Marlon Brando. How did an actor this bad get a reputation this good. Even in his best work, he’s an overbearing ham.
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 
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Denise Richards
Sandra Bullock
Jeanne Tripplehorn
And, of course, the obvious martial arts guys - Van Damme, Segal, Norris, etc.
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.
Same could be said for Richard Burton he has done some real turkeys.
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.
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.
I’m voting for Sylvester Stallone. Several of his movies I would be willing to check out were someone else playing his role.
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.
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!!!
I have to agree with Denise Richards. It hurts me to listen to her.
:::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!!!. . . .
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.
:: 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.
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.
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.
Gotta agree with at least honorable mentions for Melanie and Demi but for sheer fingernails-on-the-blackboard you can’t top Suzanne Sommers.
[/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.
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.