bad acting habits

My question is what small habits do you associate with bad acting?

I'll start with an example:

Nodding yes or no to be more convincing.
To me it looks absolutely unnatural when overdone.
It's like an actor is actually having a hard time to convince himself.
I see actors do this in many movies


I'm just trying to collect as much of these little habits as possible in this thread.
 
Not sure if this is part of what you're asking but sometimes overdone acting is considered good acting though. A lot of people consider Will Ferrell or Timothy Dalton to be good actors even though they get very intense, where as others say they over do it.

Gone With The Wind won best picture as well as other Oscars, and is one of my favorite movies, yet a couple of friends say it has some of the most overacting in it, they have ever seen, and not in a good way.

Overacting is kind of a relative term, I'm just saying. Another thing is, is that nervous actors, such as when I started out, do not speak from their diaphragm, which I had to learn later. That is one to add.
 
I can think of no small habits that I would put into this category.

But I can say this.. I've directed two short films now, and both of them I had to edit around scenes where the actors quickly glanced right into the camera. I was not able to catch it live because I didn't have enough help and was busy holding the boom
 
An actor who likes to keep a hand on the hip and not stand straight when it's not part of their character.

Actors who cannot stay in character while the camera is rolling is as bad as an actor who cannot remember their lines and re-invent them with every take.

They are a nightmare to edit around.
 
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Stumbling through lines (Everyone does it sometimes, but it's a problem if they're constantly glancing at a script...) Glancing in the camera... not having proper pronunciation/projection, etc.

Everyone has to start somewhere, though, and certain acting techniques vary. I've directed a few incredibly talented theater actors in the past, and they really struggled with film acting. It's an entire beast in it's own, obviously, but little things like looking into the camera was a big change for them. We worked through those things really quick, but they were initially a problem nonetheless.

I don't think you were referring to overdone acting when you noted the nodding, as H44 says, but nonetheless, I do hope that that doesn't fall on this list. Sometimes overacting a part is exactly what a part needs. Random example - I thought Matt Smith's 'Doctor' was absolutely incredible, largely in part to the way he completely overdramatized the part in every little way. So, some acting habits that could be bad for one role could be perfect for another.
 
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