10 Most Cringeworthy Performances From Otherwise Great Actors

There is, in all frankness, the temptation to list pretty much everything Johnny Depp has done in the past 15 years as cringeworthy. The once revered actor, noted for his bold and unconventional choices, stunned everybody by going blockbuster with Pirates of the Caribbean; and in the years since, it seems like over-priced pantomimes are pretty much all he'll get out of bed for.

As such, it wasn't an entirely unwelcome surprise when it emerged that Depp was taking a supporting role in 2014's Tusk, a bizarre low-budget horror touted as a comeback for 1990s indie pioneer Kevin Smith.

As the film is all about a madman (played by the late, great Michael Parks) who sets about changing an arrogant podcaster (Justin Long) into a walrus, Tusk was always going to be a bit on the weird side.

Yet it reaches a whole new level of strangeness with Depp's turn as Canadian detective Guy Lapointe. Imagine Inspector Closeau had spent the last decade or more as a homeless alcoholic, and you've got a fair idea of who the character is.

In a sense, Depp's performance is entirely in-keeping with Tusk's overall oddness, but it's most likely to leave you scratching your head wondering what possessed him to do it; to say nothing of why he chose to play the part a second time in Smith's 2016 follow-up Yoga Hosers.