Home Featured Content

10 Actors Who Are Masters At Swearing

There’s an art to cursing. When done well, it can provide dialogue with added emphasis, intensity, aggression, or rebelliousness. Pop culture seems to have transitioned relatively quickly from foul language being seen as taboo and worthy of censorship to its use being seen as an effective tool and worthy of praise for its level of creativity. There are certain writers and directors that seem to throw caution regarding censorship to the wind and become known for their expletive-heavy films. But the performers who we get to see and hear using this colorful language possess the voices that we typically associate with our favorite movie curse words, and scenes that employ said curse words. Those who exercise this theatrical muscle the best are unsurprisingly some of the most widely appreciated performers in the business.

7) Seth Rogen

Recommended Videos

This is the End

No one lets out an angry and exasperated “fuck” quite like Seth Rogen (except for, possibly, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Punch-Drunk Love). But that’s only part of his comedic charm. It always sounds stupid to try to rationalize humor, but I’ll try anyway: one of the things I find that really works about Rogen’s comedy is the casualness and self-consciousness with which he delivers the jokes. This can range from various throwaway lines in Knocked Up that we barely even notice or remember to memorable improvised riffs alongside Paul Rudd or Steve Carell.

I say this because it’s kind of analogous to the way he’ll throw in swear words to his dialogue. It’s so casual that you barely even notice, as though he doesn’t even think of the possibility that anyone might be sensitive to strong language in this day and age. Or to use the parlance of modern day youngsters, he doesn’t give a single fuck. And it’s this cavalier attitude that is the source of the majority of his likeability and humor. That’s what I think, anyway, when I try to seriously consider why he makes me laugh i.e. when I feel like wasting time and brain energy.