There is something electrifying about discovering an awesome movie.
The plot, characters, and cinematography are almost enough to judge whether a film is going
to be a dud or a longtime favorite but the performances are also integral to the overall
quality of a movie.
Even if the film is filled with brilliant acting, one terrible actor can ruin the rest
of the movie.
Here are 10 Famous Actors Whose Performance Ruined Their Movies.
Mickey Rooney - Breakfast At Tiffany's Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a classic film
starring the elegant and graceful Audrey Hepburn.
It is the film that features many iconic moments including Hepburn adorned in her black dress,
pearls, and elbow length gloves while she eats a croissant in front of the famous jewelry
store.
While the film certainly took liberties with Truman Capote’s novella, mostly to appeal
to mainstream audiences and keep the censors at bay, it was one particular casting decision
that was the most maddening.
Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi was just so bizarre that it halts the film
every time he appears.
The casting of a white actor to play a Japanese character was bad enough but to add prosthetic
teeth to create Japanese caricature was highly offensive.
Rooney’s performance is also hammy.
As much as the rest of the film is a delight, Rooney’s performance is disastrous.
Katie Holmes - Batman Begins The character of Rachel Dawes was just not
a success with two actresses giving it a shot in two different fims.
Maggie Gyllenhaal was slightly shrill and lacked chemistry with nearly every actor she
shared the screen with in The Dark Knight, which was a departure from her usual work.
However, Katie Holmes’s performance was just bland.
For those viewers who have never seen Holmes on Dawson’s Creek, you aren’t missing
much since she plays a version of the same character in everything she’s in.
While her Rachel Dawes may not ruin the film as much as others on this list, her apparent
boredom certainly detracts from the overall value of the film.
Diane Keaton, Because I said so The 2007 romantic comedy Because I Said So
was never going to be a great movie but Diane Keaton's performance mitigated any possibility
of it being a watchable flick.
Using her tired combination of zany Annie Hall mixed with a neurotic female Woody Allen,
Keaton forces herself into every scene with attention seeking gusto, making the film nauseating.
Mandy Moore‘s shtick can get exhausting after a while too but her scenes with the
charming Gabriel Macht are fun to watch.
Moore’s sisters are played by Lauren Graham and Piper Perabo, who are both a pleasure
to watch but once Keaton joins in, the movie falls apart.
Even Stephen Collins who is best known for his role as the unbearably preachy but well-meaning
father on 7th Heaven, a show with more bad acting than good, somehow manages to do a
better job than an Oscar winner.
Keaton has proven to be a fine and lovable actress in previous films, but her work in
Because I said So is just grating.
Hayden Christensen, Star Wars There is much speculation over whether Hayden
Christensen can act.
This mystery is undoubtedly fueled by his acting in the Star Wars films, Attack of the
Clones and Revenge of the Sith.
His dry robotic performance supports any theory that Christensen was not there at all and
he was just computer generated.
Frankly, if he was simply CGI, the character may have emoted more successfully.
To be fair, Christensen is a decent actor.
Shattered Glass is proof enough, but there are a handful of other films that prove he
knows what he’s doing.
The worst part of this particularly bad performance is that it is a vital element of the Star
Wars saga, he is Darth Vader after all.
Russel Crowe, Les Miserables Russell Crowe is a fine actor and deserves
his multiple Academy Award nominations but even the most impressive thespians can get
miscast in a film, Les Miserables is that film.
Since the film is a musical with the actors singing live, someone probably should have
let Russell Crowe know that he can’t sing.
Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Eddie Redmayne have such incredible singing voices and amazing
acting chops but every time Crowe’s character, Javert appears on screen, it is time for a
bathroom break.
Russell Crowe’s performance and singing hinder the film so much that it could be the
reason it lost out for the Best Picture Academy Award in 2013.
Tommy Lee Jones Batman Forever In seems nearly impossible to out-chew the
scenery in a film that also features Jim Carrey but Tommy Lee Jones somehow made it possible
with Batman Forever.
His portrayal of Two -Face, is baffling and loud.
Obviously, once Gotham’s District Attorney, Harvey Dent becomes the supervillain, Two-Face,
he may go insane but Jones plays the character not only bonkers but also incredibly persistent
with roaring his lines.
This is a movie that has Jim Carrey Cackling as the Riddler, comic explosions, and a blaring
soundtrack by U2 and Seal, and yet it is still Tommy Lee Jones who is the most deafening
element of Batman Forever.
Linda Fiorentino, Dogma Linda Fiorentino’s performance in Dogma
ruins the movie not because she is a horrid actress but because of her inability to realistically
interact with the other actors in the film.
Her character should also be more interesting than the way she conveys it.
Her monotone monologues feel like she believes she is in a much more serious film than she
is and her conversations with each character, and not just Jay and Silent Bob, would make
you believe that her character thinks everyone around her is beneath her.
Apparently, Fiorentino was exposing her real-life distaste for the film as writer and director
Kevin Smith has stated that the filming of Dogma was miserable.
If Smith could have done it over again, he would have cast Janeane Garofalo in the lead
role rather than relegating her to the minor role in which she did appear.
Garofalo may have been the perfect fit amongst the rest of the Kevin Smith regulars and a
vast improvement to Fiolentino.
January Jones, X-Men First Class
After watching January Jones in X-Men: First Class audiences may be wondering if Jones
attended the Katie Holmes School of Bored Acting.
Jones is beautiful and her performance in Mad Men as 1960s housewife Betty Draper is
flawless but her role as Emma Frost seems like a retread of Betty which makes no sense
for the comic book character.
We can look past the unfortunate wardrobe that looked less Emma Frost and more Fembot
from Austin Powers but when a character seems to breathe more life on the pages of a comic
than with a living person acting out the character, there is little that can be done.
January Jones may be be stunning but her performance as The White Queen is far from royal.
Keanu Reeves, Dangerous Liaisons As likable as Keanu Reeves seems as a person,
the guy has supplied a wealth of bad acting performances.
His “Whoa” persona may combine his stilted acting with his general confusion but there
is still something appealing about him.
While many point to his performances in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or even The Matrix, the
performance that really interrupts an otherwise fantastic film is Dangerous Liaisons.
His role does not require as much screen time as Glenn Close, John Malkovich, or Michelle
Pfeiffer, and that is a good thing.
It is a quiet, yet startled, performance that attempts seriousness while trying to keep
up with a cast of seasoned thespians.
Reeves’s performance may be what Ashton Kutcher studies when trying to prove to people
that he is not just some fool who has to bite his lip to avoid saying “Dude”, when he
plays pretend
Jaden Smith, After Earth Nepotism in Hollywood may work in the case
of Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Liv Tyler but when it doesn’t work, it fails miserably.
Jaden Smith’s performance in After Earth is proof that talent is not always genetic.
As the son of the Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith, Jaden made his debut as Will’s son
in The Pursuit of Happyness which required little acting, The Karate Kid remake was a
slap in the face for those who grew up in the 80s, and After Earth was just a tragedy.
The science fiction film was a box office hit which is all thanks to his actual movie
star father, but Jaden’s presence in the film ruins any possibility of the film succeeding
on any level.
Poor Will continues to push for his children to work in the industry.
It must be true that Parents Just Don’t Understand.
There you have it.
What do you think of our list?
Who did we forget?
Let us know in the comments.
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