Even the best actors have their melodramatic moments, but every once in awhile, a performance
goes from "a little over the top" to "insane."
Maybe these performances are so over the top they circle back around to brilliant, or maybe
they're just embarrassing.
Either way, these clips offer examples of overacting at its finest.
John Alderton in Zardoz
Everything about 1974's Zardoz is weird.
It features Sean Connery with a long braid and rocking the Borat swimsuit look for most
of the film.
It's a bizarro, trippy movie about a godlike creature called Zardoz who talks through a
giant stone head, a group of immortals who don't believe in sex or sleep, and Connery
running around with his copious body hair on display.
But Connery doesn't earn the scene-chewing crown.
That honor goes to actor John Alderton, playing an immortal named "Friend" ...
"I hate all women.
Birth, fertility, superstition."
And that's just a taste.
If this scene seems confusing, don't worry.
It doesn't make any more sense in the context of the film either.
"I will, I will not go to second level with you!"
But you have applaud Alderton for making the most of his odd moment in this terribly strange
film.
Nicolas Cage in Vampire's Kiss
You can't talk about overacting without talking about Nicolas Cage, and Vampire's Kiss is
one of his early moments of over-the-top glory.
Long before his Wicker Man remake found him screaming about bees and punching a woman
while wearing a bear suit, he released what might actually be the craziest movie of his
career.
1988's Vampire's Kiss stars Cage as an ad exec who gets bitten and thinks he's turning
into a vampire—and apparently vampires are 100 percent insane, because that's how Cage
plays his metamorphosis …
"I never misfiled anything!
Not once!
Not one time!"
"I'm sure that you didn't."
Oh to be a fly on the wall as this scene was filmed.
If the crew wasn't desperately holding back laughter, they must have been looking for
the exits.
John Travolta in Battlefield Earth
John Travolta wanted to bring the central mythology of Scientology to life with Battlefield
Earth.
Instead, he created one of the worst movies of all time—and gave a completely bizarre
performance in the bargain.
Battlefield Earth is about a terrible race of dreadlocked aliens who have enslaved humanity.
Travolta stars as the main bad guy, Terl.
Travolta decided Terl was a guy who loved a good laugh, doling out his version of an
evil chuckle in almost every scene …
"I do what I can."
"It's a joke."
If the goal was to make these gross aliens as unappealing as possible, then Travolta
actually did a perfect job.
A job we never want to watch again.
Michael Sheen in Twilight: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
Michael Sheen is a wonderful actor.
He's turned in brilliant performances on TV in Masters of Sex, and on the big screen in
Frost/Nixon, among many other notable roles.
But when it came to Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, he went a little crazy as the
evil Aro.
In fact, in a series filled with unintentionally funny moments, Sheen's bizarre giggle might
stand out as the most memorable ...
It's funny every time.
Sheen actually offered an explanation of his big moment to MTV, saying that since his character
has been alive for centuries and centuries, he's probably incredibly bored and gets hysterical
when something actually unexpected happens.
It really does make perfect sense when you think about it—which means Sheen managed
to turn an over-the-top moment into a secretly brilliant acting choice.
Bravo.
Ellen McElduff in Maximum Overdrive
Author Stephen King decided he wanted to give moviemaking a try, so he adapted his short
story "Trucks" into 1986's Maximum Overdrive.
The good things about the film: a full score by AC/DC.
The bad things: everything else.
A story about machines coming to life and trying to kill all humans manages to make
even less sense than you'd think.
This was King's first time directing a film, and he later admitted that one major issue
with the movie was that his co-director was cocaine.
Despite all the problems, the film has one incredible highlight: the waitress.
Actress Ellen McElduff makes the most of her limited screen time …
"We made you!
Didn't you understand?
You can't do this!"
If you're going to have a small part in a crappy film, at least make it memorable.
"You can't!
We made you!"
Brian Blessed in Flash Gordon
1980's space opera Flash Gordon sure had an interesting cast: Brian Blessed, an acclaimed
British Shakespearean actor with a big voice and personality, and Max von Sydow, a frequent
collaborator with Ingmar Bergman who's considered one of Sweden's greatest actors, played second
fiddle to Sam J. Jones, a former contestant on The Dating Game.
Watching Flash Gordon, you get the sense that Blessed knew he wasn't winning any Oscars
for the film, so he just had as much fun as humanly possible playing a winged man who
flies around in leather briefs and a breastplate while Queen plays on the soundtrack.
Why not go over the top, right?
"Oh well.
Who wants to live forever?
Ha ha ha!
Dive!"
Kenneth Branagh in Wild Wild West
In yet another example of a Shakespearean actor trying to bring a bit of theatrical
flair to a role in a very silly blockbuster, Kenneth Branagh played the villainous Dr.
Loveless in 1999's Wild Wild West.
An infamous flop that snapped Will Smith's remarkable '90s streak, the film is suspiciously
devoid of humor for an action thriller/sci-fi/comedy hybrid.
Among all the failed jokes, we have the spectacle of Branagh.
His portrayal of Loveless is so consistently over the top, wildly veering from dramatic
to simply insane, he's at least always interesting to watch.
"It's me, dear friends!
Alive and kicking.
Well, alive, anyway."
"Mi casa es su casa.
Faites comme chez vous.
Let the party begin!"
Branagh knows that a villain who winds up in a giant steampunk spider is not a man for
subtlety.
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