Actors You Just Can't Stand

[ramble]

Thank you. Those are the only two Julia Roberts movies I can watch. She has two facial expressions: huge gaping mouth wide open or smug arrogance. It must be written into her contract that she has to shriek a la the jewelry box scene in Pretty Woman at least once in every one of her movies. 

Gak you're right. That shriek often followed by the horse laugh. It makes me think wrong things about hurting someone I don't know. I remember when I saw My Best Friend's Wedding the person I went with felt bad for the Roberts character & I wanted to cheer when she wasn't chosen. 

I was indifferent to Gweneth Paltrow until her "consciously uncoupling" thing and when I browsed her Goop website.

I've never truly cared for her because I've always felt like she had an air of entitlement that comes though even in her acting. Then she started opening her mouth recently. The quote about her incredibly hard life being a working mother was amazing in it's complete unawareness. And ugh I looked at Goop. Ugh. 

[Shannon L.]

 

It must be written into her contract that she has to shriek a la the jewelry box scene in Pretty Woman at least once in every one of her movies.

The funny thing is, that that particular moment wasn't scripted. She was sad that day because of a personal issue and Gary Marshall wasn't getting what he needed from her.  So, he pulled Richard Gere aside and told him to do that just to lighten her mood a little.  He loved her reaction so much, he kept it in the movie.  I don't mind her too much, though and I do really like Erin Brokovich, which I don't believe had the laugh in it. 

[annzeepark914]

Re: Julia Roberts...with close-ups, it's just so darn hard to get past those big lips.  I've tried to find photos of her as an aspiring actress, prior to Mystic Pizza days, to see if she was born with those lips.  Really not sure...they may be her own but they sure are much like the fake Donald Duck lips we see on so many celebs.

[Bruinsfan]

She's not completely wrong, I don't think. People who have a diet that's very different to yours can smell a little unusual. It's often a comparison made between Japanese, who have a fish-based diet, and Europeans who eat a lot more meat and dairy. If she spends all her time around vegetarians and vegans, she might find that meateaters smell different.

I'm just saying, the pot that subsists primarily on cabbage shouldn't be calling the kettle stinky...

[Jeebus Cripes]

He's like the male Kristen Stewart (her two expressions are 'bored' and 'slightly upset while being confused').

 

Kristen Stewart is a perpetual mouth-breather, and I can't like that.

[DiamondDoll]

- Natalie Portman. She's so smug and condescending in every interview I have ever read and I have always found her to be a subpar actress.

- Lea Michelle. Another pretentious asshole who made me rage quit Glee awhile back. Plus it bothers me that she has to keep namedropping Cory to get attention.

- Amber Heard. Every time I see her and Johnny Depp together, I think of the old saying: now that he's engaged to his mistress, he's just created a vacancy. She's odious.

- Channing Tatum. Definition of a butter face. Plus he seems to have the IQ of a house plant.

- Giuliana Rancic. If waterboarding doesn't work, they can always send her to Iraq and the terrorists will beg to talk just to get away from her.

[BatmanBeatles]

 

Channing Tatum. Definition of a butter face.

Yeah, I don't get his attraction at all.

[Sandman]

Cam Gigandet would belong on this list, except I don't even want to count him as an actor. Talk about a smug face! If you pushed all the smarmy and entitled in the world together into a little pile, he's what that would look like. Pillock!

[Jeebus Cripes]

- Channing Tatum. Definition of a butter face. Plus he seems to have the IQ of a house plant.

 

I hear he's a nice guy and everything, so I always feel like an asshole for making fun of him, but I can't tolerate him on screen. I just can't.

[annzeepark914]

Another mouthbreather is John Cusack.  Is there a reason for these actors keeping their mouths open when not speaking?  Sinus issues, maybe? or do they think it's sexy?

 

Just discovered this little gem while browsing:  http://www.zergnet.com/news/172847/20-worst-actors-in-hollywood

Edited August 12, 2014 by annzeepark914

[The Solution]

I'm going to be really unpopular and say that the one actor I could never stand is Robin Williams. I mean I'm sorry he's dead and all, but the constant pathological attention-seeking in every movie and television appearance he ever made made me want to smack him across the face with a dirty shovel. I never found him even remotely funny.

 

I don't know what bothered me more - his obnoxious personality or the fact that the public gleefully exploited someone who was so clearly profoundly mentally ill.

[Ohwell]

Robin Williams was just too manic for me to enjoy.  I liked a few of his movies (hated Mrs. Doubtfire though), but I couldn't stand to watch more than a couple of minutes when he gave interviews.  He was uncontrollable, and I didn't find that funny.

[The Solution]

I did like Popeye, but he was fairly well reined-in in that movie.

[Bruinsfan]

What Dreams May Come is another one to see if you want an example of Williams' more serious capabilities. But I agree about the too manic thing - the very last of my patience for those improv riffs wore out in the middle of Aladdin.

[Shannon L.]

He had a lot of roles where he was very serious--some more so than others.  I can understand not liking the manic stuff because I've loved him since Mork and Mindy and over the last few years or so he got to be too much even for me.

[avecsans]

He was much better in supporting roles. Dead Poets Society is one of my very favorite movies. There were a couple of scenes where he almost veered into his manic shtick but the director must have reined him in. The scene in the classroom where he pulls a poem out of Ethan Hawke was so beautiful. He was also very good in Good Will Hunting.

[bosawks]

There is something about Matt Damon's mouth that I find distractedly off-putting.

[Princess Sparkle]

I know she's been mentioned in the thread before, but Julia Roberts tops my list of "Smug looking actors I want to punch in the face."  I absolutely cannot stand her.

 

And I can't really put my finger on why, but I also do not like Anna Kendrick.  It's not the visceral reaction I get with Julia Roberts, but there's something very "try hard" about her that I find off-putting.

 

I also don't get the hype over Ryan Gosling - I don't actually find him to be that exceptional of an actor, and I don't even find him all that handsome.  

[ribboninthesky1]

There is something about Matt Damon's mouth that I find distractedly off-putting.

 

The teeth, perhaps?

[BatmanBeatles]

I think Rebel Wilson looks unpleasant.

[Shannon L.]

 

I think Rebel Wilson looks unpleasant.

Rumor has it that you're correct.

[annzeepark914]

There is something about Matt Damon's mouth that I find distractedly off-putting.

 

Is he still grunting after all these years?  The first time I ever saw him in a movie, he was playing a young blue collar kid working at a beach club in Queens (I think) and he seemed to be grunting throughout the movie.  I noticed he did that in a couple other movies (it kept me from watching anything else he was in).

[Joe]

Jason Statham. I don't like his accent, it drives me away every time I try to watch one of his movies.

[methodwriter85]

   I cannot STAND Rebel Wilson. She's like the male version of Jonah Hill, who's only considered funny because they're fat. (Speaking of, the bitchy part of me is glad that Jonah seems to have put back every pound he lost when he did 21 Jump Street.)

[bosawks]

The teeth, perhaps?

That could be it. He does kind of look like he's getting a head start on the Zombie Apocalypse.

[Shannon L.]

Minnie Driver.  I know she's no longer a big star, but I never got the appeal of her.  I love Good Will Hunting, but still place it at an 8 instead of a 10 because I have to sit through all of the scenes with her in them (although, even I can admit, she did a good job in the break up scene, but still.....ugh).

[BooBear]

Matt Damon. I think it is becuase in his first role in "School Ties" he played a bad guy too well and ever since I just want to punch him. It always feels to me like he is a bad guy and his "act" is that he is a good guy.

[Ohwell]

Minnie Driver.  I know she's no longer a big star, but I never got the appeal of her.  I love Good Will Hunting, but still place it at an 8 instead of a 10 because I have to sit through all of the scenes with her in them (although, even I can admit, she did a good job in the break up scene, but still.....ugh).

Yes.  She messed up Good Will Hunting for me and I cringed every time she came on screen.  I don't know how or why she got cast for the part and the only thing I could think of is that she came cheap.  That movie has a special place in my heart because I had a dear, departed friend who played an extra in one of the scenes.  It's the scene where they're at an elegant outdoor party and there's a distinguished-looking, older black guy in the background.  It's just a brief appearance but I always look for that scene.  So yeah, she ruined the movie for me. 

[ribboninthesky1]

Matt Damon. I think it is becuase in his first role in "School Ties" he played a bad guy too well and ever since I just want to punch him. It always feels to me like he is a bad guy and his "act" is that he is a good guy.

 

Hmmm, you may be on to something.  I saw Good Will Hunting before School Ties, but part of my dislike for him is that I've also felt like being a good guy was the act. But mostly I've never thought he was all that great an actor, which is heresy, I know.  He's been referred to as a chameleon when, in the roles I've seen, he's different versions of bland and blank-faced.  So, not that different from his old friend, Ben Affleck. Which isn't inherently bad, as I think most actors have limited range.  But when I think chameleon, it's definitely not him.

[Ohwell]

Maybe the "real" Matt Damon came out in The Talented Mr. Ripley because he played creepy really, really well.  This is my favorite movie of his, aside from the Bourne movies.

[xls]

I think Rebel Wilson looks unpleasant.

That's one I cant stand!

[Shannon L.]

 

He's been referred to as a chameleon when, in the roles I've seen, he's different versions of bland and blank-faced.  So, not that different from his old friend, Ben Affleck. Which isn't inherently bad, as I think most actors have limited range.  But when I think chameleon, it's definitely not him.

I think he's a good actor, but I've never heard anyone call him a chameleon, nor would I ever consider him one.  Chameleons are Gary Oldman, Daniel Day Lewis and others whose names are escaping me right now.  Val Kilmer?  It's been a while since I've seen him in anything, but I think I remember a bigger range from him than other simply "good" actors. 

[methodwriter85]

I mean, Meryl Streep has to be considered a chamelon, since her legend is that no two characters are ever alike because she so thoroughly disapears into character.

 

I'd say Toni Collette is a pretty good chamelon as well.

 

It's rare for a top actor to be a true chamelon, though, because Box Office Stars have a certain "brand" and image to them that comes through in nearly every movie they do, like Tom Cruise or Will Smith.

[Danny Franks]

I don't think many people go to watch a movie for a chameleon actor. By my way of thinking the chameleon inhabits a character, and it's the character and the story that people are interested in.

 

For someone like Matt Damon, I think he draws more interest by playing a story, rather than a character. He's always kind of like Matt Damon, because people like Matt Damon, but the story changes. It's like what was said about John Wayne earlier in this thread (I think it was this thread). True movie stars may not be as technically gifted as some actors, but they don't need to be. Because people pay to see them, rather than to see them submerge themselves in a character completely.

 

When I look at the real method actor types, who change themselves totally for a role, I don't see many who have been considered true megastar, 'oh man his new movie is out! I've got to see it!' types. The closest would probably be Robert De Niro, but I think that even he has usually played a recognisable version of Robert De Niro.

[joelene]

Jesse Eisenberg. I've only seen him play uninteresting assholes and something's telling me he's an asshole in real life too.

Ben Affleck. Like Keanu Reeves, a charisma vakuum, but Keanu I find sort of endearing. Ben Affleck just makes me want to punch myself in the face so I wake up.

[purplemouth]

I can't stand Leonardo DiCaprio at all.

 

Elizabeth Banks also annoys me in large doses, but I admit that is most likely due to her presence bringing down seasons 4-5 of 30 Rock (yep, I blame it all on her).

[ExplainItAgain]

Mine is Leslie Mann. Not that any of the movies she's been in have been stellar, but she absolutely ruined This is 40, The Other Woman, Knocked Up, etc. I just can't stand her line delivery...or whatever it is. 

[methodwriter85]

   She's very whiney. Leslie Mann's career has become "Upper-Middle Class Mother Insecure About Her Failing Marriages And Aging."

Edited August 18, 2014 by methodwriter85

[Anna Yolei]

Amanda friggin Siegfried. She has been terrible in nearly every role I've seen her in. How she continues to get movie roles is beyond me.

[Anna Yolei]

Robin Williams was just too manic for me to enjoy. I liked a few of his movies (hated Mrs. Doubtfire though), but I couldn't stand to watch more than a couple of minutes when he gave interviews. He was uncontrollable, and I didn't find that funny.

For two minutes, Caroline Rhea of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame had a talk show on which he appeared to promote a stand up tour or dvd thereof. The whole ten minutes, poor Caroline got two words in while Williams went on literally babbling about nothing. The video wasn't discussed at all.

The guy was a comedic genius, but sometimes he didn't know how to reign it in.

[Jeebus Cripes]

When I look at the real method actor types, who change themselves totally for a role, I don't see many who have been considered true megastar, 'oh man his new movie is out! I've got to see it!' types. The closest would probably be Robert De Niro, but I think that even he has usually played a recognisable version of Robert De Niro.

 

I guess one could make a case for Johnny Depp. That said, his movies have been tanking for a while now. I'm thinking of his earlier stuff when he showed range; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, the first Pirates of the Caribbean. 

[GreekGeek]

I think Johnny Depp's downfall has been Tim Burton. I have trouble seeing Depp as anything now other than "Victorian-era madman."

[Bruinsfan]

The problem is he's so Method he's been unable to break that character even when filming new movies.

 

I loved him in Ed Wood and found him enjoyable to watch in The Ninth Gate, but he's become a big Do Not Watch warning sign for his recent movies.

[galax-arena]

Rumor has it that you're correct.

You know you can’t just leave it at that!

 

I can take a very limited amount of Rebel Wilson. The rumor that her role in Pitch Perfect 2 has been beefed up due to her popularity has me facepalming. NO, dammit, Wilson’s shtick is the kind that works best in small doses. Very small doses. 

[Sandman]

Johnny Depp needs to get away from Tim Burton.

[Ohwell]

Johnny Depp needs to get away from Tim Burton.

As much as I like Johnny Depp, you're absolutely right.

[drmka9]

 

Matt Damon. I think it is becuase in his first role in "School Ties" he played a bad guy too well and ever since I just want to punch him. It always feels to me like he is a bad guy and his "act" is that he is a good guy.

I'm actually like that with Ben Affleck. The first few times I saw him were 'Dazed and Confused' (his character's a bullying jackass) and some after school special in which his character started using steroids and became both an addict and incredibly abusive. I've never been able to warm up to him.

 

 

I think Johnny Depp was exposed a bit in his post-POTC megastardom. It doesn't matter the role, he plays it with odd costuming, quirky mannerisms, and a dodgy accent. I still think he's a talented actor, but he seems too reliant on the same old crutches to build whatever character he plays.

[Rick Kitchen]

Tim Burton had nothing to do with The Lone Ranger or Transcendence, and they were both horrible.  I just checked Johnny Depp's imdb page, and he has six movies coming out, including Alice in Wonderland and Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.  Will people ever stop casting him?

[Danny Franks]

I guess one could make a case for Johnny Depp. That said, his movies have been tanking for a while now. I'm thinking of his earlier stuff when he showed range; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Donnie Brasco, Ed Wood, the first Pirates of the Caribbean. 

 

Good point, but I think that Johnny Depp's appeal takes the method thing even further. In that his fans are paying to see Johnny Depp completely immerse himself in a character. Paradoxically, that means that the Jack Sparrow character has almost become his identity, and he's just played variations on the 'Johnny Depp plays a wacky character' theme since Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

Donnie Brasco is probably my favourite Depp movie, and I agree it's one of his best performances. I think he'd be very wise to get another movie like that on his slate. One where he isn't relying on makeup or costumes, or a larger than life character.

[Jeebus Cripes]

I agree, @Danny Franks. He needs to stop saying yes to all of these damned sequels for one thing and start looking for a quality script.