Top 10 Models Who Suck at Acting

After gracing the covers of over 1000 magazines, this German supermodel never needed to appear in a single film or TV show to become a household name – unfortunately she did it anyway. Even though she was constantly cast as eye-candy for male viewers, Schiffer can hardly be considered a thespian. Known for playing many a woman not important enough to be given a last name in the credits, this model turned actress can hold onto the fact that she was once called “downright awful” by one A.V. Club reviewer for her role in “Friends & Lovers.”

From 1984 to 1996, you’d be hard pressed to open a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition without seeing this bikini clad babe. However, it was her eventual foray into film that Ireland is most notorious for. Starring in the 1988 film “Alien from L.A.”, which scored a whopping 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this American beauty didn’t have a very successful career in the motion picture business. Ireland would continue to churn out roles in big screen duds until the early 21stcentury. This move was probably for the best, as she was once described in Entertainment Weekly as a “famous sex bomb gamely sending up her bimbo status” for her appearance in “National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1.”

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#8: Cara Delevingne

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It takes time to perfect your craft – and there is a chance this young model with big screen dreams will turn it around. However, as it currently stands, she should be more focused on modeling than on her acting. Her first major role, “Paper Towns” received mixed reviews. A critique for the A.V. Club described Delevingne as “at best a beginner actor” and “too feathery a presence to make her an object of sustained mystery”. Had this been her only infraction she may have snuck by unscathed. However, her performance in the poorly reviewed film “Kids in Love” makes her yet another model that should have stuck to photo-shoots.

Carmen Electra is known for many things, but her acting prowess is not one of them. A staple on the small screen and the silver screen since the late ‘90s, this Playboy model turned actress has seemingly shaped her acting career around appearing in terrible films. Proof? Electra has appeared in 17 movies that have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 44% or less. Which makes you wonder: do people think the films are horrible because Carmen Electra is in them? Or do people think she has no acting skills because the movies are awful? What makes matters worse is the fact that Electra is typecast in almost everything she appears in. It is painfully obvious that this model needs to get back to her roots.

Elle Macpherson is one of the most famous models of all time. But modeling fame doesn’t necessarily translate to good acting. Using her well-known name and figure to score some high profile roles in the ‘90s, Macpherson was utilized mainly as eye candy during her brief acting career. In one particularly cringe-worthy scene from “Batman and Robin”, it appears as if she has difficulty simply standing next to Clooney’s Bruce Wayne as he defends himself at a public event. Many of her other roles unfold in much the same way – with Macpherson acting as an accessory to her male counterparts. It appears as if this Aussie model made a misstep when she decided to leave the runway.

When two of your biggest film credits are a “Planet of the Apes” remake, and “Kangaroo Jack”, questions may start to arise about your ability to successfully transition from model to actress. In the 2005 film “Her Minor Thing”, Warren got her chance to shine as the lead female character. Unfortunately for her, the film was a bust – scoring an audience rating of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and leading one Variety critic to state that she was simply “floating through it all”. Probably not the result Warren was hoping for when she decided to start acting.

Walking a runway and posing for pictures are one thing – playing the female lead in a Hollywood feature film is something else entirely. In “Fair Game”, this model turned actress was so awful it led a Globe and Mail critic to state, “One could scavenge the thesaurus to find synonyms for ‘awkward’ to describe Crawford’s performance.” Not exactly a glowing review. Things didn’t get much better during the remainder of her brief acting career. Crawford’s next major role was in “The Simian Line.” Widely panned by critics, it would be her last feature film appearance – at least to date. Sometimes it’s best if you just stick to what you know.

“Love Stinks”, “Coyote Ugly”, “Halloween: Resurrection”: what do these movies have in common? They all have Rotten Tomato scores under 25% and they all star Tyra Banks. While she has achieved success as a talk show host, there is a reason Banks has only appeared in cameo roles since 2002 – though it was reported in 2014 that that she’d be reprising her role in the sequel to the family TV movie “Life-Size”. With little success in feature films, Banks made the transition to the small screen and hasn’t looked back. While she has spent years critiquing others on her show “America’s Next Top Model”, it may have been beneficial to have someone critique her before she began acting.

Quality over quantity: although Fox has appeared in a significant number of films and TV shows over the years, her skills as an actress are seriously lacking – at least according to critics. Primarily known for her role in the “Transformers” franchise, as well as her volatile relationship with its director, Michael Bay, this model turned actress has consistently been used for her looks more than her capacity to elicit emotion from an audience. Her worst offence arguably comes in the form of 2011’s “Passion Play”, which scored a whopping 3% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics don’t seem to believe her acting chops have improved much since, considering the reviews of her performance as April O’Neil in 2014’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Gisele Bündchen
- Naomi Campbell
- Pamela Anderson

Ever since she appeared in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Kate Upton has been considered a sex symbol. Upon making the move to acting, she was quickly typecast into the role of “dumb blonde”. Known more for her buxom figure than for her acting abilities, Upton has appeared in a handful of films so far – with each one garnering a lower rating on Rotten Tomatoes than the one before it. Her largest role came in the 2014 comedy “The Other Woman”. RogerEbert.com describes Upton’s character as “a series of seismic curves, stuffed inside a teeny-weeny white bikini”. Thus far, her movie credits seem to revolve around her sex appeal but if Upton plans on winning an Oscar, she has a ways to go.

Do you agree with our list? Who do you think is the worst model turned actress? For more entertaining Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.