Five Oscar-bait performances that won the Razzies instead
The phrase ‘Oscar-bait’ gets thrown around a lot, but not without reason.
There is definitely a formula when it comes to winning big awards, one that a lot of actors go out of their way to try and exploit. Sometimes, however, this backfires in a huge way. Many actors have fallen afoul of Oscar-bait, only to end up being nominated at the wrong ceremony instead. Whether they teamed up with an acclaimed director, chose a character with great potential, or focused on some gripping subject matter, none of it was enough to impress the right people.
It’s a thin line between ‘legendary’ and ‘ludicrous’, and the ones policing this treacherous border are the Razzies. Officially called The Golden Raspberry Awards, this annual event ‘celebrates’ the worst of the film world, rightfully shaming those who thought they could get away with a duff performance or several.
Regardless of what you think of the Razzies, they can often provide a fascinating insight into where film was during a specific period. These nominations all show that, while the Oscars might have been looking for certain things that year, they didn’t find them here.
Five Oscar-bait performances that won the Razzies
Daryl Hannah in ‘Wall Street’ (Oliver Stone, 1987)
Oliver Stone’s Wall Street encompassed much of what made America tick in the 1980s. Starring Michael Douglas as the ultimate symbol of greed, Gordon Gecko, the movie pulls apart the highs and lows of financial ambition, and people couldn’t get enough. Douglas won ‘Best Actor’ at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, but the same could not be said for his colleague Daryl Hannah.
Hannah plays Darien Taylor, an interior designer and a love interest for both Gekko and his apprentice, Charlie Sheen’s Bud Fox. Darien is just as obsessed with the finer things as any of the male characters in the film, but is loyal to Gekko, even after he dumps her. A character like this feels tailor-made for a ‘Best Actress’ win, but it wasn’t to be for the Blade Runner star. Hannah has stated many times that she didn’t fully understand her role, which led to a muddled performance that stood out like a sore thumb. The Razzies pounced, awarding her ‘Worst Supporting Actress’ in 1988. You could say that this performance damaged her stock…sorry.
Kevin Costner in ‘Wyatt Earp’ (Lawrence Kasdan, 1994)
In the 2010s, seven out of ten ‘Best Actor’ prizes were given to performances inspired by real people. The Academy just can’t get enough of artists taking on reality, as there seems to be something majestic about capturing the essence of a person who truly lived. This is undoubtedly what Kevin Costner was going for when he signed on to play legendary Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp in Lawrence Kasdan’s biopic of the same name. Costner had found major success a few years earlier with Dances With Wolves, so why not give the ol’ western another try?
Instead of finally capturing that elusive acting gong, Costner ended up with serious egg on his face. Wyatt Earp failed to set the world alight, especially when compared to Tombstone, a much better film on the same subject that had been released just six months earlier. The mouldy icing on this disappointing cake came when Costner ‘beat’ the likes of Steven Seagal and Razzies favourite Sylvester Stallone to take home ‘Worst Actor’ at the annual parody night. Unlike the real Earp at the OK Corral, Costner had missed his shot.
Jon Voight in ‘Megalopolis’ (Francis Ford Coppola, 2024) and ‘Reagan’ (Sean McNamara, 2024)
Nobody would ever accuse the Razzies of pulling punches. As well as nominating several children and teenagers over the years, the ceremony also regularly punishes performers for not one, but several bad performances in a single year. This is what happened in 2025, when legendary actor (and douchebag) Jon Voight won ‘Worst Supporting Actor’ for not one, not two, but four movies. His most high-profile offences were his part in Francis Ford Coppola’s excruciating end-of-life crisis piece Megalopolis and his portrayal of a retired KGB agent in the presidential biopic Reagan.
Nobody knows what Coppola was thinking when he made Megalopolis, possibly just the word ‘boobs’. Still, a passion project from an ageing auteur is exactly the sort of thing to get the Academy hot and bothered. Sadly, the whole thing fell flat, Voight’s baffling performance included. Then there’s Reagan. Movies about presidents usually do quite well on the big night, and ol’ Ronnie was a fairly untapped source material. The film stank to high heaven, with Dennis Quaid also earning a ‘Worst Actor’ shout for his portrayal of ‘Double R’.
Melanie Griffith in ‘A Stranger Among Us’ (Sidney Lumet, 1992)
As the daughter of Tippi Hedren and the mother of Dakota Johnson, Melanie Griffith is part of an acting dynasty and also the Razzie dynasty. Johnson is a three-time honouree thanks to her underwhelming performances in Fifty Shades of Grey and Madame Web. As for Hedren, how the hell Roar didn’t get nominated is one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Then there’s Griffith, who was also a victim of a double whammy at the 1993 ceremony.
Her ‘Worst Actress’ award was earned on the merit of two films: Shining Through, a war drama in which she starred opposite Michael Douglas, and A Stranger Among Us, which was directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet. In the latter, Griffith plays a police detective who must go undercover in a Hasidic Jewish community in order to catch a murderer. What could have been an interesting story about accepting a different culture turned into a farce, with many of Griffith’s exploits coming across like plotlines from a bad sitcom. Given the subject matter and the talent behind the camera, she must have thought she was a shoo-in for a big reward. What a putz.
Sofia Coppola in ‘The Godfather Part III’ (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
To give Sofia Coppola credit, her appearance in The Godfather Part III was doomed from the start. She was parachuted in to play Mary Corleone, daughter of Al Pacino’s Michael, after Winona Ryder pulled out. By her own admission, she wasn’t an actor and found it awkward to be on set, especially as her father was the director. The result of this perfect storm was one of the worst acting performances in a major film ever. Coppola was rightly handed the fruit-based statuette for her abysmal performance, and she has rarely acted since.
She might not have fancied herself the next Diane Keaton, but there must have been some part of Coppola that thought she might have been in with a chance at the big one. This was ‘The Godfather’, for crying out loud. The first two films had won nine awards from 21 nominations, so surely she was in with a fighting chance just by being close to the third instalment. If Sofia didn’t have these grand aspirations, then perhaps her father did. A parent directing their child to an Oscar victory is exceedingly rare, and would have done no end of good to the filmmaker’s legendary ego.
