From Nic Cage to Ron Perlman: Welcome To The Wonderful World Of Overacting

People’s hatred for Nicolas Cage sometimes baffles me.  Yes, he has become an impression of himself. Yes, he hams it up to the point of self-satire, but how come you people don’t find him fun or amusing in the same  way having that ONE crazy friend is fun and amusing? And what about Ron Perlman? He pretty much has become a growling impression of himself in every movie, yet no nerds seem to have any issues with him? Why is that? How come people hate a few certain actors who tend to chew scenery, and love others? Please don’t think this article will answer that question, because it won’t. I was literally asking.

Personally, I like some ham and cheese with my movies, so I tend to like over-actors. I tend to enjoy a more motley assortment than most, truth be told. But my main question is, what do you all want, actors who all have the intensity of Christian Bale, or the dedication of Daniel Day Lewis? What fun is there in that?  I say mix it up, throw a few hams in with the intense ones. Throw a few over-actors in with the method actors. Here, for your consideration, some actors who really have a bad habit of overdoing it sometimes. I personally enjoy them, but I know most don’t.

Nicolas Cage

I liked Cage’s version of Braveheart better because it had less Jew-bashing.

Oh, poor Nicolas Cage. At what point did you become the nerd who all of the world picked on? Oh, I know, the Wicker Man remake. Yup, that did it. For those who don’t know, here is a quick refresher of some of the BEST SCENES EVER PUT ONTO FILM.

This is Chris Brown’s favorite movie. Get it? Because a shit-ton of woman get hit.

Okay, I can admit, first time I saw The Wicker Man remake with Cage, I was in awe. It was like someone inadvertently tried to make the most awkward black comedy ever, but told no one it was a black comedy. I mean, when they pour CG bees into his “head cage”, in that single scene, it is the worst of all things, but it somehow transcends. It was like Cage KNEW this thing didn’t work, and just was like “You know what, f*ck it, I am gonna have some fun with this” and he did. I know that is not accurate, and the movie just sucked, but it really is SO bad it is good. And this hamminess is nothing new to Cage. You have to understand, the BEST Nicolas Cage happened YEARS ago in the movie Vampire’s Kiss. He is SO batshit insane in that movie, yet BELIEVABLY so, I happen to love Cage as a result of it. Again, let me feed you an example:

I can honestly say the alphabet has never been more compelling to me.

Does Cage overdo it? Yes. But he always has. You either like him or you hate him, but this recent NIC CAGE IS THE WORST THING EVER trend is silly and unjustified. And it being so “new” tends to show how far behind people really are. Vampire’s Kiss dropped in 1989. Almost twenty-five years ago. And you guys just noticed he does this NOW? But with Movies like Vampire’s Kiss and Drive Angry I can honestly say, Cage hams it up better than anyone, straight up. And why do you hate Cage, yet love….

Ron Perlman

Very few people know Ron Perlman has a vagina on his hand. He really does. Look closely.

Before you guys take to the comments and tell me “PERLMAN IS THE BOMB!!!” please be aware, I know and I agree. I already said I love hams. This list is by no means an attack on these actors by me. Quite the opposite, actually.  But can anyone argue that Cage and Perlman have a somewhat similar career trajectory? Play it low key early in your career, achieve fame later in life with cult following, ride cult following to nerd cred territory, ride nerd cred territory to bank, die rich and old, the end. It is brilliant, actually, and I do know why nerds love Perlman. Here, let me show you:

Yes, he really IS the perfect Hellboy.

This dude was making lonely housewives swoon long before shitty “vampire tween” books.

I am fully aware a large black man named Kevin Peter Hall actually played Harry, but I am putting this here to troll you guys.

How much you want to bet someone comments and tells me Kevin Peter Hall actually played Harry? It is my theory that some people “scan” an article for mistakes, just to take to the comments and call people out, and they don’t often read the whole piece before they do. So whoever takes to the comments about this one is hopefully going to be torn asunder, but I digress.

Yes, Perlman may have played his nerd-hand slightly better than Cage, but Perlman never pulled of a Leaving Las Vegas type performance either, so there are two sides to look at here.

Either way, I think they are both cool. And so did the movie Season of the Witch, apparently, which put these two scenery-chewers side by side, finally. It’s a shame it didn’t know how to utilize either actor (or the brilliant Robert Sheehan from the BBC show, Misfits) and the movie kind of sucked as a result.

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14 Comments

  1. How could you leave out BRIAN BLESSED? He’s a brilliant actor, fun to watch, and his rheostat only goes *down* to eleven. He chews so much scenery that HTML will automatically render his name in all caps. BRIAN BLESSED. See?

    Check him out on TVTropes…

  2. Fight Club pun in the comments, NOOOOOOO!!!!!! [vertigo effect]

    Maybe my age is showing (or my preference for older films, at least) but I love me some Vincent Price and Charleton Heston.
    “Freaks! You’re all FREAKS!”
    “ITS PEEEOOPPLLLLE!!!”
    Win.

    God, the Wicker Man remake was a misogynistic piece of shit. If you watch any more of it than that “best scenes” clip you will lose brain cells. I think that is the exact moment where Cage earned the hate of a nation of filmgoers. Also, that Harry and the Henderson’s troll was awesome.

  3. I guess my take on an over-actor is different than one than can ham it up. Many of the actors you list are well aware of the command of the ham.

    The actors I can’t stand are the ones that actually think what they are doing is important. For example, the actor Robert Downey Jr. pretended to be in Tropic Thunder. This to me is the pinnacle of over-acting.

  4. I said this to Sara and I’ll say it to you.
    I thought Van Helsing was brilliant and Richard Roxburgh was the best vampire I have ever seen (followed by Colin Farrel and Bill Nighy).
    Just my personal opinion though.

  5. Awesome article! Yes I totally agree, though Nicholas Cage did play a good role in ‘The Wicker Man’, I’ve truly never been a fan of M.Night Shyamalan movies (in general). My favorite movie that Nic Cage was in, was ‘Leaving Las Vegas’. I literally felt SO bad for his character, and it made me feel so uncomfortable, but I think that was an amazing role he played (he even received an award for it as well). So definitely agree with you on this one. A definite awesome article as always Remy 😉

  6. All these actors are perfect for certian roles, and when you see them, you know what you’re in for. Some like it, some don’t and I agree that putting Christian Bale with Nick Cage would be a fun concept, especially in some kind of Actor comedy.

    Oh and P.S. Misfits is a Channel 4 programme!

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