There is a feeling often conveyed in retrospection by the Hollywood A-listers of the Tinseltown, that Hollywood was just like a normal place of employment for them, nothing more than that.
It is disheartening to hear that it was just a matter of great luck for them to enter the industry, never a passion and skill mastered from childhood or early puberty when there are more competent and efficient talents waiting outside for a single chance. Worse is the fact that let alone mastering the art of action and reaction, sometimes they are horrible in their job, still having the tag of a bankable star.
Film as an audio-visual medium is never constrained by the limited acting capability of its cast, even if they showcase the worst acting in the entire world, as it encompasses more traits than that. However, in the case of a more traditional narrative cinema, the acting is a large driving vehicle of its quality.
This article is neither meant to promote hate-mongering towards a particular actor nor to arouse a negative outlook, but to alert the audience to become steer clear of the filmography of a certain person, as it entails more misses than hits, considering that one is not interested in campy fun. After all, no one wants to have a bad time at the cinema.
Sometimes, it is required essentially to conceal the horrific performances in a film with superfluous CGI to save some money from going down the drain. Again, The mediocrity and atrocity in the name of the art that acting is, are often exemplified in a passive way by the audiences, when the ticket sales grow regardless of the quality, as it proves to the studio executives that trash often sells well.
This article excludes the name of the actors who have occasionally showed their acting talents despite their frequent cheap film appearances, such as Adam Sandler in “Punch-Drunk-Love”, “The Meyerowitz Stories” and Owen Wilson in “Midnight in Paris”, “The Royal Tenenbaums” etc; and who has managed to create a balanced filmography, despite having some worst acts in screen, like Ben Affleck and Nicholas Cage etc. Without further ado, here is the list of the terrible actors who won the Hollywood lottery.
1. Mark Wahlberg
Some actors look better when being typecast than not, because of their limited or absent acting capabilities. Mark Wahlberg is one of the flag bearers of that brigade, who looks convincing when typecast in the “tough guy” roles, taking various forms such as police officer, army or convict etc, but outside that comfort zone shows morbid performance.
Although this is not clearly evident at first, but a closer inspection rewards the onlooker with the understanding, that his most acclaimed role in “Boogie Nights” only required him to act a stoner, and “Colin Sullivan”, his academy award nominating role in “The Departed” as a mole in the police force, was his familiar ground of being a gangster or criminal i.e. another example of a tough guy portrayal.
Any performance art demands the executant to draw inspirations from his personal life experience and his moral, social values, which shapes a person outside the realm of his profession, and this point can be made about Wahlberg too.
This ex-rapper of the group “Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch” has a troubled history with the civil law, regarding his repeated assault and hatred towards the black and non-native peoples of America, and his random attacks against his neighbors in the past, borderlines him to be a sociopath.
The masculine, tough guy fictional roles in Hollywood frequently comes closer in inhabiting sociopathic tendency and motivations. So, In this case, too, It is not a surprise that psychoanalysis can prove easily an immediate relation between his real and reel life personas. Still, he is one of the most bankable and highest paid actors in Hollywood.
2. Jessica Alba
Once at a time, Glamour and beauty was the determining cornerstone of a film’s success in Hollywood. Things have changed with time, with the increased presence of everyman looks in its leads; still, there is a significant portion of stars who are only hired for their ravishing presence in the screen.
Frequently featured in tabloids as one of the most beautiful and desired women, Jessica Alba, is one of the prime examples, who has only been manipulated by the Hollywood industry for their pretty faces, ignoring all the other aspects. She even alleged a director of misconduct, who was only interested in her looking pretty and threw upsetting remarks about her acting skills.
If only judged by her acting capability she should have never been secured a place in the film industry, but the industry cares less about that aspect when beauty is also to be considered. After a convincing turn in the web series “Dark Angel” in the starting phase of her career, her filmography only turned worse with time.
3. Jason Statham
Jason Statham, the poster child of modern action blockbusters, never had the burden to convince the audience of his acting skills, and when the script demanded a little maturity from his part, the results were nothing short of a disaster.
An uninitiated viewer can easily comprehend the lack of depth in his acting, but with time, bombarded with his numeral incomprehensible action flicks, a veteran would almost start to ignore his acting part and care about the silly campy fun, that can only be made out of such hilariously disastrous films.
Starting his career with British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, this former model slowly started to only comprise the role of action stars in blockbuster franchises of Hollywood. It is probably the time when the famous wooden expression of him, started to settle in the face.
At present, He has the “Fast & the Furious” and “The Expendables” Franchise in his hand, and a new film is coming out of the “Fast & the Furious” franchise in 2019, which is again anticipated to have a big opening. Who cares about art when the money is coming, huh?
4. Dwayne Johnson
The trend of shifting one’s successful career from wrestling to acting is often observed in Hollywood, despite the dismal quality of films that follows it. Dwayne Johnson, previously known as “The Rock” in the WWE arena, can find a companion in Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, John Cena etc who also interchanged their profession routinely.
He is a respected and likable character in the Hollywood circuit because of his professional work ethics and personal behavior, but that can’t excuse his exceptionally poor acting performances in feature films. His trademark smiling face goes well with the teenage audience along with his action lineage, which is again eagerly manipulated by the industry as a money-making vehicle.
He is another great example of Hollywood typecasting, who always gets his role on the basis of his muscular figure, not acting skills. In fact, A strong man may face injury less than the general populace, but when faced such a fate, the expression should have to be present in the face, which is missed forever in his case.
Like the previous entry in the list, he too has the “Fast & the Furious” franchise in his hand along with his own “Jumanji” series, which are scheduled to be released in this year.
5. Zac Efron
Teenage heart-throbs often mature in their job, polishing the acting skills carefully, with age. This is not the case of the “High School Musical” star, who once caught the fancy of young teenage girls in early 2007. With time, he proved that the only weapon in his armory to spell the audience is his pretty face and admirable body.
Staring in films, which demanded nothing from him except his own persona, he never took the training required to capture the audience attention for long. Even in films like “Dirty Grandpa”, which featured underpowered and perverted acts from respected actors, he flabbergasted the critics with his scum acting, when there was a big chance to prove his potential.
The date is not too distant when he would be forgotten from the mass conscience; however, it is a significant time for him to gather large paychecks. Props are certainly costly in Hollywood!