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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.

5) Joe Pesci

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Goodfellas

Goodfellas and Casino are two of the most profanity-laden movies of all time, and while they share a handful of actors, the most crucial person to appear in both films—in terms of both the quantity and quality of the curse words—is Joe Pesci. Casino uses the word “fuck” frequently and effectively. The movie is all about these crooked mobsters who are duping people into thinking they’re straight businessmen, and the moment Pesci’s character breaks out the word is like he’s coming out as a gangster to the weak schmucks he’s lost patience with.

Most of all, and this is on display throughout Goodfellas, he uses curse words as a way of coloring his speech with a certain texture and rhythm, as a character who can talk and talk and talk but is always just on the edge between idle talk and horrifically violent outbursts. Basically any time he dons the hairpiece, beware Joe Pesci.

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