Actors Who Have Sworn The Most In Movies
Some of the most memorable lines in cinema history are expletive-laden ones. There's something so satisfying about well-placed swear words, especially when they're delivered by captivating actors. If you've ever wondered which films contain the most swear words and which actors swear the most on the screen, then you're in luck. British bingo company Buzz Bingo did our work for us and compiled an extensive study about profanity on film. They analyzed more than 3,500 film scripts, discovering which films contained the most swear words, which actors have sworn the most, which characters have sworn most, and how swearing in film has changed over time.
While some of the survey results are as expected, others are rather surprising. Martin Scorsese has two films in the top 10 "most foul-mouthed films" list, with "The Wolf of Wall Street" in first place and "Casino” at third, while "Beavis And Butt-Head Do America" is the only animated film on the list at number 10. The number of swear words featured in film has increased since the 1960s, when the Motion Picture Production Code prohibited explicit profanity, per StudioBinder.
Buzz Bingo reports that the amount of cursing in cinema hit its peak in the 1990s, which happened to be the decade of the independent filmmaking craze according to the RRFC. Several independent films are also included on the list, including Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam," Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," and Gary Oldman's directorial debut "Nil by Mouth." However, when it comes to the actors who have sworn the most in films, no women make the top ten, and you might be surprised to discover who comes out on top.
10. Danny McBride
Danny McBride comes in at number 10 on the list, having uttered 136 curse words on film over the course of his career. Interestingly enough, McBride doesn't make the top 10 when you consider how many times an actor curses per 1,000 words. Using this statistic, McBride is out-sworn by actors like Ashton Kutcher, and Ben Stiller, neither of whom make the Buzz Bingo's top swearers.
It's not surprising that McBride makes the list, as he is most well-known for raunchy, R-rated comedies like "Pineapple Express," "Tropic Thunder," and "Sausage Party," which was the first computer-animated 3-D film to be rated R, via The Independent. McBride has also done voice acting in several children's animated films, including "The Angry Birds Movie," "Despicable Me," and "Kung Fu Panda 2" — which certainly do not score him any more points on the list — and starred in three HBO shows, including the expletive-laden "Eastbound and Dow" (per IMDb). Unfortunately, television shows weren't counted in this film-focused study .
McBride has become known for playing pretty horrible (and foul-mouthed) characters, an archetype that likely contributed to him getting a spot on the lineup. In "The Foot First Way," he plays an incompetent Taekwondo instructor on a mission to meet his idol, "This Is The End" sees him as an egotistical actor, and he plays a lazy, slobbish prince in "Your Highness." One of a few comedians on the list, McBride's curse-heavy career proves that swearing often goes hand-in-hand with laughs.
9. Bradley Cooper
Coming in at number nine is Bradley Cooper. Cooper has uttered a respectable 142 swear words in his 20-plus-year career. Unlike several other actors on this list, Cooper doesn't appear in any of the top 10 most swear-heavy films, nor does he play any of the most explicit characters in film history.
Though he has played a fairly wide range of characters in his career, in recent years Cooper has become known for Oscar-winning dramas like "A Star Is Born," "American Hustle," and "Silver Linings Playbook" (per IMDb). R-rated dramas like these have likely contributed to Cooper's place on the list, but the fact that he's never starred in a Scorsese or a Tarantino film certainly docks him a few points.
In addition to his featured dramas, Bradley Cooper also starred in 'The Hangover" and its two sequels, a series that undoubtedly contributed a significant number of curse words to his overall score. Cooper also voiced the crass Rocket Raccoon in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, but since Marvel films are (almost) always PG-13, he wasn't allowed to go as far as he might have liked. In fact, "Guardians" director James Gunn has said there is unseen footage of Rocket dropping the f-bomb extensively, footage he knew he wouldn't be able to use but filmed nonetheless, via The Direct. If only Marvel would let more of their films be as explicit as "Deadpool," perhaps Cooper would be higher up on the list.
8. Seth Rogen
Like his buddy Danny McBride, Seth Rogen clinches a spot on the list primarily because of his work in comedy films. As number eight, Rogen has dropped a curse word in a movie 143 times in his career. As with Bradley Cooper, Rogen isn't in any of the most explicit films on the list, meaning his swear words have been spread out over a number of different films.
Though he has branched out into producing more recently, Rogen is primarily known for his work in comedy, especially stoner comedies. After getting his start on the teen show "Freaks and Geeks," Rogen starred in raunchy comedies like "Superbad," "Pineapple Express," and "This Is The End," the latter two of which also star Danny McBride (McBride and Rogen also "starred" in the "Kung Fu Panda" series together).
Rogen has been swearing on screen since the very start of his career, which began with the Judd Apatow films "The 40-Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." One of his most successful films was the 2014 R-rated comedy "Neighbors," which also stars Zac Efron and Rose Byrne, via The Numbers. As a writer as well as an actor (he also co-wrote "Superbad," among other films), Rogen has likely written many swear words in his career as well, but unfortunately, that doesn't count for anything as far as this particular list goes. He certainly gets (pot) brownie points for creativity though.
7. Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton may not be the first person you think of when you think of the most explicit actors out there, but with 100 acting credits to his name, it's not actually all that surprising. Thornton is number seven on the list, having delivered 145 curse words over the last few decades.
When you look at Thornton's filmography, it's clear which films have earned him a spot on the list. The crudest role Thornton has played is almost certainly his character in the 2003 film "Bad Santa," as well as its 2016 sequel. However, while Thornton's character in the film, Willie Stokes, is pretty explicit, it's actually his best friend, Marcus (played by Tony Cox), who gets a place on the "sweariest film characters" list. According to Buzz Bingo, 48.7 out of 1,000 words that come out of Marcus' mouth are swear words. Overall, 18 out of every 1,000 words in "Bad Santa" are swear words, putting the film at number 10 using that metric.
While Thornton's character in "Bad Santa" — in which Willie and Marcus pose as Santa and his elf in order to pull off a Christmas robbery — doesn't top the "sweariest characters" list, his role in that film and its sequel likely account for many of the swear words in his repertoire. Despite the crass nature of the role, Thornton took both films seriously, telling Entertainment Weekly that "there's an art to cursing," in reference to the fact that there needs to be a good reason to curse in every scene. We'll take it from the master.
6. Denzel Washington
One of the most prolific and beloved actors working in Hollywood today, as reported by Forbes, it's somewhat surprising that a Shakespearian actor like Denzel Washington would have a spot on this list. Landing at number six, Washington has recited 183 curse words over the course of his long and storied career.
Unlike many other actors in the survey, most of the swear words Washington has ever spoken on film are from the same film: 2001's "Training Day" (although he's been known to swear in other films, including "Glory"). "Training Day" is an action-packed crime thriller that takes place over the course of 24 hours in Los Angeles. Washington plays Alonzo Harris, a veteran LAPD narcotics officer, who is paired up with Jake Hoyt, a young officer who is up for a promotion. Jake spends the day riding around with Alonzo in his slick Monte Carlo, as Alonzo schools Jake about how deadly the drug-ridden streets are.
Jake learns early on that Alonzo is a dirty cop who will stop at nothing to protect himself and his own interests. One of the most immoral characters Washington has ever played, it's fitting that Alonzo is also the most explicit character of his career — by a long shot. According to the Buzz Bingo study, Washington has never sworn in any other film, making "Training Day" a pretty big outlier for him. Washington is most well-known for stirring dramas like "Remember The Titans" and "Fences," films that contain plenty of emotional monologues but not much profanity, via Rolling Stone.
5. Al Pacino
It's not hard to guess why Al Pacino — an actor most known for playing mobster characters — has a spot on this list. With an impressive 255 swear words to his name, Pacino comes in at number five. While you might think a loud-mouthed Italian like Pacino would be a shoo-in for a Martin Scorsese film, the two only ever worked together for the first time in 2019 in Scorsese's Netflix film "The Irishman," according to IndieWire. Because of this, it's actually not Scorsese that puts Pacino near the top of the list.
If you're a big Pacino fan, you might be able to guess the most profane film he has ever starred in. According to Buzz Bingo, Pacino's character in "Scarface" is the seventh "sweariest" character in cinema history, with 165 swear words under his belt. In "Scarface," Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who assassinates a government official in order to get a green card. Tony then becomes a big name in the Miami drug trade, acquiring money, power, and, of course, beautiful women like Michelle Pfeiffer. The film's most famous line, "Say hello to my little friend," doesn't actually contain any swear words, but expletives are peppered throughout its nearly three-hour runtime.
While "Scarface" may account for many of the swear words Pacino has uttered in his career, there are still other swear words to account for. Pacino also starred alongside Robert De Niro in Michael Mann's "Heat," for example, an epic film whose most famous (and explicit) line actually inspired Scorsese in "The Wolf Of Wall Street."
4. Adam Sandler
Comedy legend Adam Sandler comes in at number four on the list, having dropped a whopping 295 swear words in his career so far. You might be wracking your brain to think of how he could have possibly sworn so much, but most of the swear words Sandler has ever spoken on film come from a single movie: 2019's "Uncut Gems."
"Uncut Gems" follows a charming but unreliable jeweler named Howard (Sandler). Howard is struggling to pay off his gambling debts, and things become increasingly complicated when basketball star Kevin Garnett (played by Garnett himself) borrows an extremely expensive gemstone that Howard has just smuggled in from Ethiopia. Sandler's Howard swears 295 times in the film, while the film itself contains a grand total of 646 swear words. Statistically speaking, that means that 35.1 out of every 1,000 words in the film are swear words, while 12.3 words out of ever 1,000 words that Howard speaks are swear words. "Uncut Gems" became so famous for its swearing that Netflix actually compiled a video of every f-bomb dropped in the film, ending up with more than four minutes of footage.
It might surprise you to find out that Sandler has never sworn in any of his numerous comedy films, but, as the numbers show, that's the case. This is likely due to the fact that most of Sandler's comedy films are rated PG-13, and, per MPAA rules, PG-13 films are only allowed one (but sometimes up to four) f-bombs before they become rated R, per Polygon.
3. Samuel L. Jackson
Number three on this list might be the most surprising name on here, not because he's on the list but because he doesn't top it. When you think of actors who famously swear a lot, the great Samuel L. Jackson is probably the first person who comes to mind. But according to Buzz Bingo, Jackson doesn't actually hold the record for the most foul-mouthed actor to ever grace the silver screen. He may have delivered 301 swear words over the course of his film career, but that only gets him to number three on the list.
There are probably a few films that come to mind when you imagine Jackson's most explicit films, and there are certainly a number of different films that contribute to his final swear count. The most profane character Jackson has ever played in his career, is, unsurprisingly, a character in a Quentin Tarantino film. Jackson's character in "Jackie Brown," Ordell, swore 183 times over the course of the film, making him the fifth "sweariest" character in film history. Tarantino's film "Pulp Fiction" also gets a spot on the most foul-mouthed movies list.
When Jimmy Fallon confronted Jackson with the fact that he actually isn't the most profane actor in history, Jackson had the perfect response: "That's some bull**** ... Somebody has miscounted," via NBC. Indeed, Jackson has become so synonymous with swearing (especially a word that starts with "m") that the most famous line in "Snakes On A Plane" was actually added after the fact in order to placate fans who wanted to hear it, according to InsideHook.
2. Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio may be an actor known for his impressive crying ability, but his swearing skills aren't too shabby either. As the runner-up on the list, DiCaprio's swear count is a whopping 361 words.
Many of the swear words DiCaprio has uttered come from Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street." DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a Wall Street banker who makes a fortune at a young age, only to be hounded by the FBI for his wild antics and debauchery. Jordan swears 332 times in the film, making up a large chunk of DiCaprio's total swear count, and establishing him as the most profane character in cinema history by that Buzz Bingo metric. "The Wolf of Wall Street" is also the "most foul-mouthed" film ever according to the study, with 715 swear words overall.
Because not every swear word DiCaprio has said comes from "The Wolf of Wall Street," there are few other films that can be thought to contribute to his swear count. In the Tarantino film "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood," DiCaprio plays Rick Dalton, a washed-up Western star struggling to stay relevant. While the film may contain a notable amount of swearing, DiCaprio was reportedly insistent that the swearing only happen on camera. According to his co-star Julie Butters, who was 10 years old at the time, DiCaprio demanded that the cast and crew stop swearing on set in order to protect the young actor, via Fatherly. DiCaprio may have played the most foul-mouthed character in film history, but he draws the line at swearing around children.
1. Jonah Hill
The distinguished honor of the most foul-mouthed actor in film history goes to the one and only Jonah Hill, who has spoken an astounding 376 swear words on screen. Considering what we've learned so far, this is not actually all that surprising, as Hill stars alongside DiCaprio in the amazingly explicit film "The Wolf Of Wall Street." In fact, out of every 1,000 words Hill's character Donnie speaks, 74 of them are swear words, making him even more foul-mouthed than DiCaprio's character percentage-wise (per Buzz Bingo).
While a significant number of swear words in Hill's overall count come from "The Wolf Of Wall Street," it's not the only swear-heavy film in his filmography. When you look at the cold, hard numbers, Hill's most profane role is his character Seth in "Superbad," named after co-writer Seth Rogen. Seth is a high schooler on a mission to score alcohol for a party, and he swears 152 times over the course of the film. "21 Jump Street" (and its sequel "22 Jump Street"), "Knocked Up," and "This Is The End" are a few other R-rated comedies in Hill's repertoire that likely contributed to his winning status, via IMDb.
Though Jackson may have been peeved not to clinch the number one spot on the list, Hill was happy enough to accept his flowers. As reported on TODAY, he took to Instagram to celebrate the achievement, writing, "So many people to thank. @martinscorsese_ thanks for pushing me over the edge. And of course the great @samuelljackson. Humbled." Seth Rogen, who is in part responsible for Hill's winning spot, responded, "The dream."