12 Actors Who Were Brilliant In Utterly Sh*t Movies
4. Kevin Spacey - Fred Claus
Heralded as one of the best actors of this generation, Kevin Spacey has the innate ability to steal any scene hes in. With a litany of classic roles under his belt: Verbal Kint, John Doe and Frank Underwood to name but a few, its completely baffling as to why, upon receiving the script to Fred Claus, he decided to jump right in. Judging by his performance, it was a personal challenge to see if he could keep his dignity while playing a nasty man who audits Santa Claus.
There are few people who can play a villain as well as Spacey and the way he can subtly move the dial of evil from serial killer to child-friendly grouch without losing any depth or credibility to his performance is very impressive. To put this feat of acting in perspective his character, Clyde Archibald Northcutt, is an efficiency expert who wants to shut down Santas workshop because he didnt get a Superman cape when he was a youngster. Somehow he manages to turn this dross into a compelling character.
Hes snarky, underhanded and devious enough to entertain those tricked into watching a middle of the road Vince Vaughn Christmas caper. Despite playing a character who was seemingly shoehorned in because they forgot to write an antagonist that made sense, Spacey brings a level of quality and gravitas to Fred Claus that it didnt really deserve.