I Hate Big-Name Actors! Am I Alone On This?

[Mr. DS]

I'll add in Orlando Bloom into the mix. I figured after LOTR he would have advanced as an actor.  I was wrong. 

[Allhallowsday]

For me it really depends on the movie/genre and not to mention the actor.
Theres some "big names" I've always enjoyed films from in the past.  Don't forget, Ah-nold was arguably a big name in Hollywood and put out some great films.  Granted he more or less played the same guy in every film but it worked. Same thing went for Eastwood during his peak. If this isn't the kind of "big name" you're referring to then correct me.
Then theres the actors that I see on a DVD case and run away from like the wind...well...lets see...
Sean Penn (haven't seen a film yet that inspires me)
Morgan Freeman (same old sh*t constantly)
Tom Cruise (over dramatic)
Jennifer Aniston (she plays the role she had on friends in every movie)
Owen Wilson (awful comedic acting)
Sandra Bullock (she killed the Speed movies and I can't figure out why people find her hot)
Adam Sandler (I don't think I've ever laughed at him)
Shia Lebouf (his comedic acting kills me)
Hayden Christiansen (thanks to the prequels)...Theres more but I'll probably list them later.

Well there's no one on that list I'd want to save... except maybe MORGAN FREEMAN who has a persona I like.  That said, an actor has never prompted me to see a film, and never will.  Where's the story?  I don't want big names, big breasts, light shows or special effects (not to say these things don't have their place  ) but just give me a story, well told. 
I don't care for: ALIMACGRAWROBERTTAYLORYAHOOSERIOUSTOMCRUISEBRADPITTPAULAPRENTISSPAULYSHOREVINCEVAUGHNANDYDICKJERRYLEWIS...

[CheezeFlixz]

This may be mostly true today, but it wasn't always true.  I do NOT hate big name actors like:

* Paul Newman
* Humphrey Bogart
* James Stewart
* Lauren Bacall
* John Wayne
* Spencer Tracy
* James Cagney
* Kim Novak
* Cary Grant
* The Marx Brothers
* Sidney Poitier
* Dustin Hoffman
* Grace Kelly
* Al Pacino (at least for the early part of his career)
* Robert DeNiro (at least for the early part of his career)
* Claude Rains


. . . and the list goes on and on . . .

I agree with this, these actors use to make movies about the movie and not them.

Todays actors suck! Most of the movies I watch have no name actors in them ...

Now some small exceptions,
Sid Haig
Tim Thomerson
Lloyd Kaufman

and a few others.

[Hammock Rider]

I've gotten over my dislike of Tom Cruise, and Brad Pitt for the moment, because they both have recently tackled roles that required some actual skill (Cruise in "Tropic Thunder" and Pitt in "Burn After Reading")

One guy I will never understand as a Big-Name is George Clooney.  He and Joel Schumacher almost killed the Batman films for god's sake.  In every single movie, he plays the same kind of guy, speaking in that same, worn out, sarcastic tone of voice.  It just drives me nuts every time he opens his mouth now. 

  American Dad spanked Clooney good on one of their episodes. The wife blamed Clooney for stealing a scene she was in as a young actress and thereby wrecked any chance she felt she had to become a star. The husband, Stan, uses his CIA contacts to establish a crack-team of former assassin,s analysts, profilers and spys to get revenge for her by doing the one thing nobody else has ever been able to do, break Clooney's heart.   I think South Park did an episode where a cloud of smugness emitted by Clooney during an Oscar speech threatened the little town.
  Then again even the twentysomethings I  work with think he's hot. They like his voice and confidence. So I dunno know. I'm just glad people aren't wearing that dumb-ass haircut of his anymore.

[Doggett]

I like some people I like:

Tom Hanks
Morgan Freeman
Michelle Pfeiffer
Lea Thompson (she's doing crime dramas called Jane Doe, they can be seen on Five occasionally)
Denzel Washington
Will Smith
Dustin Hoffman (His cpt. Hook is brilliant!!!!Best. Villian. Ever. Forget Heath Ledger)
Jennifer Tilly
Brad Dourif
Robert Englund



Less of the hate, guys.

[Mr. DS]

Heres one I'm ashamed at myself for forgetting.  David f'n Caruso.     In the realm of bad acting, he has excelled past all expectations. 

[zombie no.one]

yeah the whole 'star first, movie second'/identical roles in every film thing is annoying. the stars become brands, brands have to be reliable...etcetera.

[AndyC]

Heres one I'm ashamed at myself for forgetting.  David f'n Caruso.     In the realm of bad acting, he has excelled past all expectations. 

But he's gone straight through bad and into funny as hell.

Definitely Tom Cruise in Valkyrie sprang immediately to mind. The plot to kill Hitler is a fascinating piece of history, and ideal movie material, but cast Cruise as Stauffenberg and I immediately get apprehensive. It's not even that he's necessarily a bad choice. He does at least look the part. But Cruise's movies are usually vehicles for Tom Cruise. Not what I'd want the movie to be.

I agree that Cruise's performance in Tropic Thunder was great, but he's still known more as a "movie star" than as an actor. And, as others have said, most movie stars are just too big to blend into a role and convincingly become someone else. Most, Cruise included, are at their best when playing basically the same character, tailor-made for them, in movies where it doesn't matter that they stick out like a sore thumb. Arnie was mentioned, and he'd probably be the first to admit he was a big star but not much of an actor. Didn't matter. He was playing Americans with names like Doug Quaid using a thick Austrian accent and nobody cared. People wanted to see Arnie shoot people, blow things up and spout one-liners. The character was secondary.

Many of the stars named as good or tolerable (Jimmy Stewart, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, etc.) earned their stardom by being good actors. Or, like Arnold and John Wayne before him, stuck mainly to what they were good at.

We almost need to do away with blanket terms and have specific categories for stars, like celebrated actor, action hero and something else for the window dressing. Box-office bait, perhaps?

[CheezeFlixz]

There are few actors in movies today ... some that come to mind that I don't have a mental image of who they are, are people like ...

Kevin Spacey
Tim Roth
Tom Hanks
Dustin Hoffman
Ed Norton
Kenneth Branagh
Paul Giamatti
Bob Hoskins
Anthony Hopkins
and a few others.

[RCMerchant]

.Adam Sandler-I NEVER find this guy funny. Even on SNL.
.David Spade-Same as Sandler-not funny.Annoying little boy man. Annoying little gnat.
.Charles Bronsan-I dunno-Seems full of himself.
.Woody Allen-I have NEVER seen the humor in his movies. Whiney shmuck.
.Will Smith-no comment.
.Paris Hilton-WHY!?!?!Why is this women in films?!?!?
.Tom Cruise-Pretty boy.
.Hugh Grant-ugh!
.Eddie Murphey-His voice just annoys the HELL out of me. He should have stayed to SNL.
.Chevy Chase-Smug. Just wanna slap him.
  Actually,most SNL stars should be forbidden to make the jump into films.Dan Akryod is wooden.Jim Belushi is a bad version of his more famous brother.Though I find Will Ferral funny on SNL,a whole film with him in it is too much.Never found Steve Martin to be funny even on TV.

OK...actors I think should get MORE screen time....
.Sid Haig!!!-Bless his heart! I love the guy.
.PAM GRIER!!!!
.David Carridine!!!-I dunno....just kinda laid back cool.
.John Saxon-I dunno-the guys been around forever. He deserves more roles.
.Mary Wornov-I just love her! She just always seems to be having so much fun.
.Micheal Rooker-He should be a big name by now. Why isn't he?
.John Hurt-Now this guy is a REAL actor!
.

[peter johnson]

RCMerchant:
You'll be enchanted to know, I'm sure, that the Boulder International Film Festival is honoring Chevy Chase in person this year, for his "Contributions to Comedy" . . . Well, Klaus Kinski is dead, and so's Lee Van Cleef, so I guess Chase is every bit as funny as they were . . .
And, oh, you better hurry & order your tickets, 'cause the opening-night keynote address by Chase costs a mere $75, so I bet people will be snapping those up like hotcakes . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

[RCMerchant]

RCMerchant:
You'll be enchanted to know, I'm sure, that the Boulder International Film Festival is honoring Chevy Chase in person this year, for his "Contributions to Comedy" . . . Well, Klaus Kinski is dead, and so's Lee Van Cleef, so I guess Chase is every bit as funny as they were . . .
And, oh, you better hurry & order your tickets, 'cause the opening-night keynote address by Chase costs a mere $75, so I bet people will be snapping those up like hotcakes . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

Compared to Chevy Chase,Lee Van Cleef is hilarous. And Chevy may not be dead...but his carrear seems to be.

[Fishasaurus]

I don't hate big-name actors but I do get tired of them.  Did anyone but me read the book that The Changeling was based on?  Every actor, many of them unknown to me, was almost a carbon copy of the real-life person until you got to Angelina Jolie.

[AndyC]

I don't hate big-name actors but I do get tired of them.  Did anyone but me read the book that The Changeling was based on?  Every actor, many of them unknown to me, was almost a carbon copy of the real-life person until you got to Angelina Jolie.

Exactly. It's jarring, isn't it? It's as if the star clashes with the movie.

[Kate]

I'm just gonna go ahead and put this out there - As much as we all hate Tom Cruise now, he did happen to make an excellent Lestat...

That is all.