Overacting

Overacting (also called hamming, mugging or chewing the scenery) is exaggerated acting, positively or negatively.

==Uses== thumb|Carrey in 2008 Some roles require overly exaggerated character acting, particularly those in comedy films. For example, the breakthrough roles of Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask (both 1994) saw him portray the lead characters in a very flamboyant fashion, as the script required. He has since played relatively straight roles.