# Worst Actor/Actress **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2000, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915 "2000-08-18T22:07:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 19, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/21 "2000-08-19T16:42:16Z")
Marlon Brando. How did an actor this bad get a reputation this good. Even in his best work, he’s an overbearing ham. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/22 "2000-08-19T16:54:42Z")
Marlon Brando ??? 😕 Now how about Dolph Lungren (sp?) Liz Hurley Christopher Lambert ( maybe he works better in French ) Steven Segal Lisa Marie Bo Derek None of the above ever got my lights flashing 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/23 "2000-08-19T17:32:27Z")
Catherine Zeta-Jones Denise Richards Sandra Bullock Jeanne Tripplehorn And, of course, the obvious martial arts guys - Van Damme, Segal, Norris, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/24 "2000-08-19T19:05:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*I nominate, as worst big-name actor–it’s tough. Kevin Costner? Mel Gibson? Arnold Schwarzenegger’s the worst, but then he’s not really an actor; he’s just a prop for things to explode around. No, his comedies–Yep: gotta go with Schwarzenegger. Mel Gibson? _Mel Gibson??!!_ That’s it, you’re _off_ my Christmas card list. My nomination: Tom Cruise. No one ever believes me. “What, how can you not like (insert Tom Cruise movie here)?” Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/25 "2000-08-19T19:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Marlon Brando. How did an actor this bad get a reputation this good. Even in his best work, he’s an overbearing ham. Same could be said for Richard Burton he has done some real turkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/26 "2000-08-19T19:22:15Z")
Dicaprio was awesome in Gilbert Grape! Titanic may have ruined his rep as an actor (I actually loved the movie) but the boy can act when given the right material. Keanu isn’t good, but he isn’t the worst actor around. He is pretty easy to drool over, so it comes out even I guess. I think Demi Moore is gorgeous. I loved Ghost and liked Indecent Proposal (Robert Redford - Mmmmmmmmm), so my personal opinion is that she isn’t too bad. If you want to place the title of Worst Female and Male Actors, I would say take your pick from any cast member of 90210. Tori Spelling Luke Perry Shannon Dougherty (Mall Rats would have been perfect without her) Ian Whatshisname That pretty boy who played Brandon Brian Austin Something GAWD! Just typing the names makes me shiver! Eeeeek! Oh, and take your pick from any past or previous cast member or guest star of Baywatch. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/27 "2000-08-19T20:47:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kallessa \* > \*\*I can’t believe no one has mentioned Sly Stallone–a guy who makes Arnold look like Cary Grant. Armold can’t act, but he’s fun, Stallone just reeks of stupidity. > > As for actresses, well, Kim Bassinger is no great shakes, and I’ll second Demi Moore. \*\* Now now. Stallone is a talented actor who just made some bad career choices. (like “Judge Dredd,” “Daylight,” “Cliffhanger,” “Over the Top,” etc.) Before he became a “Movie Star” Stallone showed real talent. Watch the original _Rocky_ again. It won an Oscar for a reason, and Stallone’s performance was a big part of it. Keep in mind he _wrote_ that movie too. _Rocky II_ is also a fine movie/performance by him, although it lacks the punch (no pun intended) and originality of the first one. The rest are just dreck. I’ve also been told by many Vietnam veterans that _Rambo: First Blood_ came closer than any other movie to capturing how they felt. Unfortunately, all subsequent Rocky and Rambo pictures to the ones I’ve mentioned blew, which I think supports my point. As soon as he became a star, Stallone stopped trying. But I’m with you on Demi Moore. She has two expressions: earnest and…more earnest. I think a lot of people become stars because their movies make money (Julia Roberts, Arnold) not because they are good actors. Look at how many good actors are NOT big stars: Jude Law, Winona Ryder, Ellen Barkin, Paul Sorvino, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2000, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/28 "2000-08-19T21:44:35Z")
I’m voting for Sylvester Stallone. Several of his movies I would be willing to check out were someone else playing his role. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/29 "2000-08-20T01:25:35Z")
Tell you what, I’ll nominate members of a married couple in both the male and female categories: David Duchovny and Tea Leoni. I love _The X-Files_, but DAMN, Duchovny has only one expression and voice tone. It works on the show, but in other roles he looks so wooden that you could build a cabin out of him. Tea Leoni. I’m surprised no one’s mentioned her yet. UGH, how I hate her. She has all the expressiveness of lukewarm plain oatmeal. To steal a line from Dave Barry, she couldn’t realistically portray “falling” if you pushed her off a cliff. Casting her as a news anchor in _Deep Impact_ was the most laughable thing I’ve seen since John Wayne as Genghis Khan in _The Conqueror_. No TV station would be that dense. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/30 "2000-08-20T02:10:28Z")
lizard, have to disagree with you about Winona Ryder. I think she’s terribly overrated. Either that, or she’s always hopelessly miscast (e.g. Age of Innocence and The Crucible). And while I’m on a rant, why do they always pair her with hunky leading men (Daniel Day-Lewis, Richard Gere) with whom she has NO chemistry??? Dear lord, give ME those roles!!! ---
**Author:** ![Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/31 "2000-08-20T02:37:15Z")
I have to agree with Denise Richards. It hurts me to listen to her. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/32 "2000-08-20T03:59:57Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve always thought that if you take Bond away from Sean Connery there remains one sad body of work. Totally believable in one role but utterly hopeless and embarrassing in anything else. :::GASP::: I loved him in First Knight (much sexier than Richard Gere) and Entrapment!!! In fact I would love him in anything!!! His birthday suit. . . . a tux. . . . ME!!!. . . . 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/33 "2000-08-20T04:01:50Z")
Just thought of two more. Charleton Heston and William Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/34 "2000-08-20T06:32:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diane \* > \*\*Just thought of two more. > > Charleton Heston and William Shatner. \*\* I see your point, Diane, but I disagree, because at least these guys are fun to watch overact. From _The Turnabout Intruder_, the very last Original Star Trek Episode: “IT IS MUTINY! DELIBERATE! ::pounds fist:: VINDICTIVE! ::pounds fist:: INSANE AT IT’S BASE! ::pounds fist:: BUT MUTINY IS CHARGED AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO MUTINY! DR. MCCOY, ::swivels head to left:: MR. SCOTT, ::swivels head to right:: YOU HEARD IT! I CALL FOR AN IMMEDIATE VOTE BY THE POWERS GRANTED TO ME AS CAPTAIN OF THE ENTERPRISE. A RECESS IS DECLARED, TO BE FOLLOWED BY A VOTE…” ::shakes fist at Spock:: “SILENCE, YOU WILL BE SILENT! A RECESS IS DECLARED! THERE WILL BE NO CROSS DISCUSSION! THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED HERE IS THE ONLY BASIS FOR YOUR DECISION!” Then there’s Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes: “YOU DID IT! YOU FINALLY DID IT! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU!” I just love to watch these guys ham it up. At least they aren’t boring. ---
**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/35 "2000-08-20T06:56:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PunditLisa \* > \*\*lizard, have to disagree with you about Winona Ryder. I think she’s terribly overrated. Either that, or she’s always hopelessly miscast (e.g. Age of Innocence and The Crucible). \*\* :: nodding emphatically :: I always get lambasted for saying that Winona Ryder is definitely one of the most overrated actresses today. I get, “but… didn’t you see _Girl Interrupted_?” Hah. Angelina Jolie(sp?) ripped the rug from right under little Ryder’s feet. No matter what emotion she’s supposed to portray, she _always_ looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Demi Moore ain’t that much better. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2000, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/36 "2000-08-20T08:19:26Z")
I’m used to being in the minority on this one, but I think Melanie Griffith is one of the most overlooked actresses in hollywood. Note that all the complaints about her in this thread have focused on her voice. Fine, go ahead and hate her voice. But the acting work she did in Something Wild and Body Double was phenomenal. It’s true she’s done mostly shit since then, but I honestly think given the right role she could act circles around most of the other actresses working today. I’m actually dying to see her in the new John Waters movie, Cecil B. Demented. And Kim Basinger I mostly agree is terrible, but I don’t get her. She deserved the oscar she got for LA Confidential, but nothing else she’s ever done has been half as good as a bad highschool performance. I’m bewildered at how she managed to pull that performance out of her hat. Same with Sylvester Stallone. His work in CopLand was solid and good, but he hasn’t done anything remotely that good since Rocky. And yuck to Denise Richard, although her plastic, rictuslike smile and gungho vapidity were perfect for her roles in Starship Troopers and that teen beauty pageant thing she did. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/37 "2000-08-20T08:36:10Z")
_Ahem_ Pauley Shore?!? He’s been the same crappy character in more movies than I care to remember. And that character was funny for the first ten minutes of his first movie. He’s terrible! I know he’s never said he was a great actor, but he’s gotta be way up there for the worst. Added to that is the fact that he is just really annoying. ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/38 "2000-08-20T15:34:09Z")
Gotta agree with at least honorable mentions for Melanie and Demi but for sheer fingernails-on-the-blackboard you can’t top Suzanne Sommers. ---
**Author:** ![Amthystre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Amthystre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amthystre)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/39 "2000-08-20T15:39:12Z")
[/QUOTE] :: nodding emphatically :: I always get lambasted for saying that Winona Ryder is definitely one of the most overrated actresses today. I get, “but… didn’t you see _Girl Interrupted_?” Hah. Angelina Jolie(sp?) ripped the rug from right under little Ryder’s feet. No matter what emotion she’s supposed to portray, she _always_ looks like a deer caught in the headlights. \*\* [/QUOTE] I have to agree with that but I must say that Demi Moore has to top my list on most horrible actresses. Not only does she suck but !Wow! is she stupidly annoying. I mean this is the woman who justified changing the ending to the Scarlet Letter by saying no one read the book anymore anyway. I would say that Sly Stalone is the worst male actor ever. I mean did anyone see him in Copland? He really should have stayed with his usual type of movie and if he was too old bowed out gracefully. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2000, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915/40 "2000-08-20T21:30:52Z")
One thing to keep in mind… WRITING is often the key to what makes an actor look good or bad! Example: Angie Harmon is not a brilliant thespian, but she’s been a VERY solid performer on “Law and Order.” Based on her “Baywatch” background, I assumed she had no talent at all. But once she was reciting intelligent lines written by the capable screenwriters of “Law and Order,” she came across as a very believable D.A. Similarly, Johnny Depp struck me as a no-talent pretty boy, back when he was starring in the insipid “21 Jump Street.” Once he started seeking out more challenging scripts, he proved himself a very good actor indeed. Now, I don’t delude myself that Chuck Norris would win an Emmy if he somehow won a role on “Law and Order!” Still, we shouldn’t judge an actor until we see how he/she did when playing a well-written part. That’s one reason I have NO sympathy for Keanu Reeves. He has sucked in a variety of well-written roles! But even some seemingly terrible performers might pleasantly surprise you if they had a crack at a decent script. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-actor-actress/29915.md?page=3)