Stars in roles that make you uncomfortable

To Jaded1 Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 11:50 AM EST

SFW= Safe for Work
NSFW= Not Safe for Work
That way you don't click on a link on your lunch hour and end up fired for what you are viewing. :-)

ANTM Freak Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 11:47 AM EST

Katherine Hepburn in the Warren Beatty-Annette Benning remake of "Love Affair". Pretty much anything by Robin Williams makes me uncomfortable and angry.

Dan Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 09:05 AM EST

I love those Green Porno Films. I think they are brilliantly produced and acted. For reals! True art.

Cranky Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 07:45 PM EST

Isabella as a pooping, hermaphroditic pink worm is enough discomfort for one day, thankyouverymuch.

Susan Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 11:23 PM EST

Tom Hanks' multiple roles in "Polar Express." The entire movie was... UNCOMFORTABLE (with a needless Steve Tyler cameo as well!) Awful,ugly,creepy film. For kids.

Peter O'Toole looking cadaverous&scary in "Casanova." David Tennant was too geeky for the young Casanova role. As for O'Toole,I guess he came in too late for a Ringwraith role?

And speaking of LOTR,Elijah Wood's role in the YO GABBA GABBA! pilot episode. I'd much rather think of him as sexy lil' Frodo. Not doing a "Puppetmaster" dance. He needs to do something better... like being Daniel Radcliffe's understudy for "Equus" on Broadway.

Jaded1 Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 09:28 PM EST

What does SFW actually stand for????

Alli Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 04:30 PM EST

Definitely Sarah Michelle Gellar in the straight to DVD debacle "Suburban Girl". The film was horribly put together and she looked terribly gaunt. The icing on the awkward cake were her love scenes with Alec Baldwin. I love them both but seeing his hands all over her made me hide under the couch cushions.

Deadspinner Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 02:44 PM EST

Anything Cuba Gooding does these days makes my skin crawl...

orville Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 09:36 AM EST

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who found The Polar Express creepy. Completely weirds me out. The original Willy Wonka creeped me out as well.

While it's an excellenet movie, Hard Candy made me feel uncomfortable from beginning to end. The scene in Lovely & Amazing where Dermot Mulroney gets brutally honest with a naked Emily Mortimer about her body is also very uncomfortable.

Sat, Jun 21, 2008 at 09:06 AM EST

There's two kinds of uncomfortable; one for all the right reasons (you're meant to be uncomfortable), and one for all the wrong reasons (you're meant to be entertained, amused, etc. In category one: Welcome to the Dollhouse. Heather Matarazzo's torment in that movie brought back memories of my own junior high hell. In category two: Ocean's 12, where Vincent Cassell dances through those lasers. That wasn't funny, that was incredible stupid and painful to watch!

Coach's Mistress Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 10:03 PM EST

Tom Hanks' motion-captured conductor in Polar Express is the definition of CREEPY. Not at all pleasant to watch knowing it was Tom Hanks.

MsDaisy Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 08:45 PM EST

Another Brando sighting..."Last Tango in Paris".

mickey35 Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 03:53 PM EST

I don't know about characters, but I will never watch "Town & Country" after seeing (blocked out who it was) going at it on a couch (shudder)

Tim Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 03:27 PM EST

There's "ha ha" uncomfortable, and "horrifying" uncomfortable. Dressing up like a snail is the former. Blue Velvet is the latter - maybe the most uncomfortable ever. Others: Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves. Louise Fletcher, Cuckoo's Nest. Malcolm McDowell, Clockwork Orange. Jodie Foster, The Accused. Michael Rooker, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. James Cagney, White Heat. Some of the greatest performances in cinema, those actors should be incredibly proud -- but at times, these are almost impossible to watch. And yet, you must. THAT's uncomfortable.

Cajunsblues Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 03:07 PM EST

I will have to say The late great Rodney Dangerfield playing the abusive father in Natural Born Killers.
Creepy.

Anne Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 03:04 PM EST

You haven't see "out there" until you've seen The Saddest Music in the World. Rossellini plays a brewery heiress with glass legs--filled with beer. Her romatic interest? Mark McKinney, as in Kids in the Hall Mark McKinney, lately of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Isabella Rossellini and Mark McKinney, wrap your brain around that.

Broadway Baby Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 03:01 PM EST

Unfortunately I have to add another Brando role - Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls.

to adrianne Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:53 PM EST

Your sentence should read "an insect-sex . . ." not "a"

Eric Friedmann Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:52 PM EST

Snarf, this may not make it any better for you, but Travolta and Tomlin DID actually get involved with each other for a while during the making of that movie.

Eric Friedmann Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:51 PM EST

Rosie O'Donnel as a dominatrix in EXIT TO EDEN. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!

On the other hand, Dana Delany as a dominatrix in EXIT TO EDEN. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Los Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:24 PM EST

A ticket to Irkville could definitely be issued by the McPoyle brothers (Nate Mooney & Jimmi Simpson) on 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", especially when they're accompanied by their deaf-mute sister (Thesy Surface) for reasons I dare not say (Ah what the hell- They are down for some serious incest action). I don't know if I could bare to watch them if they weren't responsible for some of the most hilarious episodes on that show.

Snarf Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:18 PM EST

Lily Tomlin and John Travolta as lovers in Moment by Moment.
Then again maybe that belongs in the same category as Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist - Movies that should have been rated FP (for Flying Pigs)

Ep Sato Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 02:04 PM EST

Why wasn't "green porno" must listed? I agree it's disturbing, but like Ms Day, I had to see them all. This series could become very addicting if they made more of them...

Ceballos Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 01:39 PM EST

I'm pretty sure it wasn't intended, but, during "The Happening", I was uncomfortable the entire time watching Mark Wahlberg play a science teacher (as well as playing a guy named "Elliot").

Still, I wasn't as uncomfortable as Wahlberg looked. I felt pretty embarrassed for him.

EP Sato Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 01:31 PM EST

I found it disturbing to see Denise Richards play a nuclear scientist in The World Is Not Enough. The role was disturbing enough to make me question my James Bond fandom. Since then, all the posters got taken down, I sold my first edition copies of the Ian Fleming novels AND opted to give away my nearly impossible to find Auric Goldfinger action figure. Yeah, the role was THAT disturbing to me.

Heather Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 01:21 PM EST

I saw the Green Porno shorts at the Tribeca Film Festival with Isabella Rossellini in the audience. I thought they were hilarious and the crowd agreed. After the screening, she asked if she would be making more and when she said she was thinking maybe of doing some with marine animals like clams, the crowd went wild with applause. I think the audience for the shorts are discerning people looking for something different and funny.

Dixie Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 01:18 PM EST

I found it vaguely unsettling when George "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" Carlin played grandfatherly Mr. Conductor on Thomas the Tank Engine. I love GC, but it was just surreal. I felt like I was on a weak dose of acid every time the kids I baby-sat fior turned it on.
Willem Dafoe as Jesus makes me uncomfortable too, I guess because he's most famous for playing villains. I can see him as Satan easily, but the Son of God? Come on! He was the frickin' Green Goblin!

TsuKata Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:59 PM EST

As uncomfortable as it makes you, I learned more from watching Green Porno than any science class. I can see that being an awesome teaching tool for high school students. It's not very salacious, and it's entertaining.

Lyn Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:59 PM EST

The Comeback: Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish. I still can't make it through 10 minutes at a time, no matter how hilarious it is.

Eric Friedmann Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:51 PM EST

When I saw the very overweight and disgusting-looking Marlon Brando in the 1996 version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, I said to myself, "This man should never get in front of the camera again!"

Middento Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:37 PM EST

Personally, I think they're hilarious. I spent most of yesterday watching them again and again, and giggling. My favorite is in the fly sequence when she grins after humping the other fly. The woman has some sense of comic gravity.

Stephanie T. Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:31 PM EST

I have to say it:

John Travolta as Edna Turnblatt. It's too creepy.

charlie d Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:27 PM EST

OH NO! She's an inspiration!

Rob Grizzly Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 12:17 PM EST

Um, Robert Downey Jr as a black man in Tropic Thunder. Yeah, I think that.