Elizabeth McGovern: Worst actress ever?

Not the worst. But certainly not very good, then or now.

Why was she such a critical darling for a hot minute in the 1980s (ORDINARY PEOPLE, etc.)? I remember being much more moved and charmed by Dinah Manoff in that movie than by bland McGovern.

I think that is just cora's character she is this meek laid back American surrounded by big personalities..

OP, we are curious. When you say "for fuck's sake", do you use "fuck" to make some kind of point, or are you using it because you think it makes you sound grown-up?

I find her too awkward to watch.

OP – yes. She is the worst. Utterly unwatchable, verging-on-self-parody bad.

R3 – fuck off, why don't you. "We" are not wondering anything of the sort.

R3, obvious fly over state resident who never hears this expression. Get out much?

She and the much younger Megan Boone are tied, in my mind, for worst currently employed actress.

She is a very alluring, subtle actress. Most of you DL tarts would not recognize a capable actress to save your life.

I always thought she was gorgeous in that movie she made with Brad Pitt.

I agree with those who see a highly capable actress in Elizabeth McGovern. The complainers aren't mature enough to hold a decent conversation. Their arguments are too self-aggrandizing. In time, they may grow up; but don't count on it!

What did Megan Boone do to get the part on The Blacklist? Does she have a magic vagina?

I agree with R8 and R10.

No question she's beautiful.

Megan Boone is easy on the eyes as well.

Doesn't make them great actresses.

She seems like she's either drunk or stoned to me.

OP, let me introduce you to Ali MacGraw.

Good call. Throw in Candice Bergen.

And Lauren Hutton. All models who think they're actresses.

R6, you are absolutely devoid of any capacity for wit or cleverness. Go away and die. You do not belong here.

I think McGovern's character in Downton Abbey is just quiet and sort of meek. It's an acting choice. She was excellent during the aftermath of Sybil's death.

She's quite good in "Ragtime" (for which she earned an Oscar nomination). I also enjoyed her in "House of Mirth."

Dinah Manoff really is the stand-out supporting female performance in "Ordinary People" though.

Andie MacDowell owns this thread.

Do you include Cicily Tyson in your list, R17?

I have no idea what OP is talking about. Elizabeth McGovern is superb on [italic]Downton Abbey[/italic]. Maybe, for OP, it's jealousy.

I've always thought that Cora is a poorly written character, so it would be hard for any actress to do much with the part.

I saw the most recent episode of Downton today (online) and, yes, I had a similar thought watching her say her lines. "How did she get this job?". Perhaps poor directing for this episode (5), but her performance is overly dry this season. Just my opinion.

Didn´t they want that X-Files woman?

[quote] I have no idea what OP is talking about. Elizabeth McGovern is superb on Downton Abbey. Maybe, for OP, it's jealousy.

Yes, that's it. I'm jealous. What a deep and profound observation. *eyeroll*

This most recent episode was one of the most dramatic for Cora and Robert, and the most her character could do was look vaguely alarmed. The next scene had her nattering on about a necklace.

The big question, I suppose, is whether that's her performance as she has it in her to present it, or whether she's being directed to be that much of a blank ditz. The same questions that arose with January Jones on Mad Men.....was she that flat and expressionless of a bitch, or was she supposed to be that way?

She has a lisp that makes her sound like Elmer Fudd.

"Oh, Wobert!"

Okay, next time you watch it: after every line of Cora's, add a Betty Boop "boop-boop-ee-doop".

See? See?

I just realized that Renee Zellweger's new face makes her look just like Elizabeth McGovern.

no really....the eyes, especially.

And her band sucks too.

She's no Jennifer Connelly.

For your information, OP, McGovern got an Emmy nomination for this show, and is also an Oscar-nominee (Supporting Actress for RAGTIME), so you're an idiot.

She's horrible. Even though she's playing an American who's living in Great Britain, she's incapable of picking an accent that matches her character.

[quote]I remember being much more moved and charmed by Dinah Manoff

You’ve got to be kidding. NO ONE has ever been moved by that phony baloney “actress.”

That's OSCAR NOMINEE Elizabeth McGovern, peasants. How bad could she be?

Her cameo appearance in THE WIFE is just ridiculous.

How come she mostly had the same facial expression (as Lady Grantham), head tilted down, eyes looking upwards?

I've heard that her portrayal of Lady Grantham was accurate for a woman of that time. But the other women (Violet) didn't act like that: simpering, baby-talking, etc.

She was good in DA. Her affect of a well mannered heiress was quite accurate. She displayed the layers covered by her gentile manners when called for in her character.

Ali McGraw wins as someone mentioned. I like her (smart and beautiful), but Lord is she a bad actress. In Love Story she's jarring. I remember Goodbye Columbus as being a pretty good film but on a recent viewing- Ali kind of ruins a lot of it. Wooden isn't the word- she is consummately wooden in movement and voice.

Funny, I don't get the hate for Ali especially in "Columbus". She had a warmth that I loved and a great smile/laugh that made me want her and I am a gay man. Did you not like her in that "Tell Me What You Want" movie too? (I still need to see it, I must admit, but most it's her best work).

I met her and she was nice enough so that helps too, granted.

OP = Beth Jarrett

She was great in The Handmaid's Tale but that was the apex of her career.

Dinah Manoff should've been a lot bigger. The audience falls in love with her during the opening of Child's Play, and 20 mins into the movie the devil doll kills her. What a waste, she should've been that movie's Jamie Lee Curtis.

Manoff never had the looks of EMcG,,,,not even close. She wasn't a Streep or Close either. She got far enough on her mom's good name(Lee Grant).

Elizabeth McGovern was so horrible that I hoped her character would die in every episode of Downton. Oh, that I had gotten my way in the Spanish flu outbreak episode. That simpering looking up through her eyebrows brand of acting was intolerable and atrocious.

She's not that bad. I never thought she was great. She was a pretty face who got lucky in the industry. Unlike Manoff ,McGovern didn't have connections like Manoff did either.

What is "simpering, baby-taking?"

She’s was atrocious in Downton Abbey. Lucky for her Gillian Anderson turned it down.

How did Dinah Manoff miss out on an Oscar nomination for ORDINARY PEOPLE? She was alternately charming and heartbreaking in her one scene and a very clear stand-out. Remember this was the year that they dug out Diana Scarwid’s performance in INSIDE MOVES for a supporting nod.

I like Elizabeth McGovern. She brings a certain innocence, kindness mixed with conviction to her performances. I know this is super random, but I loved her Snow White In Shelley Duvall’s “Faerie Tale Theatre” as well as her recent cameo in THE WIFE.

And, yes, she was on fire after Sybil’s death on “Downton Abbey.” Her best scenes in the whole series.

You're welcome.

R48 Scarwid was a decent actress. She did an OK job in Rumble Fish in where she didn't have that much to do but she had very good chemistry with Matt Dillon. Better than with Diane Lane who he was dating at the time!

Rawboot?

Rawboot!

Oh...Raawboooot.

Maybe it’s the Lady Cora character, but Elizabeth McGovern is bland in the role. I’m mystified as to why she got the role. I think Helen Bonham Carter would have been excellent.

The one American role in the main cast and you’d stick a Brit in it? HBC is also completely wrong for that part.

[quote]That's OSCAR NOMINEE Elizabeth McGovern, peasants. How bad could she be?

Worst actress ever, Ali McGraw, is also an Oscar nominee.

So is Candice Bergen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Tilly, Hope Lange, and many others sometimes called "bad actresses" by civilians -- but who really aren't bad at all. And that includes Ali.

R55 ...

That parody of Lady Cora was too funny.

I used to read a recap somewhere, I think it was the SF Weekly online, but the two women who covered the show said that EMcG had total "oatmeal cookie face" playing Cora. I could never unsee it.

I have to think Cora is supposed to be the subservient, meek (yet sexy! sleeping in the same bedroom with her husband! scandalous!) even simpering wife who came from the US and had to fit into this very grand home and way of living. She could not be a spitfire, the daughters had to rebel against her type of life to become independent modern rich women and carry the story along.

I have to agree that her character was written so as to not compete with the other personalities. For me she wasn't a distraction.

I loved Diana Scarwid in Inside Moves r48. The scene where she tells John Savage she loves him is so moving. She deserved her nomination (although so did Savage who wasn't nominated). But I agree - Manoff was excellent and also worthy of a nom, just like Sutherland who wasn't nominated either.

I have always been a fan of McGovern. She was very successful in the '80s - Ordinary People, Ragtime, Once Upon a Time in America, Racing with the Moon, The Bedroom Window, She's Having a Baby, Johnny Handsome.

I thought her cameo in The Wife was fantastic. Barely two minutes and she made such an impression.

She's also one of those actresses who I think gets more beautiful with age.

I still get a chuckle out of this post from 2013, when it was revealed that one of the main characters would be killed off:

[quote] It will be Elizabeth McGiovern. The other characters, sick to death of her incredibly annoying Chicago accent, will gather on a balcony and push a giant stone urn on her when she's out on the terrace having yet another of her interminable conversations with her husband about their daughters. "Bet RAW-burt, whet abowt Lay-dee Merry?"... ***THUD!***

I hated her portrayal as Cora, whether it was historically accurate or not. It was irritating. She reminds me of Brooke Shields. Looks are much better suited for a girl / woman in her late-teens / early 20s (innocent, inexperienced).

I haven't seen it for a long time, but I remember her being good in "Once Upon a Time in America."

I didn't really get her in "Ragtime", which I thought was mediocre at best. She took up a lot of screen time and gave a very weird performance. Thank God "Ragtime" became the superb musical that it was in 1998... now that "Ragtime" deserves to be made into a movie!

She was funny in She's Having a Baby.

Dinah Manoff will always have my heart for being Elaine in Soap . I like Elizabeth but even I have to admit I found her acting in DA completely forgettable .