chew up the scenery

To be exaggeratedly or flamboyantly melodramatic or overly emotional while acting a role, as for television, theater, or film. I hated working with him on that play—every night he'd go out and chew up the scenery so much that he was the only one the audience noticed! I love watching hammy actors chew up the scenery in bad movies.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Maylis	-	French
Shichirou	shee-chee-ṙo:	Japanese
Kaiser	-	Various
RÓRdÁN	-	Irish
Koralia	-	Greek, Late Greek
Shulammit	-	Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew