10 Actors Who Just Gave Their Worst Performance EVER

7. John David Washington - The Creator

Napoleon Joaquin Phoenix
20th Century Studios

Audiences can't quite seem to make up their mind about John David Washington, and it's not really their fault.

In both Ballers and BlacKkKlansman he proved himself to be a charismatic performer capable of operating outside of his father Denzel's shadow, but his more recent work in Tenet and Amsterdam were conversely chided as "wooden" by many.

Yet those performances seem positively animated compared to his recent turn in Gareth Edwards' sci-fi blockbuster The Creator.

Despite the considerable emotional complexities of his protagonist Joshua Taylor, Washington plays the man as a strangely flat blank slate who rarely feels like more than a Generic Action Hero.

You can certainly argue that Edwards' writing wasn't the best here, but Washington's affect-devoid work never really makes Joshua feel like more than a hollow cipher. That he's categorically out-acted by child actor Madeleine Yuna Voyles throughout the film certainly doesn't help matters either.

Washington's getting dangerously close to becoming yet another "Next Big Thing" actor who doesn't even begin to live up to the hype.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.