5. Steven Berkoff - Under The Cherry Moon
My ex-girlfriend was a huge Prince fan. Me? Not so much. Until she dragged me to Wembley Arena to watch him in concert. In that instant I became a convert. Looking around a packed arena and watching 12,ooo people getting down - as the kids say - is an image which will live with me forever. I'm a fan for life. Musically he's a genius, the man can do no wrong. His films on the other hand? Yeesh... Purple Rain (1984) was a cheesefest saved by some incredible music. As a film it had to remain coherent long enough to carry you through to the next song. It only just managed to do that, although there are some - myself included - who would question that view. The movie was a box office smash and earned Prince both an Oscar and a Grammy. The follow-up was Under The Cherry Moon. Originally, the film was to be directed by Mary Lambert, a music-video director who had overseen Madonna's Material Girl. But about a month or so into the movie's two-month shooting schedule, Lambert was fired by His Royal Badness who took over the reins. Lambert's was not the first departure from the set of Under the Cherry Moon. Just a couple of days into filming, veteran British actor Terrence Stamp walked off the set, presumably he'd had a premonition about how bad the finished movie would look. Stamp was replaced by acclaimed actor and playwright Steven Berkoff, who had played the bad guy in both Beverly Hills Cop and Rambo: First Blood Part II. Berkoff is a man who funds his plays by taking on any Hollywood role he can find and is very vocal in his disdain for the appalling movies he has to make. The thing is though he has such presence and charisma he is often the scene-chompingly best thing in any movie he's in. This is definitely the case here. He plays the father of Prince's love interest (an uncertain and very awkward Kristin Scott Thomas in her debut film role) in this unwatchable hot mess (© Iron Man 3) of a movie. Visiting his website Mr Berkoff still lists this as one of the many movies he has appeared in, so presumably he made a lot of money from it. At least... I sincerely hope so.