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Actors who are overly mannered

Stockard Channing is the first that comes to mind for me. I've seen her three times on stage, and she was shockingly bad each time. She also doesn't look other actors in the eyes, which is incredibly distracting.

(Granted, I never saw her supposedly sublime performance in 'Six Degrees of Separation.')

by Anonymousreply 120July 25, 2020 9:37 AM

You rang?

by Anonymousreply 1May 15, 2015 8:21 PM

Judith Light. She seems like a nice lady, but is stiff and overly mannered in all roles I have seen her in, except on "Who's the Boss?".

She was on Law & Order with some distractingly bad nose-in-the-air manner and disjointed way of speaking. She put on that same character in a Lifetime move (I think. I was just flipping the channels).

by Anonymousreply 2May 15, 2015 8:23 PM

Eva Greene. Too self-conscious and neurotic to ever be a convincing actress. A later day Tippi Hedren.

Nice tits though.

by Anonymousreply 3May 15, 2015 8:41 PM

Meryl

by Anonymousreply 4May 15, 2015 8:43 PM

Jeremy Davies, the guy from creep David O. Russell's disgusting mom-fucking fantasy, Spanking The Monkey. He was in Solaris 2002 as well. So many vague hand gestures.

by Anonymousreply 5May 15, 2015 8:45 PM

Paging Blythe Danner, Ms. Danner please pick up the blue courtesy phone.

by Anonymousreply 6May 15, 2015 8:47 PM

Blythe gets a lot of inexplicable love on DL (mostly because she's not her daughter, I suppose). Frankly, she's had as big a career as her talents merited. It's not just a question of being mannered--and she is--but of being pretty limited overall.

by Anonymousreply 7May 15, 2015 8:53 PM

And... Sandy Dennis for the win.

by Anonymousreply 8May 15, 2015 8:58 PM

Tippi Hedren

Janet Leigh

Eva Marie Saint

Lawrence Olivier

Joseph Cotten

Joan Fontaine & Olivia De Havilland

by Anonymousreply 9May 15, 2015 9:06 PM

I forgot Greer Garson

by Anonymousreply 10May 15, 2015 9:09 PM

Deborah Kerr, though not in everything. Olivia DeHavilland in Gone With the Wind.

by Anonymousreply 11May 15, 2015 9:09 PM

So many Method actors became very mannered:

Geraldine Page Shirley Knight Sandy Dennis Al Pacino Even the much-admired Kim Stanley had her overly-mannered moments (watch SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON sometime)

On the British front: Maggie Smith (talking about mannered!) Glenda Jackson, when she was a tad lazy

by Anonymousreply 12May 15, 2015 9:10 PM

Nobody has mentioned Katharine Hepburn?

by Anonymousreply 13May 15, 2015 9:16 PM

No, R13, we're not going to TOUCH La Kate !!

She is timeless & fabulous....

by Anonymousreply 14May 15, 2015 9:18 PM

Teresa Wright & Patricia Neal

But I frigging LOVED Patricia Neal anyway. Go figure.

by Anonymousreply 15May 15, 2015 9:19 PM

G

by Anonymousreply 16May 15, 2015 9:21 PM

"Olivia DeHavilland in Gone With the Wind."

So many of you - and this is a clear example - are confusing a mannered actress with a mannered character.

by Anonymousreply 17May 15, 2015 9:23 PM

Norma Shearer

by Anonymousreply 18May 15, 2015 9:24 PM

Lesley Ann Warren and Jennifer Jason Leigh Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt

by Anonymousreply 19May 15, 2015 9:25 PM

R17 = Little Lord Fauntleroy

by Anonymousreply 20May 15, 2015 9:25 PM

Roddy McDowall.

Why do I get the feeling he was acting like himself always?

by Anonymousreply 21May 15, 2015 9:27 PM

Martin Sheen

Dennis Hopper

Steve Martin

Latter-day Bill Murray

Scarlett Johansen

Christopher Walken gets a pass for his awesome performance in Pennies From Heaven

by Anonymousreply 22May 15, 2015 9:28 PM

"She is timeless & fabulous"

She always talked like she was riding a vibrator.

"The caaaaaahhhhhla lilies aaaaaarrrrre in bloooooom ahhhhhgain."

by Anonymousreply 23May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

[quote]Why do I get the feeling he was acting like himself always?

His voice?

by Anonymousreply 24May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

R5 Jeremy Davies?? He was great in LOST and heartbreaking in Rescue Dawn.

by Anonymousreply 25May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

R17, I think her performance here seems artificial. I don't always feel that way about Olivia. She's wonderful in other films, especially her pairings with Errol Flynn. But she appears to be acting in GWTW; still doesn't keep me from loving the movie though.

by Anonymousreply 26May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

Jessica Lange, your thread is up!

by Anonymousreply 27May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

Miranda Richardson

Matthew McConaughey

Nicholas Cage

Sally Field

Elizabeth Taylor

I agree Al Pacino is the worst, though.

by Anonymousreply 28May 15, 2015 9:29 PM

You people have terrible taste. Most of the performers are great , have distinctive personalities, and have been recognized for their work. Just how boring does acting have to be?

by Anonymousreply 29May 15, 2015 9:47 PM

Very boring.

by Anonymousreply 30May 15, 2015 10:08 PM

Whitney Blake

William Shatner

by Anonymousreply 31May 15, 2015 10:54 PM

The loudmouth father on Scandal. He's exhausting.

by Anonymousreply 32May 15, 2015 10:56 PM

Eric Roberts

by Anonymousreply 33May 15, 2015 11:25 PM

ashley judd

and for shame those of you who said sandy dennis!!!

by Anonymousreply 34May 15, 2015 11:29 PM

Angela Bassett. Watching her mouth act tires me out.

by Anonymousreply 35May 16, 2015 12:43 AM

Stockard Channing used to be MUCH better onstage. She has gotten extremely predictable in her line readings. In "Other Desert Cities" I did the role with her from my seat. I guess it didn't help that it was such a sucky play.

by Anonymousreply 36May 16, 2015 1:51 AM

Joan Crawford

by Anonymousreply 37May 16, 2015 2:33 AM

Peter Lorre, George Sanders, Leslie Howard, Bogart, Cagney, Kurt Douglas, James Dean (poor dear never got the chance to relax), Christopher Walken, Woody Allen, the two Hepburns, Garbo, Dietrich, Maria Casares, Jeanne Moreau, Danielle Darrieux, Monroe, Streisand (Madonna, Bette Midler)

by Anonymousreply 38May 16, 2015 3:13 AM

I mostly love their mannered styles except for Katherine Hepburn's which makes my skin crawl.

by Anonymousreply 39May 16, 2015 3:15 AM

CIcely Tyson, Paul Robeson, Orson Welles

by Anonymousreply 40May 16, 2015 3:16 AM

and me!

by Anonymousreply 41May 16, 2015 3:18 AM

Glenda Jackson

by Anonymousreply 42May 16, 2015 3:19 AM

Ryan Phillippe is near top of the list. Past overly mannered included Polly Bergen and Kitty Carlisle.

by Anonymousreply 43May 16, 2015 10:39 PM

Ryam Phillipe? He can't even act at all. Why include him? Is stonefaced a mannerism? Cate Blanshit and Meryl Streep belong at the top of the list. Maria Bello, Julianne Moore when they aren't trying hard enough.

by Anonymousreply 44May 16, 2015 10:50 PM

Another vote for Ashley Judd. She seems to be reciting lines and following direction from a hidden earpiece, instead of portraying a warm, living, breathing human being, in most of her films. She's even worse on talk shows, where she still seems to be playing a character by displaying her huge vocabulary. She just never seems relaxed.

Anne Hathaway. Every move, every line reading, seems carefully rehearsed.

by Anonymousreply 45May 16, 2015 10:55 PM

No, Anne Hathaway is good. An intuitive actress.

by Anonymousreply 46May 16, 2015 11:00 PM

My vote goes for Miss Betty Buckley. What a hamola!!!' She shouldn't have taken an acting tip or three from me.

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by Anonymousreply 47May 16, 2015 11:01 PM

[quote]Is stonefaced a mannerism

Yes, it is, just like being hammy

by Anonymousreply 48May 16, 2015 11:05 PM

Judith Light is horrendous on Transparent. Horrendous.

by Anonymousreply 49May 16, 2015 11:08 PM

[quote]Jeremy Davies, the guy from creep David O. Russell's disgusting mom-fucking fantasy, Spanking The Monkey. He was in Solaris 2002 as well. So many vague hand gestures.

Jeremy Davis has thing with vague hand gestures and a variation of twitches before he speaks his lines. Unbearable.

by Anonymousreply 50May 16, 2015 11:10 PM

Michael Gothard.

Just a bad actor, period. Completely one note.

by Anonymousreply 51May 16, 2015 11:11 PM

According to this thread, all actors are mannered.

by Anonymousreply 52May 16, 2015 11:11 PM

Julianne Moore ...Seriously.

by Anonymousreply 53May 16, 2015 11:17 PM

Jane Fonda owns this thread. Has she ever created a believable character? She's so self-conscious.

by Anonymousreply 54May 16, 2015 11:20 PM

Christine Baranski

Vanessa Williams

by Anonymousreply 55May 17, 2015 2:28 AM

Viola was always very polite. Always got an extra water for me when she'd go to craft service. She has lovely manners.

by Anonymousreply 56May 17, 2015 2:33 AM

I'm just... what I mean is... would it be too much... to say hello?

by Anonymousreply 57May 17, 2015 2:45 AM

I've always considered Streep very mannered. I can still recall the unbelievably wooden and mannered performance in the first movie that brought her to the attention of the public, "The Deer Hunter", which nonetheless remains in my favorite top ten list. And just about every role she's done since. I like her, but have never understood all the raves.

by Anonymousreply 58May 17, 2015 2:49 AM

Me!

by Anonymousreply 59May 17, 2015 3:05 AM

Jessica Lange and her hands stroking her throat, all that. I like it, but she used to do it a lot.

by Anonymousreply 60May 17, 2015 3:09 AM

R60 finally a valid answer!

by Anonymousreply 61May 17, 2015 5:18 AM

Blanchett owns this thread.

by Anonymousreply 62May 17, 2015 5:33 AM

John Litgow never met a role he couldn't chew the fun out of.

by Anonymousreply 63May 17, 2015 5:34 AM

McConaughey and his hand-talking owns this thread.

by Anonymousreply 64May 17, 2015 5:42 AM

Phylicia Rashad

by Anonymousreply 65May 17, 2015 5:50 AM

Big and Little Edie Beale of East Hampton.

by Anonymousreply 66May 17, 2015 5:53 AM

Bette Davis (and her damn Bette Davis eyes)...she always played a version of herself.

by Anonymousreply 67May 17, 2015 2:05 PM

dr frasier crane comes to mind. He speaks in a weird, almost british accent.

by Anonymousreply 68May 17, 2015 2:08 PM

Let us not forget the execrable Jeff Goldblum!

by Anonymousreply 69May 17, 2015 2:09 PM

R67, thank you. I couldn't agree more. I've always hated that Bette Davis cunt and I couldn't understand about how she fooled the American public into thinking she was a great actress when she bulldozed her way through every part she ever played.

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by Anonymousreply 70May 17, 2015 2:11 PM

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned how Katherine Hepburn criticized Meryl Streep's acting by saying she could hear the "click-click-click" in her performances. Isn't that kind of similar to saying her performances are "mannered?"

by Anonymousreply 71May 17, 2015 2:16 PM

I know, Bette Davis was always like, "Look at me, I'm an actor and I'll do anything to be the centah of attention."

Her mother Ruth was an insufferable cunt too.

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by Anonymousreply 72May 17, 2015 2:19 PM

R41 Darling, you are so wrong. One of the few who can go big and still be 200% natural. However, I recently saw that Rome-set film with Woody Allen as your husband (you poor thing!) and his performance is an apt example of this. There's a scene where he meets a mortician who shakes his hand, and Woody keeps looking at his own hand, disgusted, then looks around to see if anyone else has noticed, then looks back at it again, and repeats it about eleven times in the most wooden and self-conscious manner.

He was always much better at molesting kids than acting.

by Anonymousreply 73May 17, 2015 2:22 PM

R73 You didn't seem to mind being my wife back in the day.

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by Anonymousreply 74May 17, 2015 2:43 PM

Christina Hendricks and Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men). After they pull the crowbars out of their big asses?

Moss's rom-com's were DOA.

by Anonymousreply 75May 17, 2015 11:56 PM

Grayson Hall

by Anonymousreply 76May 18, 2015 12:21 AM

No to Sandy Dennis.... I loved her😍

by Anonymousreply 77May 18, 2015 12:55 AM

I didn't think Stockard Channing was mannered in West Wing.

by Anonymousreply 78May 18, 2015 1:12 AM

Holland Taylor, in virtually every one of her comedic roles.

by Anonymousreply 79May 18, 2015 1:24 AM

Laura Linney

I'm actually a fan but I've never seen her in anything where I couldn't tell she was ACTING!

by Anonymousreply 80May 18, 2015 1:36 AM

My mother always told me to speak nice of the dead. She's dead, that's nice.

Bette on hearing of Joan's death

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by Anonymousreply 81May 18, 2015 1:57 AM

Here's the pic that should've gone with that post.

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by Anonymousreply 82May 18, 2015 1:59 AM

Joan be all, "Bitch, I'll bust you upside your ugly head."

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by Anonymousreply 83May 18, 2015 2:02 AM

Cumberbatch

by Anonymousreply 84May 18, 2015 2:07 AM

[quote] She's dead, that's nice.

She's dead. Good.

by Anonymousreply 85May 18, 2015 2:07 AM

I love Sandy Dennis but when she died I was reading some remarks made by a film director (not sure which one) that said "Sandy Dennis is the only person that can put a pause in the middle of an 'Uuhhh' "

by Anonymousreply 86May 19, 2015 4:14 AM

Rob Morrow -- then I saw him play John Wilkes Booth. He did a nice job.

by Anonymousreply 87May 19, 2015 4:33 AM

Stockyard Channing WAS great in six degrees. . . .

by Anonymousreply 88May 19, 2015 4:34 AM

Another vote for Geraldine Page. Agree with the person who said her Oscar-winning performance in The Trip to Bountiful is unwatchable because of her self-conscious fiddling. The Actors Studio has a lot to answer for.

by Anonymousreply 89May 22, 2015 5:07 PM

Sandy Dennis. I like the comment Ian McKellen made about her in A Touch of Love/Thank You All Very Much, in which he co-starred with her. He said the director edited out all her pauses and therefore gave her a good performance.

by Anonymousreply 90May 22, 2015 5:12 PM

Stockard Channing has not impressed me on film. I don't know why she got Oscar-nominated for Six Degrees.

by Anonymousreply 91May 22, 2015 5:15 PM

Carol Channing. Everyone can do an impression of her.

by Anonymousreply 92May 22, 2015 5:21 PM

Alec Baldwin.

by Anonymousreply 93May 22, 2015 5:23 PM

Lindsay Lohan

by Anonymousreply 94May 22, 2015 5:26 PM

Debbie Allen! From Fame to Grey's Anatomy. Just awful. Whenever she appears on screen in GA, I either mute or change the channel.

by Anonymousreply 95June 13, 2015 2:37 AM

Stockard Channing's performance in "Six Degrees" on stage was one of the best I've ever seen. Transcendent.

You could argue that her more recent stage work has been more mannered (though I wouldn't), but aren't you glad to have someone who's at least interesting to watch? Would you really prefer capable-but-boring actors?

by Anonymousreply 96June 13, 2015 8:23 AM

[quote]Darling, you are so wrong. One of the few who can go big and still be 200% natural.

r73 Thank you for saying that. I've been watching as many Judy Davis films as I can get hold of in the last few weeks and I agree 100%. For me, she's the greatest.

by Anonymousreply 97June 13, 2015 1:05 PM

Meryl Streep. In a number of films, she doesn't know what to do with her hands; and usually ends up playing with her chin. In the film with Uma Thurman, she kept rubbing her eyes, it was a distraction. I guess she really does act from the neck up!

by Anonymousreply 98June 15, 2015 4:55 PM

Miranda Richardson. Whenever someone says they think she's good dramatic actor, I know they have no taste at all--she's all affectations and twitches in drama. She is excellent, though at comedy.

by Anonymousreply 99June 15, 2015 4:56 PM

Mia Kirshner

by Anonymousreply 100June 15, 2015 6:19 PM

[quote]I didn't think Stockard Channing was mannered in West Wing.

Are you kidding? She chews up the Oval Office and eats it for dinner.

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by Anonymousreply 101June 15, 2015 6:34 PM

Emma Thompson.

by Anonymousreply 102June 15, 2015 6:58 PM

Pretty much anybody from the 20s, 30s and 40s because the actors were still "stage acting."' They acted as if in a theater. People like Marlon Brando and James Dean were exciting because they acted in a new, more realistic way. They allowed themselves to slouch and mumble, like real people do.

by Anonymousreply 103June 15, 2015 8:04 PM

Vincent D'orfinio and the rest of the L & O cast. Including the current SVU. All terrible, but him especially.

by Anonymousreply 104June 15, 2015 9:23 PM

Erika Slezak, or as some call her on here, Viki Sleestak. Very hammy and overrated. Not surprised she hasn't gotten work elsewhere after OLTL ending.

by Anonymousreply 105June 15, 2015 9:35 PM

I wouldn't say that r100 More like she plays the same type of character

by Anonymousreply 106June 15, 2015 10:21 PM

Most British actors and actresses own this thread.

by Anonymousreply 107June 15, 2015 11:16 PM

Do anyone think Michael Keaton is mannered in his acting. He seems to have a very recognized way of acting that seems self conscious, I really don't know how to really explain it. I will describe as smucking, birdman was the first time i saw him show more range. Still a fan of his work.

by Anonymousreply 108June 15, 2015 11:23 PM

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-b997-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

by Anonymousreply 109June 15, 2015 11:51 PM

Well, I disagree with you r106. Whenever I watch her, I feel like I can see the big neon light above her head that reads "Serious Acting Here!"

by Anonymousreply 110June 18, 2015 9:18 PM

Helen Hunt Jodie Foster Tom Cruise trying too hard to be earnest

by Anonymousreply 111July 19, 2016 6:23 AM

I always say 'go big or go home!'

by Anonymousreply 112July 19, 2016 7:15 AM

Grace Kelly

by Anonymousreply 113July 19, 2016 8:51 AM

Alison Brie is kind of mannered (which makes sense considering her theater kid vibe in interviews).

by Anonymousreply 114July 25, 2020 3:33 AM

Jamie Lee Curtis is very charismatic, but kind of mannered.

by Anonymousreply 115July 25, 2020 3:46 AM

Step off, bitches! *I* own this thread!

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by Anonymousreply 116July 25, 2020 3:48 AM

[quote]...confusing a mannered actress with a mannered character.

r17, Excellent point.

by Anonymousreply 117July 25, 2020 3:55 AM

Joan Collins is always too busy being Joan Collins and too self conscious making sure she looks like Joan Collins to bring believability to the role

by Anonymousreply 118July 25, 2020 4:10 AM

Should probably specify god and bad overly mannered. Sometimes it works.

by Anonymousreply 119July 25, 2020 4:21 AM

Judy Davis

by Anonymousreply 120July 25, 2020 9:37 AM
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