10 Actors Who Gave Their WORST Performance In Great Movies

Yes, Greta Gerwig’s recent reimagining of the classic Louisa May Alcott novel Little Women may have been a critical darling (though less successful come awards season). But 1994 saw a more thoughtful and sombre adaptation of the same source material hit multiplexes, bolstered by an all star cast including Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, and a young Christian Bale.

Whilst this version wasn’t without its own flaws, sans the gratingly precious tone of Gerwig’s adaptation the film is a sweet, heart-warming interpretation of the beloved novel. However, the flick is almost derailed by an inexplicably dour turn from the man who would be Marty McFly, Pulp Fiction’s Eric Stoltz. The actor is wildly miscast as Meg’s stoic suitor, the tutor John Brooke.

Now note we said “stoic” there, not “stiff, humourless, scandalized, and bland”, which appear to be the only defining characteristics present in Stoltz’s iteration of the character. It stretches credulity that even a character as anodyne as Meg would see anything in this perpetually self-serious Brooke, but it’s particularly jarring when compared to the film’s primary love interest, a characteristically warm and charming Gabriel Byrne.