The downside of the cigarette is that it’s so trite. In a movie, we ought to be able to come up with specific actions that either retell the story, or emphasize a character trait.
For example, in a movie about a prison break, the anal warden spends a conversation folding a piece of paper into ever smaller squares.
Or the teenager who’s trying to find herself peels the label off her drink bottle.
Or the mother who’s choosing not to see the molestation of her child by her boyfriend spends the scene cleaning the kitchen, but her visitor notices she’s missed one very obvious spill in the middle of the counter.
Yes, actors love to hold them; it substitutes for doing the work of the actor, and makes characters look convenstional.
Cigarettes are just lazy writing. Make stuff up!