Michael Madsen = Worst Acting Ever

I LMAO at that part...his expression was like "How do I feel about this sword in my chest?" or "Oh sh!t, was I stabbed just now?"

Listen... you have to understand something about acting to understand why Madsen and Kingsley's performances are soooo horrific!

When you act, you have to REALLY put yourself out there. You have to give it your all, because if you don't, you end up looking like Madsen did in this film, BUT the reason why actors "hold back" as Madsen did in this film is because they fear MORE, much more, being seen taking the dialog SERIOUSLY. For example, a young, up and coming actress such as Loken can totally throw herself into the role, because no one is going to make fun of her taking this schlock seriously - she's new and trying to break into the business. However, an actor like Kingsley, who seriously just like PHONED IN his performance, is FAR more afraid of people watching this movie and seeing him REALLY going for it with his lines. He'd MUCH rather that people see him in this tripe totally NOT taking it seriously, so he can say, "Hey, yes, I did the movie, but I did it for the CASH. Watch me in the movie, I'm barely AWAKE in my performance. Do you seriously think I would GO FOR IT in this CRAP?!"

So, see that is why even though Boll got some talented actors in the movie, he still isn't going to get anything of substance - accidentally - through the actors lifting up the material with their excellent performances. I mean, no doubt, Bloodrayne could have been a MUCH better picture IF the actors would have taken it seriously and put in some good performances, BUT it still would have been CRAP. Sure it would have been much better CRAP, but crap nonetheless.

Actors are NOT going to put themselves out there in a role if they think the director is sh!t, and the movie is sh!t, because they don't want to be laughed at by their peers! They just say, "Yeah, it's sh!t! Look how lousy I did my lines, because I KNOW it's sh!t!"

For actors to really put themselves out there, which is HARD, because you run the risk of looking like a fool, then they have to be VERY confident that the director, the filmmaker's are going to make them look good. NO actor (except some young, up-and-coming actor trying to impress a REAL director [read: not Uwe Boll]) is going to seriously recite the HORRIFIC dialog that was in this film.

Think about it, if you were an actor and you're reading the script and it's total CRAP, and the director is an IDIOT and everyone on the picture is constantly laughing behind his back saying, "This is SH!T, the worst picture I've ever worked on"... so you seriously think that those actors are then going to go out and really get into their character?! Hell NO!

If you ask me, the only SANE people on this movie ARE Madsen and Kingsley BECAUSE they recognize that this is GARBAGE and they dial in their performances in response. The SHAME of it all is that Boll didn't recognize that his actors were EMBARRASSED and ashamed to really emote and draw those performances OUT of them!

A good director has to DRAW OUT good performances from actors. Take Ridley Scott for example, he'll do 20-30 takes of EACH SCENE to get JUST the right performance from an actor, PLUS Scott is a consummate professional who surrounds his performers with top tier personnel and an excellent script.

Take it from me, if an actor feels he or she is on a crap movie that will tank at the box office, there is no WAY they are going to throw themselves into the material and look like a total idiot when it comes out. Madsen and Kingsley KNEW this movie was crap, and they treated it like crap through their performances. Both actors are capable of tour-de-force performances... we know they are capable of doing so, but they aren't going to do it for a schlockmeister!

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus