Amateur Hour: The Best of Bad Movie Acting

[Wiendish Fitch]

Celluloid can capture great moments of acting... or "acting" so hilariously, memorably awful that audiences giggle with petty glee for years to come. What are your favorite moments of wretched acting? Once again, let's be civil, and if someone has a moment you disagree with, argue your point diplomatically.

Here's one of mine (more coming soon!):

Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas:  By the time this now infamous self-insert fanfic... I mean, movie was released, Kirk Cameron had been acting for almost 35 years of his life. I mention this because in the opening scene (which just features Cameron sitting on an obvious set and rambling for 10 minutes), Cameron is holding a mug allegedly full of hot chocolate, and it's laughably obvious that it's just an empty mug. Now, most actors drink out of empty cups onscreen, right? True, but I'm old enough to remember Cameron on Growing Pains back in the day, and I can say, with easy confidence, that Cameron has never been what you'd call a great actor, or even a good actor... but he is an actor. If you've been acting for over 3 decades of your life, surely-surely!- by now you know how to hold a mug in such a way that suggests there's hot liquid inside?!? I mean, isn't that first year acting school crap right there? I'm pretty sure any random grade schooler you know can hold a mug and pretend there's hot liquid inside with no problem, yet this middle-aged man who's been acting for decades can't even do it convincingly!

Oh, and Cameron's idea of dramatic pauses involves speaking unnaturally slowly and long, random, awkward silences. If you can't dramatically pause correctly, just don't do it. 

[Spartan Girl]

Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels is the first that comes to mind. Of course that might not have been entirely his fault because the writing SUCKED but still. His overdramatic declaration of love to Padme while she’s in that Black Swan dominatrix outfit was just so hammy and over the top.

Ditto with Kristen Stewart in the Twilight movies. She looked every bit as bored making the movies as I did when I was forced to watch them.

Edited October 8, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[GreekGeek]

Here is a fun read on this topic. I've seen relatively few of the movies on this list and don't agree entirely about the ones I have. The one that stood out for me was Mickey Rooney as "Mr. Yunioshi" in Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was years before I could get past those first few minutes of him shouting in that awful accent to watch the rest of the movie.

Dick Van Dyke's bad Cockney accent in Mary Poppins has taken a beating through the years, but his singing and dancing redeemed the performance for me.

One not on the above-linked list: Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan in Michael Collins did a really bad job of trying to sound Irish. I know she also tried to play Irish in Mary Reilly, but I haven't seen that one. 

I know this isn't a thread about "Worst Movie Accents," but there's nothing like trying to sound like what you aren't to bring out the worst in some actors!

[Crashcourse]

Heh, I'm watching a movie right now called Killing Season with Robert DeNiro and John Travolta.  Travolta's supposed to be Serbian (🤣) but his accent is so laughably awful, it's the worst accent I've ever heard.   It was probably a low budget movie but surely they could have found an actor with a better accent.   

[Wiendish Fitch]

Hillary Duff was never going to give Vanessa Redgrave or Viola Davis a run for their money in the acting department, but I'm appalled at how she muffs her big entrance to the Halloween dance in A Cinderella Story. 

Cinderella's big entrance at the ball. It's iconic, it's exciting, and there are numerous ways to play this big scene. Disney's animated Cinderella was a bit uncertain and hesitant, while Drew Barrymore's Danielle from Ever After had to talk herself down from near-debilitating nerves. Gemma Craven from The Slipper and the Rose was serenely confident, while Brandy from Cinderella was girlishly eager. 

So, Duff is the star of A Cinderella Story. Lots of young actresses dream of a role like this, she gets her big moment, how does she play it?

Bored out of her damn skull. She even seems to be pulling a surly face while descending the staircase and a spotlight is shining on her. Dear god, girl, if you didn't want to be there, why'd you even go?! 

I don't know if it was a directorial choice or Duff herself, how do you botch something like this?!

[xaxat]

And the award goes to. . . Tommy Wiseau! The Room!

 

[Wiendish Fitch]

8 hours ago, xaxat said:

And the award goes to. . . Tommy Wiseau! The Room!

 

I think "bad" almost seems too generous and even pedestrian a word to describe Tommy Wiseau's acting. 

[Spartan Girl]

14 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Cinderella's big entrance at the ball. It's iconic, it's exciting, and there are numerous ways to play this big scene. Disney's animated Cinderella was a bit uncertain and hesitant, while Drew Barrymore's Danielle from Ever After had to talk herself down from near-debilitating nerves. Gemma Craven from The Slipper and the Rose was serenely confident, while Brandy from Cinderella was girlishly eager. 

And Lily James in the live action Disney version was a combination of all four, capped off with such a beautiful curtesy. Compared to that, Hillary Duff was so blah. But I never had high hopes for that movie in the first place.

[Blergh]

I know she was a legend (and it's tragic that she's no longer with us). However, it was no surprise to me that the late Carrie Fisher didn't nab an Oscar nom for her iconic role in Star Wars:A New Hope (1977). Princess Leia reacted with all the angst of a teen getting grounded for violating her curfew when the Death Star targeted her home planet and even when she witnessed her home planet and all her loved ones on it get destroyed. I mean, come on, was that ALL Miss Fisher could muster  for her character's devastation re  every single person and venue she'd known her entire life beforehand getting annihilated?!

Edited November 13, 2021 by Blergh

[Spartan Girl]

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

I know she was a legend (and it's tragic that she's no longer with us). However, it was no surprise to me that the late Carrie Fisher didn't nab an Oscar nom for her iconic role in Star Wars:A New Hope (1977). Princess Leia reacted with all the angst of a teen getting grounded for violating her curfew when the Death Star targeted her home planet and even when she witnessed her home planet and all her loved ones on it get destroyed. I mean, come on, was that ALL Miss Fisher could muster  for her character's devastation re  every single person and venue she'd known her entire life beforehand getting annihilated?!

To be fair that was a short scene. And as we saw in later movies, Leia knew she didn’t get time to mourn when she was the leader of a rebellion and there was a war going on. Yeah, there should have been more angst, but blame that on Lucas and his writing.

[supposebly]

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

the late Carrie Fisher didn't nab an Oscar nom for her iconic role in Star Wars:A New Hope (1977).

Did anyone? I mean, the acting overall in this was hardly Oscar worthy.

[Mabinogia]

I am a huge original trilogy Star Wars fan but yeah, that is not because of the acting. lol Honestly, they aren't great movies, but they are part of my childhood and I shall love them forever! 

[Spartan Girl]

Jared Leto’s over-the-top performance in House of Gucci is definitely a contender for this thread. He was just so ridiculous. The only positive thing I can say is that his parts were one of the livelier parts of the movie. Cracked up every time he was on.

[jah1986]

On 11/13/2021 at 2:16 PM, supposebly said:

Did anyone? I mean, the acting overall in this was hardly Oscar worthy.

I’m pretty sure Alec Guinness was nominated for ANH. Never could figure that one out. 

[proserpina65]

3 hours ago, jah1986 said:

I’m pretty sure Alec Guinness was nominated for ANH. Never could figure that one out. 

He was quite good as Obi Wan in the original Star Wars.  Better than any other performances which could've been nominated that year?  Maybe not, but still good.

[Ms.Moon]

38 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

He was quite good as Obi Wan in the original Star Wars.  Better than any other performances which could've been nominated that year?  Maybe not, but still good.

Sir Alec elevated every scene he was in.  Space nonsense sounds more believable in a British accent.