chewed the scenery
Theatrically overdid it
Chewed the scenery is the past tense of chew the scenery, meaning to act in an exaggerated, overly dramatic manner.
The image is of a performer so wildly theatrical they might literally gnaw on the stage set.
Usually said of actors giving hammy performances, but extends to anyone being melodramatic: He chewed the scenery during his resignation speech.
- campyEntertainingly artificial and overblown
- overactingExcessive theatrical performance
- ham it upPerform with exaggerated theatrics
- hammyExcessively theatrical in style
- over the topExcessively theatrical or extreme
dramatic · melodrama · self-indulgent · kitschy · histrionic · exaggerated · bombastic · Al Pacino · theatricality · gaudy · stealing the show · overwrought · grandstanding · drama queen · caricatured · intense · spectacle · flamboyance
chewed the sceneryunderacted
Performed with insufficient emotion
understated · underplayed · subdued · wooden · deadpan
chewed the scenerypoker-faced
Showing no emotion
stoic · impassive · expressionless · flat affect · buttoned-up
chew, chewed, chews, chewing, chewer, chewable, scene, scenes, scenic