Top 10 Worst Performances by Good Actors

Mark Wahlberg has proven himself to be a good actor for over 20 years now. But under the direction of M. Night Shyamalan, you swear it looks like he's never even acted before. In this movie, he sounds like a toddler learning how to speak. But you can't really blame him. With dialogue written this badly, MARLON BRANDO would struggle to give a good performance in this movie. With a script as poor as this, accompanied by Shyamalan's poor direction, poor Wahlberg was left out to dry. The result is one of the most unintentionally funny performances given in a movie. Case in point: "What? No!"

Russell Crowe has starred in many critically acclaimed movies throughout his career. However, he's also been in a number of awful movies. For every Gladiator, there's a Robin Hood. For every Beautiful Mind, there's a Good Year. Crowe is also not that good of a singer. So, in a movie where he's surrounded by talented vocalists and each actor is forced to sing live on camera rather than being dubbed over later, he's going to stick out like a sore thumb. The result is an uncomfortably awkward performance with cringe-inducing singing and unintentional hilarity. "AND I'M JAVERT!"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but while I haven't watched After Earth (I think it's best I don't waste time on a movie I already know people dislike), I believe Will Smith's son Jaden starred alongside him in this movie. Granted, while Will Smith is a good actor in general and was cast in a role that doesn't fit him, Jaden was just too try-hard at being emotional. It makes you think he's trying too hard to be as good of an actor as his father. I would put Jaden Smith on the list, but considering I've never really heard of any good performances by him as an actor, I wouldn't really put him on the list.

Jeremy Irons is known for his theatrical style of acting throughout his career. Hell, he even started as a classically trained Shakespearean actor. I guess that's one way to make sense of this gloriously awful over-the-top performance in a film based on a board game. There's more ham in Irons' performance here than at a Christmas dinner. Is it entertaining? Yes. Is it good acting? Definitely not.

Tommy Lee Jones is known for playing tough characters with rough, stoic demeanors, such as in the Men in Black series and in No Country for Old Men. Joel Schumacher directed a performance that was unlike any that Jones had given in his career before or since. And that's not a compliment. His over-the-top portrayal of Harvey Dent/Two-Face does not gel particularly well with the movie as a whole. It's insane to believe that Jones in this movie and Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight are playing the exact same character.

Another awful performance in a Batman movie. George Clooney thanks his stars every day that Christopher Nolan wiped away much of the pain that Batman & Robin left behind. Consistently cited as one of the worst films ever made, Batman & Robin takes reasonably good actors and makes complete fools of them. Nowhere is that more obvious than with George Clooney. Clooney has done tons of good work as an actor and director over the years, but this performance is just embarrassing on all levels. From some of the cheesiest one-liners ever put in a movie to his ridiculous suit and the BAT CREDIT CARD, this was definitely a low point in Clooney's successful film career.

Brad Pitt is an actor that people seem to either love or hate. Some say he's a truly talented thespian capable of pulling off a variety of roles. Others write him off as an untalented hack who only gets work because of his looks. Personally, I believe that Pitt is a good actor. His performances in Fight Club, Inglourious Basterds, and Moneyball are just a few examples to back up this claim. In the case of Troy, however, it's clear that he was only cast because he looked the part of Achilles. Pitt tries his best in the film, but his accent seems to appear and disappear throughout the movie, and some of his line readings, like "You sack of wine!" are laughably bad.

Kevin Spacey is revered by many as one of the greatest dramatic actors of the last 30 years. The Usual Suspects, House of Cards, American Beauty, Seven, and L.A. Confidential represent just some of his best work. It's amazing to believe that a movie with a relatively large budget, big-name stars, and a decent Hollywood director is as awful and as cheap-looking as this film. Kevin Spacey is only on screen a third of the time. The rest of the time, he's providing the voice of a poorly CGI'd cat, where you can tell that he doesn't care about this movie at all - just like everybody else.

The trend of video game movies being awful is nothing new. And nowhere is that more apparent than in 1993's film adaptation of Super Mario Bros. Dennis Hopper, famous for his roles in Apocalypse Now and Easy Rider, portrays the movie's antagonist King Koopa. Similar to Jeremy Irons, Hopper gives an awful over-the-top performance in a movie that's just a disaster in every area.

I cringed at her acting. She somehow managed to be worse than Brie Larson.

(Balme Abrasax) Abnormal mix of melodramatic murmuring for the most part, but over-the-top screaming when he is not murmuring. For example: (loudly) I CREATE LIFE! (pause, then quietly) And I destroy it…

Why does such a legendary actor accept the offer to play a piece of crap?

He's so over the top in this film.