The five greatest Razzie-winning performances of all time
Sometimes you watch a movie and wonder how it even got made. How did these actors even get hired?
In 1981, the Golden Raspberry Awards were founded by John JB Wilson and Mo Murphy to honour the worst of the worst in cinema. There’s too much optimism in the Oscars and the Golden Globes; they wanted to celebrate failure and cinematic sins.
As a result, various actors have been nominated for Razzies over the years, many of whom have also won Oscars, like Sandra Bullock or Laurence Olivier. In most instances, however, the nominees are pretty understandable, like Paris Hilton, who has won five, and Madonna, who has nine.
Yet, every so often, the Razzies have crowned someone the worst in their category when there have arguably been much more suited winners. It’s not fair that the Razzies have overlooked some truly terrible performances in favour of the ones listed below, which include a first-time performance from an 11-year-old child.
So, from Dennis Hopper to Adam Sandler, here are five performances that didn’t deserve to win a Razzie.
The five greatest Razzie-winning performances:
Elizabeth Berkley – Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995)
Many people consider Showgirls to be the worst movie ever made. It’s not. There are far worse contenders out there that are considerably more offensive and badly-crafted – Showgirls just so happens to continually come up in discussions of terrible movies, becoming an infamous example of cinema gone wrong.
Sadly, the movie was received so negatively that lead actor Elizabeth Berkley found herself with her career hanging in the balance before it had even properly begun.
She won the ‘Worst Actress’ Golden Raspberry and has never been in anything notable since, but did she deserve as much hate as she got? Many fans of the movie argue that Berkeley delivers exactly what is needed of her character, with director Paul Verhoeven stating (via the Los Angeles Times), “Her performance that everybody is so against is based on a character. The hate towards her character – an edgy, nearly psychotic character – is actually a compliment to her performance.”
Aileen Quinn – Annie (John Huston, 1982)
Poor Aileen Quinn was just 11 years old when she was nominated for ‘Worst Supporting Actress’ at the third Razzie Awards, beating the likes of Lois Nettleton and Dyan Cannon to take home the prize.
The young actor made her first proper screen debut with Annie (which, let’s not forget, was directed by John Huston), performing hits like ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life’ while endearing viewers with her charming portrayal of an orphan just looking for love.
It’s a sweet film that helped to bolster the musical’s popularity, resulting in various sequels and remakes over the years. But for some reason, the Razzies chose to give Quinn an award for her supposedly terrible performance. Luckily for Quinn, she earned several nominations from prestigious institutions like the Golden Globes for her performance, so it wasn’t all bad. Still, nominating an 11-year-old for a performance that was by no means awful was an incredibly mean thing for the Razzies to do.
Adam Sandler – Big Daddy (Dennis Dugan, 1999)
Despite the hatred that Adam Sandler often gets, he’s not a bad actor; he simply makes bad choices.
With roles in movies like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love and the crime thriller Uncut Gems, Sandler has proved himself to be a real talent, but he instead prefers to appear in family-friendly, cringey comedies that sell him short. One of these is Big Daddy, a movie that Anderson actually considers one of his favourites.
Sandler took home the Razzie for ‘Worst Actor’ following his appearance in the admittedly wholesome film, and I’m here to argue that the actor’s performance really wasn’t all that bad. His character has some very funny and charming moments, and let’s be real, Sandler has appeared in much worse. He didn’t deserve that Razzie.
Dennis Hopper – Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995)
Emerging as a countercultural icon in the 1960s, Dennis Hopper proved his talents early on with a leading role in Easy Rider, which he also directed. The actor took on many fantastic roles in the likes of Apocalypse Now, Out of the Blue, and Blue Velvet, proving himself to be one of the best actors of his generation. Yet, in 1995, he won ‘Worst Supporting Actor’ for his performance as The Deacon in Waterworld, a movie that admittedly, is not great.
While it might not be Hopper’s greatest performance of all time – few roles could ever come as close to his unhinged depiction of Frank Booth in Blue Velvet – it certainly wasn’t Razzie-worthy. Hopper was always a fine actor, and he gave a great villainous performance in Waterworld, a movie that is otherwise pretty unredeemable.
Faye Dunaway – Mommie Dearest (Frank Perry, 1981)
When Faye Dunaway took on the role of Hollywood icon Joan Crawford in Frank Perry’s Mommie Dearest, the critical reception was far from satisfying for all involved. The movie was panned, with Dunaway – who’d previously won an Oscar in 1977 for Network – widely criticised for her performance. She was labelled as being too over-the-top, with the ‘No wire hangers!’ scene being parodied and ridiculed for years to come.
Dunaway’s career was never the same again, despite the fact that she’d consistently starred in some incredible movies, like Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown, in the years beforehand. Was her performance as Crawford really that bad? Sure, she’s very dramatic in a way that many believe borders on comical, but she really does embody the chaos and sheer instability of Crawford to a tee.
