10 Actors Who Tried Way Too Hard To Be Edgy

Catapulted to stardom by the Rob Reiner classic When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan has been a romantic comedy mainstay ever since. One stumble, however, was when she briefly cast aside her image to star in Jane Campion's critically panned erotic psychological thriller In The Cut.

Playing the role of Franny Avery, an introverted writer and teacher, Ryan meets Mark Ruffalo's New York Detective Giovanni Malloy, and the pair begin to bond and flirt - despite their meeting having been over a brutal and grisly murder. Frannie is soon drawn into a dark world of eroticism, strip clubs and violence, with chilling revelations about her exciting new fling threatening to surface.

While Campion's take on the erotic thriller genre admirably attempts to be subversive and profound, it ends up entirely predictable instead. Ryan is neither great nor terrible, merely bland - failing to fully commit to the unusual role and coming off as uncomfortable with the subject matter. A bit of waste of potential, alongside Mark Ruffalo's always-impressive presence.