Most over-rated actor/actress.

[smirkymonkey]

Who do you think is completely over-rated? In other words, who do you think gets too much media attention and praise for such little talent? Here is my list:

Jack Nicholson
Keira Knightley
Bill Nighy
Julia Roberts
Tobey Maguire
Shia LeBoeuf
Kate Hudson
Adam Sandler
Johnny Depp
Gwynnth Paltrow
Leonardo DiCaprio

I'm sure I could come up with a lot more, but wondering what your choices are.

[pangaia]

1. jack????

JACK!!

MY JACK???

Why, my dear smirkymonkey, you're out of your every lovin' mind.

I'm just going to delete my REC....

[smirkymonkey]

9. Jack is always Jack. He has no range.

He's the same person in every film. That is why I think he's overrated. He's a strong personality, but I don't think he's a particularly good actor.

[pangaia]

15. Well Mozart always sounds like Mozart.

[smirkymonkey]

25. Musicians have their style, but actors should adapt to their role.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[pangaia]

42. Oh, I'm not too worried about agreeing or not...

It's all in fun.

NICK, NICK, INDIANS.

[smirkymonkey]

46. Yes, it's all in fun!

They are just actors after all. We are all allowed our tastes!

[LanternWaste]

91. Except when he sounds like Haydn.

Except when he sounds like Haydn.

[pangaia]

94. Mozart NEVER sounds like Haydn...

Well, maybe when he was 3-4 years old.
By the time he was 5-6 he had it all figured out...

[JonLP24]

69. People get type casted all the time

Loved Nicholson in The Pledge.

[ailsagirl]

122. I agree but the same could be said about, say, Humphrey Bogart and no one says he's bad

Not disagreeing but this comes up now and again (what constitutes a good actor)

Also, if one doesn't "like" the actor as a person, it's hard to think he/she is any good.

[pressbox69]

141. Jack is the man.

He started his career by working with the masters, Karloff, Price and Loree.

[AllaN01Bear]

41. woody allen.

[alittlelark]

2. Tom Cruise.... and I would take issue w/a few on your list....

[smirkymonkey]

10. I would agree w/ Tom Cruise, but who would you take issue with?

[alittlelark]

21. Jack, Gwynneth, and Leonardo

[Duppers]

108. Jack & Leo for sure.

How can anyone who has watched Blood Diamond every say Leo cannot act?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0450259/&ved=0ahUKEwjx9uHOo8DYAhVqw1QKHRTICeYQ5OUBCLABMBk&usg=AOvVaw15tC4Xt7MyRBnj6Y6GA2te

[genxlib]

3. Jennifer Lawrence

I don't get it. I just don't see what everyone sees in her.

[smirkymonkey]

11. I agree, I don't quite get it either.

She's ok, but not great.

[samnsara]

31. I agree! and the Stewart chick from the vamp movies... gawd shes awful

[dlwickham]

83. I love her

it's hard to explain why; same thing with Amy Adams; they make it seem effortless

to me, it's like watching a real live person instead of someone acting like a real live person

Emma Stone is another one; Octavia Spencer is another one

you have actresses like Julia Roberts who has played the same character over and over and over; she's good but you know what to expect

Cate Blanchett has a type she plays but she immerses herself in her roles; her playing Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator was incredible

[cyclonefence]

112. Did you see "Winter's Bone"?

She's incredible and it's a role unlike any other I've seen her in.

[genxlib]

115. Honestly, No I haven't

But i have probably seen another dozen or so other movies of hers.

I have heard good things about Winter's Bone before but honestly have not been interested in seeking it out based on what else I have seen.

Someday I will give it a look.

[MrsMatt]

119. She was phenomenal in

"Winter's Bone"

[Shrek]

4. Meryl Streep

She sucks so much.

[genxlib]

5. I don't mind her acting

But if i ever see her in a singing role again, I'm out.

[pressbox69]

142. But I hear

children did listen.

[samnsara]

30. whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? lol

[Motley13]

36. I agree

as Lawrence Olivier said, if they know you are acting, you're not doing it right.

Another awful one was Elizabeth Taylor, no talent, just beauty

[ailsagirl]

132. Altho Liz did a great job in Suddenly Last Summer...

I never cared for her acting or her persona

All that excess!!

[whathehell]

38. Huh?

How, and in what universe could Meryl Streep "suck do much"?

[CTyankee]

59. NO, NO, NO!

Why do you say this?

[FM123]

77. Oh, no.....

I loved her in Sophie's Choice, one of my favorite films

[Duppers]

109. Gawd no, I disagree - her acting amazes me.

But don't make me listen to her sing.

[Shrek]

111. She's awful

Probably not the worst actress ever, but certainly the worst to ever get paid money for it.

[ailsagirl]

123. Really???????

IMO, she's quite extraordinary

But then, my best friend can't STAND her so...

[Shrek]

129. Your best friend is remarkably perceptive and a fine judge of talent

[ailsagirl]

130. Right back atcha'!

She and I don't always agree on actors/singers/movies

[The Wielding Truth]

6. Gee. I like them all.

[LisaM]

7. Clint Eastwood.

The kid who played Little Richie on "Dick Van Dyke" (one of the worst of all time, IMHO)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Anyone who stars in a super hero movie
Diane Keaton
I'll agree on Adam Sandler
Jamie Foxx
Tom Cruise
Kristen Wiig


I get your picking some of the ones you did, but I liked Johnny Depp in "Finding Neverland" and I liked Kate Hudson in "Almost Famous".

[smirkymonkey]

13. I'll agree with most of those, but I do like Diane Keaton in the Woody Allen

films. She's got a quirky sort of charm about her.

[ailsagirl]

131. She definitely does

[KT2000]

26. not Jamie Foxx

he truly submerges himself into his roles. Always impressed with him.

[LisaM]

47. I think he basically does imitations.

He's good at that, but I don't equate it with really fine acting.

[irisblue]

98. Jamie Foxx in ' The Soloist' 2009

Yeah white guy ( Robert J Downey) saving Jamie Foxx....go see how Foxx disappears into The Soloist.

[brush]

58. Jamie Foxx was great in the Ray Charles flick

[NBachers]

62. Did you see Jamie Foxx in the Ray Charles movie? However, I agree on Adam Sandler.

[LisaM]

63. Again, to me, that's just an imitation.

I should state up front, I'm not an enormous fan of biopics for the most part, with some exceptions, like "Henry and June".

[JonLP24]

70. He did some massive prep with that role

Loved Jamie Foxx in the only Tom Cruise movie I like Collateral but as a former cab driver I'm probably biased. He can do comedy, action, drama very talented in many areas.

[Laffy Kat]

86. So true. That Little Richie kid was horrible.

Just read lines in a flat voice. Of course, he was little more than a prop on the show. BTW, I loved the series and still do.

[Laffy Kat]

87. Jennifer Aniston.

She plays the exact same character in every movie. She was also in just about every movie for a few years and I got so tired of her.

[spooky3]

103. Agree; it is all Rachel, all the time. Even in her commercials.

[Willie Pep]

110. Good point I never thought about that.

I have seen a bunch of her movies because my buddy has a crush on her and makes me go whenever a new Aniston film comes out but yeah she kind of plays the same character in every film.

For a male actor I would have to say Mark Wahlberg is similar.

[LisaM]

89. Well, compare him to Little Ricky and to Opie.

They were miles better. Richie would just stand there and shout, "DID YOU BRING ME ANYTHING FROM WORK DADDY".

They solved the problem by sending him to bed at what seemed to be about 6:00 every night.

[bdtrppr6]

8. agree with most of your list

but I would say Bill Nighy is the least known/talked about of the bunch. I've seen him in a number of films besides the stupid pirates catastophes and always thought he was a decent actor. rarely see him getting a lot of media attention, but maybe that's cuz i don't follow much of that.

adam sandler and depp are the absolute dregs. instantly shun anything they are in. used to enjoy depp a little, but never found sandler funny in the least.

Jack's just Jack, love him or hate him.

[smirkymonkey]

16. The problem I have with Bill Nighy is that I am always aware of him acting.

It's very distracting. It's the same problem I have w/ Keira Knightly. They are just too self-conscious.

[LisaM]

49. I like how hammy Bill Nighy is.

Very 1940s, IMO.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

12. While Johnny Depp may be overrated, but Leonardo DiCaprio.......

Has done some impressive work over the years, which he has garnered 3 Oscar nods with one deserved win.

The Basketball Diaries
The Departed
The Aviator
Gangs of New York
The Revenant

[smirkymonkey]

20. He's not terrible, but I don't think he deserves the reputation that he has.

Also, I think he looks like a rat. I can't help it, there is just something about him that is rodent-like to me.

[JonLP24]

71. He was very good in Basketball Diaries

[lunatica]

96. He also did a great job in This Boy's Life

With Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barking. And he played a mentally challenge kid in What's Eating Gilbert Grape when he was a boy.

He's impressive just like Meryl Streep is. Their range is quite wide and their acting is believable to me.

[cyclonefence]

113. Catch Me If You Can

[ProudMNDemocrat]

117. Yes...I forgot that one.

[lapfog_1]

14. Nicolas Cage

Mel Gibson

[OregonBlue]

34. Keanu Reeves, Liam Neeson. Many of the people on your list have done some really amazing

movies. They deserved the Oscars they got. But it bothers me when people like Neeson, who did Schindler's List, sell out and end up doing mindless, totally stupid, totally macho, superhero movies. And at his age it's just ridiculous. In fact I love the commercials where Pierce Brosnan is making fun of himself for wanting the plot of the commercial he is being pitched to be all spy vs. spy and shoot em up bang and it's really just a nice car commercial with a lovely woman. He knows when to act his age.

[smirkymonkey]

48. I agree with Keanu Reeves, but I love Liam Neeson.

Have you ever seen Michael Collins? He was amazing in that!

[OregonBlue]

116. He can do amazing work. It's too bad he chooses to do those stupid superhero films.

[Bluepinky]

107. Nicolas Cage is the worst.

Keanu Reeves is pretty bad too.
And I need to add Ben Affleck, he’s good looking but not a great actor.

Julia Roberts is one of my least favorite female actresses.

[Chasstev365]

17. Jack Nicholson, Merryl Streep, Tom Cruise, and Wil Ferrell

[smirkymonkey]

50. I generally hate Will Ferrell, but there was one film I liked w/ him in it.

Blades of Glory w/ Jon Hader, Amy Pohler and Will Arnett. Of course the cast carried him, but it was a very funny movie.

[JonLP24]

73. I actually hated that movie and I love Will Ferrell

My favorite is probably Casa de mi Padre

[pressbox69]

143. Ironweed.

Nicholson and Streep were great in Ironweed.

[pangaia]

18. Mel Gibson

And.. Not Matt Damon, the other guy...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. Mel Gibson has actually done some very good work

before he went batshit crazy. He was excellent in The Year of Living Dangerously and Gallipoli.

[pangaia]

44. Was he In gallipoli? I forgot that.. great flick

Didn't see the other one.

The one I really didn't like him in was We Were Soldiers.

But then, I also didn;t like that they changed the title from the book, because "We were soldiers once.. and young" says so much...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

124. They not only changed the title, ...

... they made the movie from the first half of the book only. And, changed the ending to a glorious U.S. victory with helicopter gunships and all making a heroic charge at the enemy stronghold. The book tells it differently.

[pangaia]

125. Right, of cousre.

I didn;t mind so much leaving out the fight at LZ Albany just because of time, I guess,

But the freakin' stupid ending !!!

What a sick joke.
I wonder if that was Gibson's idea.

[Wwcd]

19. Keira? My Keira Knightley? 😞Take her off the list !

She's georgeous, love her movies

Pride and Prejudice, Atonement..

[smirkymonkey]

23. Oh! She's the worst! I am always so aware of the fact that she is acting.

She is so un-natural. I am so distracted by her self-consciousness. She ruins every film that she is in.

[Wwcd]

27. Not for me, I love her movies. Not a fan of Pirates, but Pride & Prejiduce won me over..

[MaryMagdaline]

52. Yes I was so unhappy when she was caste in

Pride and Prejudice but she did a great job!

[Wwcd]

81. I think she played her character perfectly.

Its such a great classic story anyway & to play her character as she did was a pure joy to watch that movie, ..several times too! ☺

[PassingFair]

100. She acts with her teeth!

Ghastly!

[chelsea0011]

37. Agreed. She's terrific.

[LisaM]

51. The "Pride and Prejudice" movie she was in was so bad it was hard to tell.

I liked her all right in "Love, Actually", though the role didn't exactly stretch her acting chops.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

78. Just because someone

is on the list does not make them a bad actor or actress. It's one persons list.

[Wwcd]

82. Certainly. I like Knightley

Thanks

[Codeine]

93. Shes awful. Sets my teeth on edge just

listening to her try to emote.

[klook]

127. When I saw her in "Bend It Like Beckham"

I knew she was going to hit the big time. I liked her in that, in the Alan Turing movie with Benedict Cumberbatch (The Enigma Machine?) and in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Haven't seen her in anything else, except a short public awareness film about spousal abuse -- which was chilling and very well done.

It also doesn't hurt that she's gorgeous.

[heaven05]

22. johnny depp

is a brilliant character actor.... In fact your list has no merit in this corner, but judge on, tis your right to be wrong.

[smirkymonkey]

24. Actually, there is one movie I liked him in - "From Hell".

I thought he was pretty good in that. He's not terrible, but I just don't think he is as amazing as people make him out to be.

[heaven05]

28. did you ever

see the movie Chocolat'? Juliette Binoche, Judy Dench, Alfred Molina, Carrie-Anne Moss...? I really liked that one.

[smirkymonkey]

45. Oh yes, I did like that one too.

I forgot about that. It was a long time ago.

[Bayard]

74. I think Depp has done some fairly amazing stuff

Don't care if they are quirky.....Bennie & Joon, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands. Actually, a young Leonardo DiCaprio was fabulous in Gilbert Grape.

I just don't like Cruise.

[MaryMagdaline]

84. He was great in Chocolat!

[TlalocW]

57. Johnny Depp joke

Depp's Agent: So Johnny, we've got a new script for you to look at. You'd be playing kind of an unconventional, quirky...
Depp: I'm in.

TlalocW

[samnsara]

29. Bill Murray.... Shelly Duvall

[irisblue]

99. Hey now Bill Murray, Zombieland 2009. Worth some of his prev poor choices

[ailsagirl]

133. Bill Murray was pretty funny in Tootsie

That's about all I know him in

[tymorial]

32. Cruise.

[ailsagirl]

120. YES!!

That name came to mind immediately!

[TubbersUK]

33. Adam Sandler and Tom Cruise would definitely make my list

plus, very possibly, Gwynnth Paltrow.

[Freethinker65]

35. Gwynnth Paltrow was my choice too

[Skittles]

40. Halle Berry

sorry, I think she is just plain awful

[ailsagirl]

121. Agreed

[Fiendish Thingy]

43. Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johanssen nt

[TlalocW]

53. Marlon Brando

He's always been hit and miss with me, and I don't think he deserves the reputation he has.

TlalocW

[VOX]

60. He was brilliant, in his own way, but his choice of roles was poor...

He was often at war with himself in his craft -- gifted, but incredibly lazy. He admitted that he got bored easily, and hated memorizing scripts. He finally got fitted with an earpiece so an assistant could feed him lines undetected. Although possibly apocryphal, it's been written that his earpiece occasionally picked up signals from nearby police scanners.

Johnny Depp has used an earpiece since he saw Brando using one while the two made "Don Juan DeMarco." I've also read that Al Pacino uses earpieces.

[LeftInTX]

65. Was gonna say him too.

He won an academy award for his role in tbe Godfather. All he does his mumble.
All the other actors are acting, while he sits around and mumbles.

[MaryMagdaline]

54. Gwynneth Paltrow is great

One of few Americans who can do an English accent. She can do comedy as well as drama

One of my favorites: Flesh and Bone.

[MaryMagdaline]

56. Robert DeNIRO

Love him but so overrated

[Ferrets are Cool]

55. Remove Jack for sure...most of the others are

not worthy of your list. Leboeuf and Nighy I would leave on it.
And add Jennifer Garner.

[hurl]

61. Adam Sandler

Never got why people thought he was funny.

[rurallib]

64. I will second that

[Iggo]

66. Watch the first ten minutes of Billy Madison, then turn it off.

You'll never watch another minute of that hack ever again.

[yonder]

105. I will third, fourth, seventh that...

whatever it takes. He's always got this "look at me, I'm so funny" grin on his mug. Maybe he can't help it but I don't have to like it.

[Kaleva]

67. I think some are confusing over-rated movie stars with over-rated actors

I rarely hear anyone try and argue that Tom Cruise is a great actor, although he has been nominated for an Academy Award 3 times, but there's little argument that he is either Hollywood's #1 movie star or very near it. His record as a box office draw speaks for itself.

If you were asking which on the list was an over-rated actor, I'd say Adam Sandler. He hasn't been nominated for a single award.

[Blue_Adept]

114. A lot of what people feel is overrated is influenced by the reporting on them

That adds to the perception because you see "the real person" more than their roles and it becomes impossible to view them as actors.

[matt819]

68. Tom cruise

Adam Sandler

Both seriously overrated.

[JonLP24]

72. I don't think Adam Sandler is overrated

Especially since no o e has watched his films since the 90s

[smirkymonkey]

75. Actually, The Wedding Singer was pretty good.

Corny, but I liked it and I thought he was good in it.

[Generic Brad]

76. None of them

You either like them or you don't. Who is rating them anyway?

[obnoxiousdrunk]

80. That's about it.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

90. 👍🏻

[Midwestern Democrat]

95. Well, this kind of question is always a matter of individual opinion. I think everyone has three

lists of actors/actresses: 1) Those you feel deserved the level they reached 2) Those you feel didn't deserve the level they reached 3) Those you feel should have had a better career than they did

[RandySF]

79. Tom Hanks

[ailsagirl]

138. Interestingly, I think he did better on TV than in films

Bosom Buddies was pretty funny (although a wee bit sophomoric)

But I love him because he's a staunch Dem!!

[RandySF]

139. The Burbs is still my favorite Hanks movie.

[ailsagirl]

140. I'll have to catch that, now that I have Netflix

[Corvo Bianco]

85. Did you see Tobey in Brothers?

I don't like that Jonah Hill or Ryan Gosling.

[hibbing]

88. Caveat on Adam Sandler - Reign Over Me

I thought that movie was very powerful and he was excellent in it, I can't stand any of this comedies.


Peace

[Codeine]

92. I agree right up until Leo.

I think he’s very good, actually.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

97. This is an interesting thread, but I see some things to think about

"Overrated" in acting implies (to me anyway) thoughts like "how does this actor stay employed (Sondra Locke leaps to mind)" or why does this person keep getting Oscar nominations (I suppose you could insert Streep or DiCaprio here).

Looking at the original list:

Jack Nicholson
Adam Sandler
Johnny Depp
Gwynnth Paltrow

This is an exceptionally talented group that, at some point in their career, put it on autopilot. DeNiro also falls into this category. Once in a while, they'll do something interesting, but mostly, it's mailed in. With exceptions lie "About Schmidt" and (sorta) "A Few Good Men", Jack has mailed it in since "Reds." Other than "Awakenings" and (sorta) "Goodfellas", DeNiro essentially plays the same guy again and again. Sometimes the guy is a cop, sometimes a mobster, but he's the same guy.

Tobey Maguire

He's small abd boyish. There's just a limited number of roles a guy like that in Hollywood is going to get. Similar issue for Jonah Hill, who is immensely talented, but there are just a limited number of roles he's realistically going to get.

Not on the first list

Woody Allen
Mel Gibson

They have both done incredible directing. Allen essentially plays the same character in every film.Gibson did incredible work in his early career (The Year of Living Dangerously, Gallipoli). The problem is that they have proven to be awful humans offscreen.


Clint Eastwood

See "Wayne, John" - he created very memorable characters and got some incredibly quotable lines. He's a brilliant director. He does some brilliant work early; then does a series of mostly awful films with Sondra Locke; then does some interesting work again. Like Wayne, his body of work includes quite a number of unmemorable films interspersed among some very memorable work.

[Pholus]

101. James Woods

Seriously, if he wasn't a freeper he'd have stopped getting mentions 15 years ago.

[muntrv]

102. Mark Wahlberg.

[VigilantG]

104. Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Hayden Church

PS Helen Hunt

[SharonClark]

106. Is this based on you seeing all their work or just a movie or two you didn't like?

I can"t name a Wahlburg movie but the rest have done some excellent work and provided movie goers with hours of magic. Why do you need to denigrate others? I suspect many of us on DU are "overrated" as well but no one is creating a list.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

118. John Wayne

Beloved by some for his "cowboy" persona, but he really was a one-note wooden actor.

[Auggie]

126. BARBRA STREISAND

[guillaumeb]

128. Donald Trump, for his pathetic attempt at playing a rational human.

Underrated? Mike Pence, for his incredible approximation of a human by an obvious android.

[ailsagirl]

134. hear, hear!!

[Permanut]

135. Mike Meyers..

Sacha Baron Cohen
Ashton Kutcher
Ben Stiller
Christian Bale

[Midwestern Democrat]

136. Here's my thoughts on some of your list:

Last edited Sun Jan 7, 2018, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

Jack Nicholson - he was much more interesting in the 1970s, but he started coasting from the '80s forward

Julia Roberts - not sure anyone ever thought she was a great actress - she was the Elizabeth Taylor of her day - a huge box office draw

Tobey Maguire - as mentioned below, a small, boyish type who's career inevitably slowed once he got too old to play young men

Adam Sandler - I'm not a fan and was shocked that he managed to go higher than having a typical SNL comedian career (i.e. David Spader, Chris Farley, etc) but "The Wedding Singer" put him in a higher stardom bracket and he was able to parlay that momentum into several years of top comedy film stardom

Johnny Depp - a genuine talent who lost his way

Gwynnth Paltrow - she was given an enormous build up in the 1990s as a Hollywood princess/Grace Kelly type but that kind of image is very hard to maintain past your 20s

Leonardo DiCaprio - a genuine talent who unlike Depp has managed to not lose his way

[Wolf Frankula]

137. James Dean

In "Rebel Without a Cause" (James Dean without a clue), Giant, East of Eden. In every movie he's the same. Imagine him at sixty, still trying to play the pucker faced punk.

Wolf

[pressbox69]

144. Dean was great

on TV, before he became a movie star. Look for him in I'm A Fool with Natalie Wood and Eddie Albert. On a GE Theater episode he played an escaped con who terrorizes Ronald Reagan and his family.

[pressbox69]

145. My choice is Daniel Day Lewis.

How many Oscars are they going to give this guy? Okay with My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood but Lincoln was boring. Should we start calling him Mr. Kate Hepburn or Mr Meryl Streep? More likely the Walter Brennan of our times.There's talk about handing him another one this year, sheesh enough is enough. Let Gary Oldman have a little gold.