While many actors can, admittedly, phone in a role, there's been some actors who have definitely coasted through on their reputation.

In some cases, it's because they play basically a variation of themselves in every role. In other cases, it's the undeserved praise and accolades that's heaped upon them. In all cases, one thing is clear - they're overrated.

Here's our own submission for the ten most overrated actors working today. Got some thoughts of your own? Let us know in the comments!

 

10. JONAH HILL

Look, we might have liked him in 21 / 22 Jump Street, but outside of comedy, what has Jonah Hill done? Wolf of Wall Street was essentially him pretending to be off his face on drugs for ninety-odd minutes. War Dogs looks like he's basically playing a lesser version of Nicolas Cage in Lord Of War. Superbad, sure, but how long ago was that? Not only that, did anyone even watch True Story with James Franco? He was terrible in that.

 

9. JULIA ROBERTS

Erin Brockovich, it's true, was a great film. Pretty Woman, however, was hugely problematic. Notting Hill was twee bullshit. Mona Lisa Smile was meh. Stepmom is your mother's favourite film. Ocean's Eleven, she was basically a bystander. Ocean's Twelve was just ridiculous. The Mexican, with Brad Pitt? Awful. Eat Pray Love is a joke. Larry Crowne was an insult to everyone involved, and that includes Tom Hanks. Simply put, Julia Roberts has never really been anything than more acceptable. Can you think of one performance where she's really and truly stood out? Other than Erin Brockovich? Exactly.

 

8. KIEFER SUTHERLAND

24 basically rescued Kiefer Sutherland's career. Phonebooth, all he had to do was sound menacing on the phone. Flatliners was... a completely dumb-ass idea that's gone on to somehow become a cult film. The Lost Boys, same thing. Look at A Few Good Men, for example. Some of the best actors in the history of filmmaking; Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, etc. Did you even know that Kiefer Sutherland was in that film? And if he did, was he the first person to jump out at you? Of course he wasn't.

 

7. CATHERINE ZETA-JONES

Catherine Zeta-Jones has more or less played the same role over and over again for the past twenty years. Entrapment? She plays a sultry investigator who's paired up with an OAP robber. The Mask of Zorro? She plays a sultry noblewoman who falls in love with a masked rogue. Chicago? Sultry vaudeville character who's in jail. Red 2? She's a sultry ex-KGB agent. What's the operative word? Sultry. There's being typecast and then there's not being able to play anything other than one thing. Can you guess what it is? Sultry.

 

6. MARK WAHLBERG

Let's take The Departed. Mark Wahlberg plays a no-nonsense Bostonian cop. Let's look at The Fighter. Mark Wahlberg plays a Bostonian boxer who's trying to work his way to the top. Let's look at Ted. He plays an average Bostonian who has a talking teddy bear. Sean Connery was able to convincingly play a Russian submarine captain and he's the most Scottish man in the history of human existence. If Sean Connery can do that, and he's not even that decent an actor, Mark Wahlberg can play someone other than a guy from Boston.

 

 

 

5. ANGELIA JOLIE

Although she's jacked in the mediocre acting for mediocre directing, it's never really been clear how Angelina Jolie managed to get where she was. Sure, you know her from Tomb Raider or Wanted or maybe even something like Girl Interrupted or Hackers, but did any of those performances really stand out? It's doubtful. In almost all of the cases, Jolie was playing a hugely exaggerated form of something. Tomb Raider was all stunts and action, Girl Interrupted was Winona Ryder's film and Alexander was just... a mess of a film. Even in Maleficent, Jolie just chewed the scenery as much as possible. There's never been a really understated, genuine performance in her career. Don't say Changeling, either. That film would put you to sleep.

 

4. BRADLEY COOPER

Look, he might be conventionally good-looking and he might have been somewhat funny in The Hangover or Wedding Crashers - but don't, for one second, think that Bradley Cooper is a good actor. He isn't. Silver Linings Playbook was all about Jennifer Lawrence's performance whilst American Hustle was all about the wigs. Limitless, sure, it was entertaining - but it wasn't down to Bradley Cooper's performance. The A-Team was essentially Bradley Cooper playing a variation of the same character from The Hangover. The only film Bradley Cooper's been remotely interesting in was The Place Beyond The Pines and, honestly, they could have put someone far better into his role and it would have been just as good.

 

 

3. GWYNETH PALTROW

Although people might give Paltrow more guff for her unintentionally hilarious GOOP, not nearly enough people give out about Paltrow's awful acting. What's funny is that Paltrow has cropped up in some fantastic films and been pretty memorable, but never astounding. The Royal Tennenbaums, for example, was Paltrow playing an icy New York socialite. That's a role that's easy enough to inhabit. Iron Man, she's just Robert Downey Jr.'s comedic foil. Again, nothing special. Se7en, again it's much of the same thing. She's just in the background and more of a prop than anything else. You could argue that it's down to bad writing in some cases or underdeveloped female roles, but better actors have taken roles like this and made them memorable. Paltrow hasn't done that in one single performance. Ever.

 

 

 

2. ANNE HATHAWAY

How exactly did Anne Hathaway manage to get an Oscar for Les Miserables? Really, like. Anyone could have taken that role, arguably one of the most famous roles in theatrical history, and made into something truly memorable. Go back over Les Miserables now and you can see plenty of lazy directing and poor acting. People were heaping praise on it because it was the first modern attempt at an adaptation of it and Hathaway got pulled along in the slipstream. The Dark Knight Rises is another perfect example. Same thing, she's in the mixture and it's fine, but Marion Cotillard would have made a far superior Catwoman than Hathaway.

 

1. JESSE EISENBERG

What's interesting about Jesse Eisenberg's career is that he's managed to convince everyone that he's a decent actor. He's not. He's playing slightly refined versions of the same role. The Social Network to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to Adventureland to Now You See Me to To Rome With Love - it's Jesse Eisenberg playing a twitchy, nervy sort-of guy who's incredibly well-spoken and thinks he's the smartest person in the room. Sure, roles call for that sort of thing and maybe people are just writing to fit his strengths, but it's up to Eisenberg to try and work around that. He hasn't. Not once. You could copy and paste his performances from film to film and there'd be no difference between them. Yet, somehow, he's still getting work.