History Main / BadBadActing

* ''Series/SlingsAndArrows'' has Claire portraying Ophelia in ''Theater/Hamlet''. In the scene where Ophelia, mad with grief, is singing "go to thy death-bed", Claire sings her lines while staggering with her mouth gaping open as if she were stoned, failing to convey heartbreak, as the director informs her after her performance.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/AsterixTheMansionsOfTheGods Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods]]'', the Gauls are not very good at faking being hit by an allegedly magic-potion-enhanced Asterix. However, while the Roman Centurion is obviously not fooled, [[SurroundedByIdiots his legionaries are]] and they flee.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AsterixTheMansionsOfTheGods'', the Gauls are not very good at faking being hit by an allegedly magic-potion-enhanced Asterix. However, while the Roman Centurion is obviously not fooled, [[SurroundedByIdiots his legionaries are]] and they flee.

* In the [[WesternAnimation/TheMansionsOfTheGods animated version]] of the ComicBook/{{Asterix}} story ''Recap/TheMansionsOfTheGods'', the Gauls are not very good at faking being hit by an allegedly magic-potion-enhanced Asterix. However, while the Roman Centurion is obviously not fooled, [[SurroundedByIdiots his legionaries are]] and they flee.

* In ''Videogame/PhantomBrave'', Ash and Marona employ this to get rid of a BonusBoss who keeps coming back. [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Disgaea}} Laharl]] is dumb enough to fall for it, too.]]

* In ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'', Inspector Zenigata learns about an illegal counterfeiting operation in the basement of a building. The problem is that his superiors refuse to act on this since many nations are buying these counterfeit bills. His solution? He brings a TV news camera crew down to the basement of the building while pretending to chase Lupin and badly feigns surprise at finding counterfeiting equipment, "discovering" it in a way that makes it impossible to ignore. This makes one of his superiors comment, "He's such a bad actor."

* In the adaptation of the ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' episode "Go Away Ghost Ship" (as "The Ghost of Redbeard," Gold Key issue #6), the gang is aboard Redbeard's ship. As Fred, Daphne, and Velma investigate one part of the ship, a loud bang rings out causing Velma to clutch her chest and (over)act as if she'd been shot ("by a pirate's old rusty musket!"). Turns out, it was a door slamming shut. But when the door won't open:

* In ''Film/KissKissBangBang'', Creator/RobertDowneyJr's character, a petty thief, is running from the cops and bursts into some acting auditions. In order to escape the police, he goes ahead and does an audition, reading out the lines in a monotone ("Um... beat up on me all night. You want me to give up my client, you can go spit.") until some of the dialogue hits too close to home. Then he appears to be doing a great acting job, but it's really genuine emotion. (Ah, Method Acting...)

* In the first ''Film/MajorLeague'', as the team is starting to turn things around they're pulled in for an American Express commercial. ''Everyone'' is horrible, either completely monotone, reading their lines slowly, awkwardly trying to snap their fingers, or just talking about "you know, your favorite... movies or... [[BuffySpeak restaurant type places]]." The only one who seemed a natural in front of the camera was Willy "Mayes" Hayes who, in the sequel, had done an ACTUAL action movie in the off-season. [[StylisticSuck It was every bad action cliche possible rolled into one]] and tanked at the box office. This may have been a [[ShoutOut reference]] to the fact that Willy's original actor, Wesley Snipes, didn't come back because he was doing other projects.

* ''Film/{{Orgazmo}}'': Most of the pornstars are terrible at delivering lines, which is why the hero is so successful. In one scene, he's paired with two Asian girls who barely speak English. One repeatedly delivers the line, "Prepare to meet your doom," in a sing-song voice as if she's memorized the line phonetically and is amused by how it sounds. "Pree-PAH to-MEEET jo-DOOOOM!"

* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'': The episode "And Now a Word From Our Sponsor" – where the Bradys are offered a chance to star in a TV commercial – has Mike and Carol hire an actress acquaintance (Myrna Carter) to help them brush up their acting skills, hoping to become believable when the fateful day finally comes. However, Myrna is – at best – a method actress to the extreme and more than likely just a very bad actress who is completely unqualified to give lessons or advice. Nonetheless, Mike and Carol (and the rest of the family) take her well-intentioned advice to heart ... and the resulting stiff, bombastic acting winds up costing them their shot at TV commercial stardom. The director, Skip Farnum, had wanted the family to "be themselves," and at the end of the last scene, Skip angrily asks his cohort the name of that bad actress they used to work with because the Bradys' style was just like hers.

** Bad "Bad Acting" is a staple of KYTV's "Brazilian soap opera, ''Ole!'', translated and dubbed by KYTV," where the "Brazillian" actors play with exaggerated melodrama, while the voice-over actors read their lines in a dull, monotone way, regularly missing their cues, reading the wrong lines and mispronouncing words.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E24MenageATroi Ménage à Troi]]", Lwaxana's plan for getting away from a Ferengi Daimon who'd kidnapped her is having Picard act like an insanely jealous lover with the guns of a ''Galaxy''-class starship at his disposal. Picard starts out with "It's not over between us. You're mine, and I will not let you go," delivered like he's reading off a card with a gun to his head, before resorting to large gestures and lines from Shakespeare sonnets. And ordering Worf to warm up the weapons.

* Music/TheLonelyIsland's series of songs including "Just 2 Guyz," "We Like Sportz" and "We'll Kill U." In each respective song, ThoseTwoGuys rap about how happy, enthusiastic, or badass they are - in a deadpan monotone.

* WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra:
** "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS3E2Rebirth Rebirth]]:" When putting on a show, Mako dove into this trope head first. Meanwhile, Bolin played the LargeHam.

** Also, in the episode "Meet Lance Sackless," when they film a video to send to [[ShowWithinAShow Canada's Funniest Home Vidiots,]] Cow pretends to accidentally put glue on her head as she mistakes it for anti-itch cream to heal her horns from doing chores and then Chicken falls onto Cow from the ceiling having their heads stuck to each other's, while saying their lines in a seemingly sarcastic manner. Also, when Cow reaches for the anti-itch cream, Chicken tells her to reach for the glue.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': The movie the class puts together in "Horrificator" has Myléne and then Marinette giving stilted performances with long pauses and glancing at the camera. Adrien seems much more natural, which probably has to do with him being a professional model (or needing to be able to lie to get around his OverprotectiveDad). By "Queen Banana," Myléne's acting ability has improved considerably.

** Lucy is shy, suffers from stage fright, and doesn't really want to be there but keeps getting bullied into it by Robert, her uncle. Ironically, when she actually starts loosening up and getting into it, he'll usually find some fault to pick at and start bellowing at her again, shattering her confidence.

--->'''Gertrude:''' Uneasy: What wilt thou do. Thou wilt not murder me. Help. Help. Ho.
--->'''Polonius:''' Shocked: What ho. Help. Help. Help.
--->'''Hamlet:''' Startled: How now. A rat. Dead for a ducat. Dead.
--->'''Polonius:''' Agonized: O. I am slain.
--->'''Gertrude:''' Horrified: O me. What has thou done.
--->'''Hamlet:''' Shaken: Nay. I know not. Is it the king.
--->'''Gertrude:''' Horror gives way to anger: O. What rash and bloody deed is this.
--->'''Hamlet:''' Venomous Sarcasm: What a piece of work is a man!

* The student film from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''. Most of the participants genuinely can't act, but [[EmotionlessGirl one of them]] [[SpockSpeak just talks like this normally]]. In Koizumi's case, it isn't the way he ''speaks'' that makes him a bad actor, it's the way he exaggeratedly gesticulates his way through every line he gets. Surprisingly, during the school festival when he's cast as one of the leads in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'', his style of acting is oddly appropriate.

* The student film from ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. Most of the participants genuinely can't act, but [[EmotionlessGirl one of them]] [[SpockSpeak just talks like this normally]]. In Koizumi's case, it isn't the way he ''speaks'' that makes him a bad actor, it's the way he exaggeratedly gesticulates his way through every line he gets. Surprisingly, during the school festival when he's cast as one of the leads in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'', his style of acting is oddly appropriate.

* Petralka suffers from this in episode 10 of ''LightNovel/OutbreakCompany''. While the film she was in was a deliberate case of StylisticSuck, Shinichi, the protagonist who also directed said film, leaves scenes in the film where she accidentally flubs her lines. She becomes incredibly embarrassed by it and tries to ban the film, despite the fact that the audience seems to be enjoying it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', Smurfette's crocodile tears when she was working for Gargamel and trying to turn the Smurfs against each other. Funnily enough, whenever she cries for real it's exactly the same, except with actual tears.

-->'''NC''': ''(in monotone)'' Hi, guys. I just wanna stand directly in the middle of the shot and stare blankly into the camera.

** "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderImprisoned Imprisoned]]:" Katara and Sokka when they're trying to get Katara arrested for earthbending and speak in the most stilted tone possible:

-->'''Fake Homer:''' I do not miss Bart at all.\\

-->'''Robot Stewie:''' Damn you vile woman. Blast. What the deuce.\\

* In an episode of ''Anime/PumpkinScissors'', the titular military unit pretends to stumble upon a drug deal purely by accident after they've received orders not to make any [[LoopholeAbuse intentional drug busts]]. One of the officers, [[TheCharmer Oreldo,]] [[LargeHam hams up his performance with obvious glee,]] while [[GentleGiant Oland,]] the protagonist, takes the DullSurprise route and essentially just reads his lines off of a piece of paper.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''. Donut tried to orchestrate a play to illustrate how the time jump happened. The reds actually do good, but Caboose, being TheDitz, reads his stage directions [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud aloud]]. However, that was his only flaw; he wasn't monotone or wooden.

** And then there is the nuclear plant's commercial to convince graduates to work there in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E6DohInTheWind "D'oh-in in the Wind".]]

** Dennis is closest to this trope being played fully straight; he can barely remember lines, mangles words, seems to be unable to distinguish the character being played from the actor playing them, repeats every line ([[ReadingTheStageDirections and direction]]) which is fed to him in a panicked monotone, and all-up generally comes across like the sum total of what he knows about acting comes from having half-read the dictionary definition mere seconds before being shoved on stage. Interestingly, though, he seems to have an encyclopedic recollection of ''everyone else's'' dialogue, and on occasions where he and another actor somehow get confused and start reciting each other's lines he starts performing quite well.

* In ''Theatre/ThePlayThatGoesWrong'', the cast of ''The Murder at Haversham Manor'' is equally split between LargeHam and this trope.

* In the ''FanFic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', Paulina shows she's no award-winning actress when she tries to get WesternAnimation/{{Danny Phantom}}'s attention during a ghost attack.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' there is Jack's Body Double, which, in a monotone voice, says [[SarcasmMode incredibly convincing]] dialogue such as "I am Handsome Jack and I am very good at intercourse." and, upon death, "Noooooo. I am Handsome Jack and I am dead."

* The PSP game ''Dragoneer's Aria'' contains a segment wherein the two female characters need to agitate a spirit guarding a tree that wouldn't listen to anything they say (thus necessitating the threat). Their delivery is wooden, but, somehow, the centuries-old spirit falls for it.

* One of the endings of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' has you chase the villain to Mars, with a mixture of extremely contrived plot devices and wooden acting meant as clues that he actually got away in that ending and you're making a film about going after him. The Protagonist even forgets the lines to his ending speech, despite the fact that it's just a copy of the opening lines to Red Faction: Guerrilla. The same goes for the Gangsta's ''InSPACE!'' DLC, where the entire mission pack is around similarly cheesy film scenes.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate 2'', you can have a run-in with a theater troupe whose leading man has been kidnapped. You are forced to sit through a performance of their headliner, with "Biff The Understudy" delivering a performance exactly as wooden as you think.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken''

* Seen in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon on two separate occasions when Mega and Roll try to fool Wily. (You can also tell which of Roll's voice actresses voices her by this--Robyn Ross doesn't do this, while Kathleen Barr does.)

-->'''Duckula:''' Look not so fierce. No villain I. 'Tis but a little, a little thing I crave. I need a TV show. Let not poor Nelly starve. Stay but the hour of execution and let a lonely cripple orphan duck smile one more time, before the shades of night overwhelm him.
-->'''Agent 57:''' (''disguised as an American talent agent'') Yep, I was right. That's the worst acting that I ever did see!

* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode 'The Runaways,' Blue Beetle's voice sounds weirdly stilted and flat compared to previous episodes. [[spoiler: Jaime has an accent. The Scarab doesn't. Guess who's in control?]]

-->'''Horde Soldier''': Drop your weapons... or the girl... gets it?

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''

** During Episode 33, the platoon [[AmateurFilmMakingPlot attempts to make their own anime.]] Predictably, it isn't very good. Several characters recite their lines without any emotion, and Keroro's dialogue flubs are ''[[UpToEleven put in the finished result.]]''

* In the school play at the beginning of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'', Judy plays her death ''too'' dramatically, with [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank large amounts]] of fake blood. Her mother facepalms.

* Some ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' games feature a theater minigame. Generally speaking, you can cast a good chunk of the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters as any individual role in such works as ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', or ''Myth/WilliamTell''. The game will usually warn you which characters are bad actors... but then that's half the fun. Sometimes the acting is so bad that ''[[FaceFault the set itself falls down.]]''