [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/56 "2004-04-17T00:08:01Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Jack Nicholson. I’m tired of watching him play himself in every damn movie. Is even trying to act anymore?
_About Schmidt_ was amazing. Jack was understated and quite compelling. But hey, I love the hell outta Jack and have since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. If that was the only movie he ever made, he’d still be the greatest. How he belongs in this thread escapes me, but there’s no accounting for taste.
Most of my least favorites are already on here. I really don’t like Brittany Murphy or Ashton Kutcher. What is so great about them? Neither of them are cute enough to justify their fame, they are so damn annoying.
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### Author:  [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/57 "2004-04-17T00:20:28Z")
> [@Munch](#):
>
> Juliette Lewis wasn’t in _Requiem_, that was Jennifer Connolly.
:smack:
Of course, you’re right. In my defense, finals are next week.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/58 "2004-04-17T00:21:27Z")
I believe you have nailed the male worst with Adam Sandler, but folks, you haven’t even come close to the worst excuse for the worst actress to hit the screen since Melanie Griffith.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you [Jennifer Tilly](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000236/), whose coy, cutesy, baby-talking act is not only vomitous, but about 30 years too young for her. Her latest appearance in a Frasier episode made me wretch. Her continued presence in the film industry is a complete mystery to me.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/59 "2004-04-17T00:27:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> Ladies and gentlemen, I give you [Jennifer Tilly](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000236/), whose coy, cutesy, baby-talking act is not only vomitous, but about 30 years too young for her.
Eve must have had a mild stroke when she heard Jennifer Tilly was going to play [Clara Bow](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255820/).
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### Author:  [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress-that-still-manages-to-get-work/240385/60 "2004-04-17T01:16:48Z")
Meg Ryan. Bad. Badbadbad. America’s sweetheart? Oh vomit.
I’d throw in Billy Crystal too, but damned if he didn’t get a chuckle out of me as Miracle Max.
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