History Main / BadBadActing

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' called "The DVD". In the episode Gumball and Darwin try to produce their own version of "Alligators on a Train" to replace the one they destroyed. Obviously, the end result had hilariously Bad "Bad Acting" and did not fool anybody.
* Siegfried & Roy in ''WesternAnimation/FatherOfThePride'' are so hammy and silly that they are even bad at being bad actors in "The Siegfried and Roy Fantasy Experience Movie."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': In "Out on a Limb", Jon, Garfield, Nermal, and Odie are stuck in a tree. Jon calls the fire department to get them down.
-->'''Fireman:''' What are you doing in the top of that tree?\\
'''Jon:''' I was just...uh... trying to rescue, heh, these guys and... and that's when I sprained my ankle. Ouch! Oo-hoo!\\
'''Garfield:''' Well, it's no Oscar-winning performance, but maybe he'll buy it.
* Lor in ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' episode "Radio Drama", to the point where her character is rewritten to be under a 'zombie curse'.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'':
** In "Film Flam", this occurs when the girls try to act in their own movie.
** In "Twisted Sister", when they create a fourth sister to help them in crimefighting, they faithfully act out the part of "accidentally" adding Chemical X this way.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** During "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]", when the crew has to act out an episode of [[ShowWithinAShow Single Female Lawyer]].
** The porn film featured in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E8ABigPieceOfGarbage A Big Piece of Garbage]]" -- with ''gusto''!
** The two educational films shown within the show: ''I Dated a Robot!!'' and ''Global Warming -- None Like It Hot!!!'' (the second features the claim that the Earth is warming due to the piling-up of corpses after gang-member-like greenhouse gases beat sunbeams to death).
** In "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E11WhereNoFanHasGoneBefore Where No Fan Has Gone Before]]" where Creator/WilliamShatner himself does it. It's the complete opposite of his usual [[LargeHam unholy acting talent]], and the entire ''Star Trek'' cast follows suit with their own embarrassingly monotone acting -- though the fact that they're being held captive and forced to perform a fanboy's MartyStu script goes a long way towards explaining their complete lack of effort.
--->'''Creator/NichelleNichols:''' ''[flatly]'' My, what a handsome energy creature you are. I love you. ''[Melllvar is blasted by energy beams and screams in pain]'' [[WhoWritesThisCrap Hey,]] ''[[WhoWritesThisCrap you]]'' [[WhoWritesThisCrap wrote it!]]
** Despite being a dream of Zapp Brannigan, ''The Transcredible Exploits of Zapp Brannigan'' is loaded with this.
** Frequent in the ShowWithinAShow ''[[SoapWithinAShow All My Circuits]]'', though Calculon is more of a LargeHam. Played straight when Zoidberg's uncle directs a movie, which also includes Bad "Bad Directing". Robot Devil gave Calculon [[PunctuatedForEmphasis UNHOLY! ACTING! TALENT!]] Which, of course, he'd soon live to regret.
** In one episode Bender auditions for a role in ''All My Circuits''. He gives a performance so bad Calculon (who is ''a robot''), claims it gave him cancer. When Bender gets the part anyway, it is rewritten to suit an actor of his talents... namely, his character is now in a permanent coma. Bender ends up screwing ''that'' up.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS3E2Rebirth Rebirth]]": When putting on a show, Mako dove into this trope head first. Meanwhile, Bolin played the LargeHam.
-->'''Mako:''' ''[completely monotone]'' I am the escaped convict and you will all reap my fire.\\
'''Bolin:''' Oh, no! Who will help us?
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'' episode "Swimming in Oblivion", which features the crew as AnimatedActors, Hal, playing Capt. Murphy, sandbags his lines because he thinks they're stupid.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'':
** "Dag for Night":
--->'''Daggett:''' Oh my! It's going to crash into!...us? Save yourselves!\\
'''Daggett:''' [[TheEndOrIsIt The End...question mark]]?
** Practically every other episode features at least one example. In-universe BMovie actor Oxnard Montalvo is the embodiment of this trope.
** The Beavers idolize Oxnard Montalvo and he is probably consciously or subconsciously emulating him. (And really, why wouldn't anyone want to be Just Like Oxnard Montalvo.)
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' where Dethklok acts in a movie, they all do this. Nathan and Murderface have the classic "slurring lines in bored monotone", while Pickles is mostly making a lot of stiff screaming, and Skwisgaar's delivery is apparently so poor and incomprehensible (due in part to his accent) that they simply dub his lines over.
* In a good few ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episodes, the gang sometimes have to act for a scam and deliver horrible performances. One episode has a kid forgetting what word he's supposed to say...halfway through saying it and he has to check his hand for the rest of it (said word was "automatically"). Though subverted in one episode where Gus convincingly disguises himself as a girl in order to steal a baseball bat from the Ashleys.

* The ninth episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean", ends with the characters delivering a [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA.]] Their delivery is an awkward monotone and their eyes shift from left to right to indicate that they're reading from cue cards.
* A trope constantly employed in ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo''; the characters would act like this every time they needed to trick a monster into falling for a trap. Lampshaded in one episode when Scooby's scolded for going off-script by showing genuine emotion.
* WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck is a terrible actor, although his ego won't allow him to realize it. So he...starts and stops...all of his lines...HollywoodToneDeaf...and wrong inflection...to indicate intent?
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}},'' the Guardians need to leave to fight the forces of evil just before their slot in a school talent show. They leave behind copies of themselves to take their places, but it turns out that the copies don't retain any memories and therefore are not familiar with the short play they are putting on. It all goes downhill when the Taranee copy begins her narration with "Taranee speaks dramatically..."
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In "As Seen on TV", Mr. Krabs films a commercial for the Krusty Krab, where he, Squidward, and Pearl are obviously not good actors. Then again, it aired ''very'' early in the morning.
** There's also the bit in "Nature Pants" where Sandy and Patrick are trying to convince [=SpongeBob=] to return home. It obviously doesn't work very well. Patrick is both too dense and (at the time) too teary-eyed to [[ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud act worth a damn.]]
** In "Karate Island", there are the "opponents" [=SpongeBob=] has to face to take the throne as "King of Karate". They all play dead when [=SpongeBob=] throws a punch, and he didn't even touch them.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'', Titanium Chef "acts" horrified that Wasabi has discovered his plot in a ploy to get the [[AnimateInanimateObject blob of mustard]] to attack, giving him the final ingredient for his plan. One of his henchmen even [[FacePalm face-palms]] at how bad this acting is, but Wasabi takes the bait.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** The "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E9MrPlow Mr. Plow]]" episode, where the family produces their own (badly-acted) TV commercial.
** And then there is the nuclear plant's commercial to convince graduates to work there in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E6DohInTheWind "D'oh-in in the Wind"]]. Homer, Lenny, and Carl's acting leaves a lot to be desired, and it's mentioned that there were script problems from day one (namely, that no-one ''had even read it'').
** In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E18BurnsHeir "Burns' Heir",]] Mr. Burns hires actors to play the rest of Bart's family so he can convince Bart to stay with him. After the video, Mr. Burns has to flip through the script to tell the fake Homer what his line is supposed to be because it was incorrect.
--->'''Fake Homer:''' I do not miss Bart at all.\\
'''Fake Marge:''' I am glad he's gone.\\
'''Fake Lisa:''' As am I.\\
(''The Fake Homer drops his sandwich on purpose.'')\\
'''Fake Homer:''' B'oh!
** A recurring feature of the [[ShowWithinAShow "McBain"]] films, whose lead actor is TheAhnold par excellence and specializes in DullSurprise. Most of his dialogue is {{Bond One Liner}}s and exposition slurred out with the confidence of an extremely well-paid person who isn't entirely fluent in English.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'', a man who runs into the room the main character is, panicking and yelling that the Lobe has arrived. He's promptly scolded and forced to repeat the scene. At a second instance, the title character tells him to take acting lessons. Much later during the final showdown between the hero and the Lobe, the same man breaks up the fight to show them that the acting lessons have paid off, by performing the death of Romeo, from Shakespeare's famous play.
** That's [[NoFourthWall announcer Joe Leahy.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'':
** The commercial made by Team Chris Is Really Really Really Really Hot in Season 3 (''Total Drama [[NewSeasonNewName World Tour]]''), especially:
--->'''Noah:''' ''(flat voice)'' Think of the childreeeeeen.
** Team Victory's as well:
--->'''Bridgette:''' Oh honorable samurai, do you have any FOOD?
** Duncan's "crying" in "African Lying Society". His mother actually falls for that!?
** Sierra's attempt at a [[spoiler:dramatic farewell]] to Cody in "Planes, Trains, Hot Air Mobiles" is so {{Narm}}y it's actually hilarious that she thought it sounded heartwarming.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/WaitTillYourFatherGetsHome'', a TV commercial for a used car dealership shows off one of its "satisfied customers". Said "customer" is obviously reading from cue cards to the point of stumbling over the word "courtesy".
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'', 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.
* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'':
** Played with in an episode where Cow plays the title character of a film called "Pretty Little Girl". Not only is the acting atrocious, but the actors (especially Cow, who's also nervous) also keep mixing up random words on the cue cards. The director (who's actually the Red Guy) eventually decides to employ a little EnforcedMethodActing, which makes the entire staff (himself included) burst into tears. Too bad the cameraman forgot to put the film in the camera.
** 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.
* Seen in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' 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.)

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck is cast to play WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn in a movie about the latter, and he.... doesn't do such a good job.
-->'''Daffy:''' Oooh, boohoo, man! I'm crying ''so'' hard! I say, I say, look how hard I CRYYY!\\
'''Foghorn:''' Don't say it, ''do it''!\\
'''Daffy:''' ''(starts laughing hysterically)''
* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', Ulrich's performance in [[SchoolPlay the production in "Laughing Fit"]]. It's painfully bad acting despite his [[CrossDressingVoices voice actress]] being a former Broadway star. It takes talent for someone that good to sound that bad.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'': "Doug's On Stage". The Bluffington Founder's Day pageant's traditional version is a prime case of this. Luckily, Judy arrives and reinstates her own, livelier version.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' segment "Bat's All Folks" Hamton as Decoy the Robin equivalent is told by Batduck to plant a bomb in the villain's hide, he knocks himself out by accident and two thugs find him, their acting is very wooden:
-->'''Thug 1''': (monotonous) Look it is Decoy the pig hostage, we must bring him inside.\\
'''Thug 2''': (unenthusiastically) What is this thing? (picking up the bomb)\\
'''Thug 1''': (just as unenthusiastic) Who cares, just toss it over into the all-concealing shadows.
* Shows up a number of times on ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', such as Finn and Jake's fight with the Cuties in "Conquest of Cuteness".
-->'''Finn:''' Oh no, my ''blood''! (''[[ABloodyMess squirts ketchup all over himself]]'')
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** There's a scene in the Season 16 episode "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" that [[spoiler:is done entirely in live-action]] and features [[DawsonCasting young adults standing in for the main characters.]]
** In the Season 19 episode "Tweek x Craig", the two titular characters stage a public breakup in response to {{Yaoi}} art involving them going around. Craig definitely fits this trope, with wooden delivery and his usual monotone. Tweek, on the other hand, does not, and [[GoneHorriblyRight takes it a little too far.]]

* The start of the ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "Bandits, Beans and Ballyhoo!" has DM and Penfold doing a bland but obvious introduction after the show's announcer, Isombard Sinclair, leaves the studio in protest.
-->'''DM:''' (''whispers to Penfold'') Isombard is having another temperament. We'd better do this ourselves. (''loudly and stiltedly'') Well, Penfold, my faithful assistant...here we are.\\
'''Penfold:''' (''same as DM'') Oh yes. "Cor it's nice to be back in the Mayfair abode of the world's greatest secret agent! (''DM smiles cheesily to the camera and points to his badge'')\\
'''DM:''' Yes...but that holiday in Mexico was most enjoyable. (''Penfold unsubtly shows the suitcase'')
** Count Duckula was a master at bad acting. He turns overacting and bad acting up to eleven in "The Return Of Count Duckula" when he's cornered by our heroes.
--->'''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!
* [[BadLiar PJ's]] attempts at acting on ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' run into this most of the time. He falls into emotionless monotone both when trying to sway Pete emotionally into taking him fishing ([[TheDragAlong against his wishes]]) and when trying to trick Pete into thinking he's in life-threatening danger as a result of Pete's unrealistic and hypocritical expectations. The weird part is, it works both times. Averted when he was playing a baby, though that time he had [[PaperThinDisguise other problems.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' 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?]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/QuackPack'' episode "Pride Goeth Before the Fall Guy", Donald sets a trap for world-class thief Nigel Nightshade by having his nephews stand outside his window and talk loudly about the treasure to which Nigel supposedly now has access. However, the boys are reading off cue cards which only have a few words on each card, so although they manage to avoid speaking in monotone, the resulting inflections still sound awkward and unnatural as they can't read ahead and modify their diction accordingly. Nigel falls for it anyway.
-->'''Huey:''' Oh no! I don't be-lieve it! You'd think a ''smart'' guy like ''Nigel'' would know what that key opens.\\
'''Louie:''' Oh! You mean thee[[note]]''sic''[[/note]] chest back on thee[[note]]and again[[/note]] ship?\\
'''Dewey:''' Yeah... the one that holds the trea-sure of... ''(squints)'' Tral-fa-ma-dor.\\
'''Huey:''' Oh well, I guess Nigel's not the greatest thief, in the world, after all.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'' episode "Twinsanity", the kids' efforts at fooling Dagur the Deranged by staging a dragon attack are more wooden than the average coffin. Dagur still falls for them, probably because the dragons were much better at it.
* Mordecai and Rigby win a spot on a TV series in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' "Carter and Briggs". Mordecai's Bad "Bad Acting" goes so deep his voice even cracks during his line. Unlike other examples of the trope, this really ''was'' bad acting, as the rest of the cast spares their feelings when they ask for feedback by hastily evacuating the room.
* WesternAnimation/{{Snagglepuss}}, from the Creator/HannaBarbera stable, is equal parts LargeHam and bad actor. He claims to know Shakespeare backward, which he does literally: "Eraepsekahs!"
* Garnet of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' tends to fall into this whenever she's trying to fake something- while she tends towards [[TheStoic natural stoicisim]] it turns flat as cardboard in some situations. When she throws a fight in ''Tiger Millionaire'' she literally just stands ramrod straight and tips over backward after being 'knocked out' by Steven. In ''Fusion Cuisine'' her attempt to pose as Steven's mother consists of answering the phone with "Yes, this is Mom Universe. The children are playing swords. Sorry, playing with swords. They're bleeding. Oh no, they are dead. Don't call again." and then hanging up.
** In contrast to these two scenes, she unexpectedly swings towards very convincing in ''Secret Team'' [[spoiler:staging a monster attack to get Pearl and Amethyst to apologize to each other.]] Though that could be simply because she was genuinely angry at the time.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' had an episode that revealed Stan is such a horrendous actor that he can't even pretend to be a waiter convincingly (When he offers the diners water, he does so in a stiff and clearly nervous manner that prompts them to respond "What was that? It was like you were offering me water, but I just didn't believe it."). Director Bullock refuses to let Stan go on any more sting operations because his acting [[EpicFail turns them into violent shoot-outs]], so he ends up taking acting lessons from Roger.
* In "Franklin Plays Hoppity Bop" from ''Literature/{{Franklin}} and Friends'', Franklin and his friends miss shots on purpose in order to try to make the game fun for Bear, who is bad at it. Rabbit, however, is very bad at pretending that he's bad at the game. Somehow, Bear doesn't notice his obvious acting.
-->'''Rabbit:''' (''stilted'') Oh dear! How could I miss the ball?! Clumsy old me, Bear.\\
'''Franklin:''' Oh brother. That's enough, Rabbit.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Stumpy's idea of PlayingSick is to lie on a bed and yell "I'm suffering!" over and over again.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheHuckleberryHoundShow Huckleberry Hound]] is being televised prior to his hunt for screwball lion Leroy (episode "Somebody's Lion"). He is obviously reading from a teleprompter and does it in rather stilted and blasé fashion.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' episode "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo is proven to be so bad at faking sick that it's surprising how his friends fell for his little white lie. What's more confusing is how he was able to fool his father with this trick offscreen without getting caught.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'', Archer himself, probably because he revels in being an OvertOperative, is ''terrible'' at undercover work. He tends to use incredibly transparent cover identities (e.g. Col. [[Franchise/StarWars Lando Calrissiano]]) and suffers from frequent failure of his fake mustache and tendency towards OohMeAccentsSlipping whenever he tries to disguise his voice.
** The episode "Lo Scandalo" has the ISIS staff's fake "''eeeeee''-legant dinner ''pah''-ty", which they put on in a feeble attempt to distract the police from the murder that took place in Mallory's apartment. It involves hilariously bad [[IAmVeryBritish upper-crust British accents]] from everyone but Lana (who ends up pretending to be the maid, much to her chagrin).

* ''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 strict father). By "Queen Banana", Myléne's acting ability has improved considerably.

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'''s second campaign, Caleb is asked to disguise his Zemnian (German) accent so as to not stand out too much while traveling through Xhorhas. What follows is a solid minute of Creator/LiamOBrien doing a ''flawless'' impression of a German accented man trying his best to imitate other accents [[OohMeAccentsSlipping and failing miserably]].

** Other ''Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses'' contributors have also dabbled in this: [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] ''Warrior'' crossover video showcased an alternate universe (one of several) where Spoony and Linkara are terrible actors, reading their lines flatly from the script, fumbling with the props and [[DullSurprise making no attempts to emote]]. Linkara's commentary hung a lampshade on this by mentioning that some people think they were already terrible actors to begin with...

* Music/LadyGaga's "Alejandro".
--> Stop. Please. Just let me go. Alejandro. Just let me go.

-->'''Al:''' Why the sudden change of heart?\\

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* School plays are a rich source of this, though it's likely due to lack of experience.
* Ever do a dramatic reading of ''[[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]]'' in English class? Chances are you've heard at least one student reading the script as if they're reading from a textbook. You might have even ''been'' that person.

Acting's version of HollywoodToneDeaf. In Hollywood, bad acting can only come in two flavors: [[LargeHam completely over-the-top and exaggerated]], or a stilted, wooden, monotone delivery of every single line. These actors have never heard of suspension of disbelief. They couldn't act wet in a rainstorm.

** This scene follows the [[CallBack similar]] commercial from the [[Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}} first movie]], with the original three Ghostbusters reading very stilted lines, and Egon even looking down when he steps forward and back to make sure he steps on his floor mark. This was ''actually'' Creator/HaroldRamis making sure he hit his mark -- the director thought it was so perfect he kept that take. This scene was later referenced in ''Film/{{Evolution}}'' (also directed by Ivan Reitman), with the main characters doing a really badly acted commercial for Head & Shoulders (with one of them even holding the bottle upside down).

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMansionsOfTheGods 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.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* All of the films by Larry Blamire, including ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'', ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again'', ''Film/DarkAndStormyNight'', ''Film/TrailOfTheScreamingForehead'', and his ''Tales from the Pub'' shorts are this way -- the actors were playing the part of B-movie actors in a film, not like the characters. Plus [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment repetitive dialogue]], horrible special effects, repeating the dialogue, and [[SelfDemonstratingArticle dialogue that is repetitive]].
* In ''Film/{{Annie|1982}}'', when Daddy Warbucks is performing a radio play, he reads off everything word for word, including the stage directions.

* A truly spectacular example occurs in ''Film/{{Super 8}}'' during the short film the main characters are producing throughout the movie. During the [[CreativeClosingCredits credits]], you see the finished film, and the acting is ''bad''. In fact, it shows off the acting talent of the young actors in being able to act that badly. The film even shows that their actress Alice is actually ''really good'', but the kid director chose a cut where she had to yell above the sound of a train, causing her to sound just as bad as the rest of them.

* All of the films by Larry Blamire, including ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'', ''The Lost Skeleton Returns Again'', ''Film/DarkAndStormyNight'', ''Film/TrailOfTheScreamingForehead'', and his ''Tales from the Pub'' shorts are this way -- the actors were playing the part of B-movie actors in a film, not like the characters.

* The first few ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' live-action "commercials" we see the title character drive by for the ''Axiom'' are filled with the acting level you would expect from any commercial. Overexcited family, painfully fake smiles, an [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket obviously fit "grandma" sitting in a hover chair for little reason,]] and the CEO of the company making a forced pun ("[[Franchise/StarTrek Space is the Final Funtier!]]").

* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler:Bruce Banner (who has merged his body to become Professor Hulk) and the Avengers travel back in time to the events of ''[[Film/TheAvengers2012 The Avengers,]]'' where he is told to act like the past Hulk. He ends up doing so...very badly, giving off a lazy roar and smashing cars with little enthusiasm.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Professor Hulk:''' It's a bit gratuitous, but I'll do it. (''proceeds to imitate the past Hulk badly'')]]

* In the SoBadItsGood movie ''Film/ReeferMadness'', two characters "act" out ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' for a few seconds. Very funny to see bad actors ''trying'' to act badly.

* Averted in ''Film/StrokerAce'' since part of the ImpersonationGambit involves fooling Torkle into believing the Miller Brewing Company is trying to buy his fried chicken franchise. Doc, one of Stroker's friends, is taking acting courses and uses this to his advantage. The problem is Doc's dad, who hasn't had these same courses and is likely to fall to this trope while helping Doc. Doc instead tells his dad to [[BrokenRecord repeat the same phrase]] to Torkle and then coaches him to pronounce it without his usual drawl. His dad's performance is still awful, but since he nails the accent despite only using the one line, Torkle doesn't catch on.

* Creator/KathyIreland is the unintentional {{Trope Namer|s}} for DullSurprise via the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' take on her film ''Film/AlienFromLA'', yet never received a [[UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzie]] nomination.

* Averted in ''Film/ColdSouls'': when the newly [[TheSoulless soulless]] Paul Giamatti is acting in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", his performance is not stilted or hammed up, but it is still very noticeably and realistically ''bad''.

** The ''Citadel'' DLC gives you the chance of acting in ''Blasto 7: Blasto Goes To War'', alongside Javik. Between Blasto acting like a [[ThePrimaDonna prima donna]], Shepard having his/her heroics stolen by Blasto himself, a Citadel Council where only one of the species present is actually ''on'' the Council and the vorcha councillor keeps forgetting his lines, Javik's backstory being [[{{Flanderization}} completely butchered]], and the atrocious model of a Reaper, [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs one has to wonder what the writers were tanked on when they wrote this.]] Especially amusingly, six months previously, in the second game, they had only recently released the ''first'' Blasto movie; six sequels in six months, with a seventh being lined up immediately after the sixth for Blasto curing the genophage. It is likely people thought InUniverse the movies were SoBadItsGood they came to watch it in droves.

* In episode 4 of ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Final'', some people (who are presumably part of the staff at the tavern) put up an act that "re-enacts" the fight between Saito and [[spoiler:King Joseph of Gallia.]] The acting is...deplorable to say the least.

* In ''Fanfic/CardsOfRemnant'' [[Astral Anime/YuGiOhZexal]] possesses the body of and attempts to pretend to be Jaune a few times and isn't particularly great at it. When he duels Ruby and Weiss and they figure out the truth, his attempts at denying it are far from convincing. It's only the fact that they'd barely interacted with Astral that kept them from figuring it out sooner.

** In the Creator/DomDeLuise episode, Miss Piggy is trying to get noticed by Kermit. Among her efforts is a badly-acted conversation between Miss Piggy and Scooter involving her having gotten an offer from another show.

'''Scooter:''' Gee, I didn't think it was that bad. I missed one line, but... Oh, no.

* In the "Deja Vu" storyline in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidGroundZeroes'', Kaz occasionally does wooden, silly, and virtually unrecognizable impressions of various ''Metal Gear Solid'' characters when you call him. Apparently, when they asked Creator/RobinAtkinDownes to imitate the lines, he did them too well and got most of them bang-on, so they had to make him redo them all [[BadImpressionists intentionally badly]] as Kaz himself is not much of an actor. This serves also to contrast to the TrueEnding where the game [[UnexpectedGameplayChange suddenly changes into a quiz]] hosted by Liquid Snake and Ocelot, all [[TheOtherDarrin Other Darrined]] by Downes [[TalkingToHimself rapidly flicking between voices]] and all immediately recognizable.

*** Though Sokka's acting does improve slightly, because he was genuinly irked by the crack about his big ears.

* ''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.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH-Ov3Ag85A This]] fanmade "Secret ending" to ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock|1}}''.

* Subverted for effect in the first ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' movie: the actress the team escorts played out a scene they see her shooting quite convincingly; this shocks the team because it sharply contrasts with how distant and snide the actress really behaves. She's not, however, able to fake crying.

* In ''{{WesternAnimation/Moana}}'', Moana is sent into Tamatoa's cave to attract his attention by dressing up as a shiny trinket and gives a lackluster, deadpan performance. Maui even makes mention of the fact that she's not selling it. And even though Tamatoa sees through her charade, he still can't resist falling for the trap due to his narcissism, but still, she definitely ''wasn't'' selling it.
* In the school play at the beginning of ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'', Judy plays her death ''too'' dramatically, with [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank large amounts]] of fake blood (which consists of red ribbon and ketchup). Her mother facepalms.

---> '''Bridgette:''' Oh honorable samurai, do you have any FOOD?

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'', Daffy is cast to play Foghorn Leghorn in a movie about Foghorn Leghorn, and he.... doesn't do such a good job.

-->'''DM:''' (''whispers to Penfold'') Isombard is having another temperament. We'd better do this ourselves. (''loudly and stiltedly'') Well, Penfold, my faithful assistant...here we are.
-->'''Penfold:''' (''same as DM'') Oh yes. "Cor it's nice to be back in the Mayfair abode of the world's greatest secret agent! (''DM smiles cheesily to the camera and points to his badge'')
-->'''DM:''' Yes...but that holiday in Mexico was most enjoyable. (''Penfold unsubtly shows the suitcase'')

--->'''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/YoungJustice2010'' 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?]]

-->'''Rabbit''': (''stilted'') Oh dear! How could I miss the ball?! Clumsy old me, Bear.
-->'''Franklin''': Oh brother. That's enough, Rabbit.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst Sofia the First]]'' episode "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo is proven to be so bad at faking sick that it's surprising how his friends fell for his little white lie. What's more confusing is how he was able to fool his father with this trick offscreen without getting caught.