Actors You Just Can't Stand

[ruby24]

I think he's been good in other things too, like Chaplin, Less Than Zero and Restoration. He was great in Tropic Thunder and Zodiac, although I guess Zodiac is closer to himself as well. I think he has talent, but now he's just gotten lazy and used to being a big movie star, so he doesn't really try anymore.

[DeLurker]

Adam Sandler for the most part. I just caught a small part of Spanglish recently and I liked him in that, but that is about the only time I remember thinking positively of him.

[Ohwell]

John Cusack.  Can't stand the sight of him.

[millennium]

Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal.    Overrated, not that pleasing to look upon, and I doubt they ever would have gotten a break if they weren't the offspring of a director and a screenwriter.    Hated Maggie in the second Dark Knight movie; hate Jake in everything.

[Ohwell]

Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal.    Overrated, not that pleasing to look upon, and I doubt they ever would have gotten a break if they weren't the offspring of a director and a screenwriter.    Hated Maggie in the second Dark Knight movie; hate Jake in everything.

I agree that they are overrated, although I did like him in Brokeback Mountain.  I never liked her in anything.

 

Speaking of brother and sister, I never thought Joan Cusack was that great of an actress either, but at least I don't find her as annoying as her brother.

[funkopop]

Adam Sandler for the most part. I just caught a small part of Spanglish recently and I liked him in that, but that is about the only time I remember thinking positively of him.

 

The only thing I liked him in was Hotel Transylvania.

[topanga]

John Cusack.  Can't stand the sight of him.

Really? He's my long-time movie crush. Yes, he almost always plays a neurotic, vulnerable, and somewhat likeable character, but he's so darn good at it.

[Princess Sparkle]

John Cusack.  Can't stand the sight of him.

All I can think of now when I see John Cusack is that Danny Trejo, a man who has been to prison I might add, thought he was the scariest person he'd ever worked with.  Whereas he thought Nicholas Cage was completely normal.  

 

When I was at the nail salon this weekend, the movie they were playing was Mad Money, and I was reminded at how much I HATE Diane Keaton.  I can't stand her "quirky" acting, and I've literally only ever liked her in two things: The Godfather (because she's a character completely unlike her other films) and The First Wives Club (because Bette Middler smacks her in the face).

[Ohwell]

I can't stand Diane Keaton's flustered quirkiness either.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I only like Joan Cusack as Jessie the Cowgirl. Other than that, her twitchy, spastic face (seriously, you'd swear she was mocking someone with Tourette's) irritates me to no end. 

[bubbls]

All I can think of now when I see John Cusack is that Danny Trejo, a man who has been to prison I might add, thought he was the scariest person he'd ever worked with.  Whereas he thought Nicholas Cage was completely normal.

That's very interesting. I've always gotten a weird vibe off John Cusak. I can't stand any movie he's in. He just sucks the life out of it. I can easily picture him alone in his dressing room plotting to blow up the set for some perceived slight. I've always thought of him as a Mean Guy.

[Crs97]

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for John Cusack when I saw him being interviewed at a Cubs game. He was sitting in the bleachers and clearly was just being nice. He never stopped watching the game, only looking at the reporter between batters, but not being rude about it. She asked why he was in the cheap seats rather than in a box and he was incredulous, saying he wanted to be where the fans were. I'm not a Cubs fan, but I am a baseball fan and liked that interview!

[Ohwell]

She's more comedienne than actress but she has a movie coming out.  I can't stand Amy Schumer.  She is not funny and she's actually kind of mean under the guise of "comedy."  Potato face. 

[Rick Kitchen]

I have never seen a single thing Amy Schumer has done, but I'm sick and tired of hearing about her.

[ChaseMCP]

Oh thank God, I am so tired of hearing about Amy Schumer. She's being touted as the great female comedienne of today and...I just don't see it.  

[Ruby25]

I don't either. I kept hearing all this hype from critics and media and other comedians, but when I checked out her show I thought it was just...okay? Some of the writing was really on the nose, imo. It wasn't that funny to me.

[Enigma X]

I have no real justification to not like Paul Giamatti. I don't think he is as good of an actor as most claim, but he is not bad either. I just don't like him.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Enigma X

[ribboninthesky1]

You're not alone - I've never been a Giamatti fan, either.  

[hendersonrocks]

Scarlett Johansson. In anything and everything. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

I confess I dislike John C. Reilly for horrible, shallow reasons. I know he's considered a darn good actor and an all-around nice fella, but to me not only is he utterly unattractive, he represents every unfair, sexist double standard in Hollywood. And I know it's not his fault, I know he didn't make it that way, but think about it: if Reilly were a woman, do you think he'd have anything resembling a career? It's bad enough that so many talented actresses don't get jobs because they're not considered pretty, but Reilly, who looks like a pork rind with hair, gets important, sometimes lead parts in movies (goofy comedies, but still), is always busy, and even "gets the girl" in some movies. Adding insult to injury, he's even played Stanley Kowalski in a production A Streetcar Named Desire. The hell? John C. Reilly as Stanley Kowalski? Stanley Kowalski, who is tall, muscular, feral, ruggedly handsome, repellant but also charismatic, sexy but dangerous? A role originated by young, handsome, pre-obesity Marlon Brando? A role that's also been inhabited by the likes of Anthony Quinn, Blair Underwood, Aidan Quinn, Gary Sinise, and Alec Baldwin? And now he's being by short, dumpy Reilly?

 

Again, what. The. Hell?

 

Reilly should be playing Mitch, not Stanley! Though, come to think of it, Karl Malden could actually give Reilly a run for his money in the looks department, but you didn't see him headlining movies and getting a love interest miles out of his league, did you? Hell, going further back in the day, Bob Hope (who was also a matinee idol compared to Reilly) almost never got the girl in the end! Or if he did, it was treated as a joke! In Guardians of the Galaxy, Reilly is playing a general (or something), and his tubby gut was hanging over his pants, and I'm thinking, Zoe Saldana probably sweated hours in the gym each day and lived on water and celery sticks, and John C. Reilly didn't see fit to do a few sit-ups or put on some damn man-Spanx to play a strict space general?

 

Look, I know I should be glad that the old status quo got shaken up, that leading men in Hollywood don't all have to be tall, dark and handsome to headline a movie, but why hasn't that courtesy been extended to women? I've read Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Kendrick, Tina Fey, and Beyonce all make self-deprecating remarks about their looks, while Reilly probably looks in the mirror each day and thinks, Yup, this is good!

[Ohwell]

Scarlett Johansson. In anything and everything.

I did like her in Match Point because she got shot. 

[harrie]

I confess I dislike John C. Reilly for horrible, shallow reasons. I know he's considered a darn good actor and an all-around nice fella, but to me not only is he utterly unattractive, he represents every unfair, sexist double standard in Hollywood. And I know it's not his fault, I know he didn't make it that way, but think about it: if Reilly were a woman, do you think he'd have anything resembling a career? It's bad enough that so many talented actresses don't get jobs because they're not considered pretty, but Reilly, who looks like a pork rind with hair, gets important, sometimes lead parts in movies (goofy comedies, but still), is always busy, and even "gets the girl" in some movies. Adding insult to injury, he's even played Stanley Kowalski in a production A Streetcar Named Desire. The hell? John C. Reilly as Stanley Kowalski? Stanley Kowalski, who is tall, muscular, feral, ruggedly handsome, repellant but also charismatic, sexy but dangerous? A role originated by young, handsome, pre-obesity Marlon Brando? A role that's also been inhabited by the likes of Anthony Quinn, Blair Underwood, Aidan Quinn, Gary Sinise, and Alec Baldwin? And now he's being by short, dumpy Reilly?

 

Again, what. The. Hell?

 

Reilly should be playing Mitch, not Stanley! Though, come to think of it, Karl Malden could actually give Reilly a run for his money in the looks department, but you didn't see him headlining movies and getting a love interest miles out of his league, did you? Hell, going further back in the day, Bob Hope (who was also a matinee idol compared to Reilly) almost never got the girl in the end! Or if he did, it was treated as a joke! In Guardians of the Galaxy, Reilly is playing a general (or something), and his tubby gut was hanging over his pants, and I'm thinking, Zoe Saldana probably sweated hours in the gym each day and lived on water and celery sticks, and John C. Reilly didn't see fit to do a few sit-ups or put on some damn man-Spanx to play a strict space general?

 

Look, I know I should be glad that the old status quo got shaken up, that leading men in Hollywood don't all have to be tall, dark and handsome to headline a movie, but why hasn't that courtesy been extended to women? I've read Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Kendrick, Tina Fey, and Beyonce all make self-deprecating remarks about their looks, while Reilly probably looks in the mirror each day and thinks, Yup, this is good!

 

 

He might - an actress like Kathy Bates does okay.  And just my personal opinion, but for me Anthony Quinn is high on the ugly/sexy scale, with Alec Baldwin a lot lower down, but still on the scale. 

 

I like the Malden/Reilly comparison and pretty much agree with you there.  Malden did headline a TV show (over semi-hunky at the time Michael Douglas), for what that's worth. 

 

I agree with you, and would give some bodily part to look like Anna Kendrick or Jennifer Lawrence on her worst day.  I don't have any way of knowing this, but I think John C. Reilly might know exactly what he looks like; but to paraphrase Elizabeth Taylor, if they're foolish enough to offer him the lead, who is he to turn it down? 

 

Just my opinion, nothing more. I really liked your post, Fiendish Witch.  (And of course, I'm not saying you have to like him in any way.) 

Edited July 13, 2015 by harrie

[Wiendish Fitch]

He might - an actress like Kathy Bates does okay.  And just my personal opinion, but for me Anthony Quinn is high on the ugly/sexy scale, with Alec Baldwin a lot lower down, but still on the scale. 

 

I like the Malden/Reilly comparison and pretty much agree with you there.  Malden did headline a TV show (over semi-hunky at the time Michael Douglas), for what that's worth. 

 

I agree with you, and would give some bodily part to look like Anna Kendrick or Jennifer Lawrence on her worst day.  I don't have any way of knowing this, but I think John C. Reilly might know exactly what he looks like; but to paraphrase Elizabeth Taylor, if they're foolish enough to offer him the lead, who is he to turn it down? 

 

Just my opinion, nothing more. I really liked your post, Fiendish Witch.  (And of course, I'm not saying you have to like him in any way.) 

 

Thanks for your input, harrie.

 

I ought to take the rest of this to the Gender thread, lest we get too off topic.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Wiendish Fitch

[topanga]

I cannot stand Terrence Howard. Ironically (Contrarily? Confusedly), I'm always glad when he can get work, seeing as there are so few meaty roles for actors of color. I just don't like to watch his work. He was annoying but funny in 'The Best Man' movies, and in everything else, he's just annoying. He plays various shades of the same character, and and I don't like any of them. He didn't deserve an Oscar nomination for "Hustle and Flow," and I'm glad he didn't get an Emmy nomination for Empire.

[Enigma X]

@Topanga, I think Terrence Howard is a horrendous actor. I am confused on how he gets work.

[Ohwell]

He was annoying but funny in 'The Best Man' movies, and in everything else, he's just annoying.

 In addition to "annoying," I'd add "shady-looking."  My mama would have given him the side-eye.

[UYI]

Selma Blair can be this to me. She has this way of speaking that makes her sound like she's borderline mentally disabled. This is a BIG problem in Cruel Intentions, where she's playing a 14 year old (at 27!), who speaks like a 5 year old, and I don't think Cecile was supposed to have any development issues, either. Even in Legally Blonde I felt she came across that way a bit when reciting her lines. It drives me crazy every time I watch it.

 

That said the only other thing I've seen her in is an episode of Friends, and I don't remember her sounding quite as bad there.

[F. Max Kreisler]

In no particular, unless I mention something especially nauseating.

 

1. Leonardo DiCrapio - I cheered when he froze in the North Atlantic. He cannot suspend my disbelief. He's just not believable.

2. Julia Roberts and her "Joker" ear-to-ear smile.

3. Richard Dreyfuss - How did the schlub get into movies? Even a shark spit him out.

4. Are Glenn Close and Meryl Streep the same person? I get confused. One of them was Cruella.

5. J-Lo.

6. Kelsey Grammer. Really - 20 years of him? Barf.

7. I didn't like Bruce Willis. Then I saw a movie and he was OK - but he doesn't look like a lead when you look at him, more like an extra.

8. Did anyone mention Tom Cruise several times? Let me pile on. He looks like a High School male cheer leader who might be leaning.

9. I saw Emma Stone one time - it was in The Amazing Spiderman. Her overbite annoyed me so much it was hard to get into the movie. I know it's not her fault - but she has money and should see Dr. Ortho.

10. Jim Carrey, manic.

11. Robin Williams, manic.

12. Jerry Lewis, manic. I like him as a person. I liked his movies when I was ten.

13. Anyone not named Curley or Shemp who played the third Stooge.

14. Patrick Stewart as Ahab.

15. Jean Harlow

16. You're gonna hate this - Marlon Brando and every other method actor who cannot articulate. Elocution is not a sin. Mumbling seems to be in vogue these days.

17. Many male actors today. They seem to have low T. Is it just the script writing? I suspect a bit of each. The ubermales seem to come from UK, or Oz.

18. Many female actresses - no native attractiveness. Maybe a few - but you don't get the whole package in one person.

19. I can't stand Michael Moore in a still photograph. he's creepy and smarmy looking. The dirty uncle with foul breath and leering eyes you tell your kids to avoid.

20. Did Shia Lebeouf play Pinky? Looks like a rat-faced creep. I've only seen him in stills.

21, Oh - the worst - wait for it - I'll get the same reaction I got when I mentioned Brando - - - - - - Johnny Depp - one of the worst, ever. His Jack Sparrow was absolutely grade-school performance. When I say it was OTT, people say, well it was supposed to be OTT. Oh, really? I don't buy it. I've seen better drunks played by Ray Milland, Red Skelton, Frank Fontaine, and Foster Brooks - and the last three were funny!. Depp was amateurish. He was an embarrassment. I slunk down in my seat because I was embarrassed for him he was so bad. They let him make 3 of those? He got his come-uppance in The Lone Ranger.

22. Jack Black - as good as Johnny Depp. In other words, terrible.

23. Mike Farrell as B.J. Hunnicutt in M*A*S*H, Hawkeye Pierce's pal. Cigar store Indian talent. Wooden. Maybe the casting director could have found someone who was still living?

Edited January 4, 2016 by F. Max Kreisler

[Ohwell]

That list is awesome.

[meep.meep]

I confess I dislike John C. Reilly for horrible, shallow reasons. I know he's considered a darn good actor and an all-around nice fella, but to me not only is he utterly unattractive, he represents every unfair, sexist double standard in Hollywood. And I know it's not his fault, I know he didn't make it that way, but think about it: if Reilly were a woman, do you think he'd have anything resembling a career? It's bad enough that so many talented actresses don't get jobs because they're not considered pretty, but Reilly, who looks like a pork rind with hair, gets important, sometimes lead parts in movies (goofy comedies, but still), is always busy, and even "gets the girl" in some movies. Adding insult to injury, he's even played Stanley Kowalski in a production A Streetcar Named Desire. The hell? John C. Reilly as Stanley Kowalski? Stanley Kowalski, who is tall, muscular, feral, ruggedly handsome, repellant but also charismatic, sexy but dangerous? A role originated by young, handsome, pre-obesity Marlon Brando? A role that's also been inhabited by the likes of Anthony Quinn, Blair Underwood, Aidan Quinn, Gary Sinise, and Alec Baldwin? And now he's being by short, dumpy Reilly?

 

You are entitled to not like who ever you don't like - but John C. Reilly is taller than everyone else on your list.  Except for Quinn, who is dead.  So, you shouldn't hate him because he is dumpy.  And if John Malcovich, another guy with few looks, can successfully play the seducer in Dangerous Liaisons, I'll believe that Reilly might have the moxie for Stanley Kowalski.

 

But mine is Benedict Cumberbatch.  He looks like a giant turtle, has a ridiculous name, and is the worst movie runner ever.  He somehow convinced someone that the plot of Tinker Tailor should be changed so that he could play gay and get a big crying scene.  He ruins everything he's in.

[spaceytraci1208]

John Malcovich, another guy with few looks

Just wanted to say that this cracked me up

[Crs97]

Max, I heartily co-sign 2, 5, 8, 10, 11 (with the caveat that he could be wonderful with the right director to harness those manic tendencies-I thought he was great in Good Will Hunting), 12, 13 (but one step further to include any and all stooges), 16 (all-in on this one), and 21 (but he visits children's hospitals as JS so I cut him a little slack).

[UYI]

You are entitled to not like who ever you don't like - but John C. Reilly is taller than everyone else on your list.  Except for Quinn, who is dead.  So, you shouldn't hate him because he is dumpy.  And if John Malcovich, another guy with few looks, can successfully play the seducer in Dangerous Liaisons, I'll believe that Reilly might have the moxie for Stanley Kowalski.

 

But mine is Benedict Cumberbatch.  He looks like a giant turtle, has a ridiculous name, and is the worst movie runner ever.  He somehow convinced someone that the plot of Tinker Tailor should be changed so that he could play gay and get a big crying scene.  He ruins everything he's in.

 

I personally think BC has more of a lizard look, but picturing him as a giant turtle is definitely funnier. In any case, I agree that his so-called "hotness" factor is completely lost on me.

Edited January 5, 2016 by UYI

[shang yiet]

I think Benedict Cumberbatch is hot like the sun as Sherlock but he does have an odd face and he knows it too.

Edited January 8, 2016 by shang yiet

[Bruinsfan]

I swear he could believably play an alien in the Men in Black franchise without using prosthetics.

[vibeology]

He does look like the alien once he's wearing the Edgar suit. I just cannot stand him and I know its all superficial, but his face is unbearable. I can't get into Sherlock because of it and watched The Imitation Game over the course of several days because his face bugged me too much to watch the movie in one sitting. And I would say he ruined Star Trek for me, but JJ Abrams took care of that with the bad plot.

[festivus]

I like Benedict although I did have to get used to his face. I haven't checked this thread in a while but I just wanted to say that all the descriptions of him are cracking me up. Also that John C. Reilly looking like a pork rind with hair had me cracking up for a good five minutes.

 

Oh and mine is Jonah Hill. He is not funny. I just don't get it.

Edited January 6, 2016 by festivus

[BK1978]

I don't either. I kept hearing all this hype from critics and media and other comedians, but when I checked out her show I thought it was just...okay? Some of the writing was really on the nose, imo. It wasn't that funny to me.

 

Same here, I do not hate her but I do think she is very overrated.  Like you I had heard everyone sing her praises so I checked out her comedy special on HBO and it was just not funny. 

 

I know people love Will Smith but I could never stand him going back to his days as Fresh Prince.  Also, you can add his son to the list as well.

[Blergh]

I never really had a problem with Will Smith as an actor per se (and, at times, he could be quite entertaining). However; how he and his wife have let their minor kids be exploited by their 'projects' is rather infuriating. Added to the ' what were they THINKING' list, should be that women's wear company that's now had Mr. Smith's teen son be their new 'model'. If an ADULT wants to do something that could bring lifetime ridicule and needless speculation, that's on them but either Mr. or Mrs. Smith and/or someone in that company should have put the brakes on that for the sake of not letting a questionable teen decision haunt him the rest of his life.

[Ms Blue Jay]

Christina Applegate - horrendous on Friends, horrendous in Anchorman.  Please watch Anchorman and notice that she has two styles of acting:  1) Sucking in her cheeks.  2)  Pursing her lips.  That's the end of that list.  On her first appearance on Friends, she showed up at Rachel's door, and then when Rachel opened it, she waited for the audience to applaud her.  There was a weird gap while she was waiting, too.  LOL.  Stupid.

 

My pet peeve is actors who I think are mediocre who keep getting roles.  Leslie Mann gets a lot of roles; her husband is Judd Apatow.  I don't see enough charisma or appeal there for her to show up in every other movie.

 

I like Eric McCormack fine, I guess, but I don't think he's a good actor.  I've seen him in Will and Grace, New Adventures of Old Christine, Perception.  He just whines all the time.

 

Rashida Jones is just okay as an actor.  Very bland.  I feel like nobody wants to admit it.

 

Oh my god I just remembered who the one I REALLY can't stand is.  Jane Krakowski.  Ally McBeal, 30 Rock, now Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  It's the same character 3 times, people!  I don't get why or how anyone could like her or her acting!  Her eyes always have that same frazzled, panicked look no matter what is happening.  

Edited January 7, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Bruinsfan]

If you want to see a completely different side of Eric McCormack, watch the second season of Dead Like Me sometime.

[BW Manilowe]

There's something about Hillary Swank I don't like.

Me too. And I think she totally crapped all over her now ex, Chad Lowe, when she won her first Oscar (I've also heard she didn't get along with the Lowe family when they were married), even if forgetting to thank him was an accident (if you ask me, they at least partly split 'cause he wanted kids & she didn't, on top of his then-substance abuse issues--he's now happily remarried with 2 daughters & just announced a 3rd child's on the way this Spring). I've kinda been happy her career was in the tank between the 2 Oscar roles, & has been again since Oscar #2.

I also hate Katherine Heigl, for the bitch/diva/attitude thing, especially in her Emmy acceptance speech, & for crapping on the Grey's writers when she pulled her name from contention in a later Emmys.

And I just don't get how Chelsea Handler got famous, except for the fact she was sleeping with the guy who was the President of the E! cable channel at the time she got her show on that channel.

Edited January 8, 2016 by BW Manilowe

[SmithW6079]

I like going to the movies, and yet I agree with almost every name on this list. Maybe that's why I don't actually go that often.

 

I only like Joan Cusack as Jessie the Cowgirl. Other than that, her twitchy, spastic face (seriously, you'd swear she was mocking someone with Tourette's) irritates me to no end. 

Joan was funny in "Addams Family Values" as Debbie the evil nurse who marries Uncle Fester and takes him away from the family.

 

John Cusack.  Can't stand the sight of him.

Agreed, but he's funny early in his career as Lane, who keeps trying to kill himself in "Better Off Dead."

 

Tom Cruise. Which kinda sucks because he is on a buttload of blockbuster/action/scifi movies. However every time i see his face, i want to punch it.

 

Add Will Smith to that list. I love science fiction, but I hate that the both of them make so many sci-fi movies. Although I did like Tom in "Minority Report."

 

I think Ben Stiller is a crashing bore and the Fockers movies are hateful.

What bothers me the most about Ben Stiller is he's got a character actor's face and a leading man's body. The two don't go together and it bothers me. 

[methodwriter85]

What bothers me the most about Ben Stiller is he's got a character actor's face and a leading man's body. The two don't go together and it bothers me. 

 

See: Adam Driver. I don't hate him, but wow that guy is a classic case of butterface.

 

I think the problem with Adam Driver is that his head is too small for his body.

[Ohwell]

Yep.  That's a butterface alright.

[Ms Blue Jay]

What bothers me the most about Ben Stiller is he's got a character actor's face and a leading man's body. The two don't go together and it bothers me. 

 

That's so funny.  I think Ben is really conventionally handsome which is why chooses to imitate Tom Cruise for funny awards show spots and why he's the star in a franchise about male models.  Anyway, he's only a tiny fraction as funny as his wonderful father but I personally have nothing against him, just wanted to respond to that.  Also he seems super short, so I think I feel oppositely of you -- character actor's body with a leading man's face.

 

Adam Driver's head certainly seems enormous enough to me in that picture.

Edited January 18, 2016 by Ms Blue Jay

[Enigma X]

Steve Harvey is annoyong as fuck!

[topanga]

Caveat: Scarlett Johansson is probably a very nice person. At the very least, she's managed to remain more grounded and scandal-free than most Hollywood actors. That being said, I don't understand why she's so highly regarded as an actress. Her acting is okay, and I actually found her the most tolerable aspect of the horrible Lucy movie. But nothing about her performances blow me away, and as far as actresses go, I personally don't think she has the dramatic range of an Angelina Jolie or a Keira Knightley. YMMV, of course. 

[Ohwell]

I liked Scarlett Johansson in Match Point, and that's only because she got shot. 

[Bruinsfan]

Jesse Eisenberg has launched himself to near the top of the list for me. I recall liking him and thinking he was effectively a non-annoying Michael Cena back in his Zombieland days, but pretty much everything he's done (roles AND interviews) since 2010 has caused my opinion of him to plummet like a cartoon anchor. (Coincidentally, the role he played in Batman v. Superman...)