# Actors honest about their talents **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 15, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020 "2015-03-15T00:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/21 "2015-03-16T13:38:15Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Will Smith passed on playing Neo in _The Matrix_, and later said: I get this impression about Keanu Reeves that he has virtually no ego - at least relative to other actors - and is constantly surprised by his own success. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/22 "2015-03-16T14:53:09Z")
Lash Larue, an cowboy actor of the 40s known for using a whip, was known to be an ass in the days of his stardom. In the 50s, his career dwindling, he took out an ad in _Variety_ asking for work, and admitting he had been a jerk but had changed. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/23 "2015-03-16T15:44:07Z")
I remember an interview with Steve Martin while he was shooting (I think) _Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid_. He said something to the effect of “I’m starring in a musical. The problem is, I can’t sing, I can’t dance, and I can’t act.” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/24 "2015-03-16T17:11:04Z")
Acknowledging that they aren’t the most popular: Bruce Campbell, who wrote “If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor.” Also said elsewhere. Kathy Griffin, who starred in “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List.” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/25 "2015-03-16T17:31:08Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I get this impression about Keanu Reeves that he has virtually no ego - at least relative to other actors - and is constantly surprised by his own success. A mildly surprised, yet not quite knowing what’s going on or why is how most of his characters “look” as well 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/26 "2015-03-16T18:49:59Z")
No clue, but I think the place to look would be other celebrities who took up acting after they got famous. I can’t imagine that musicians and comedians are so innately good at performing that almost half of all celebrity actors come from their ranks. They got famous by another path first, then Hollywood recognized them as a draw. Their acting talent was a secondary consideration, at best. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/27 "2015-03-16T19:40:01Z")
Robert Mitchum never went so far as to say he was a lousy actor (he wasn’t), but he was on the record saying that being a movie actor wasn’t so special. One of his favorite wisecracks was, “For years the biggest star in the world was Rin Tin Tin. Can’t be much to it if a dog can do it.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/28 "2015-03-16T19:40:16Z")
Character actor [Edgar Kennedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Kennedy) once said, “I overact. I know I overact” and said that he depended on the director to tell him to dial is back. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/29 "2015-03-16T19:44:08Z")
I can’t think of any actors who ever said, “I can’t act. I have no talent. I stink.” On the other hand, I have heard some pretty GOOD actors acknowledging the limits of their talents, and saying, “I’d really love to do a part like such-and-such, but I know I’m just not good enough to do that.” George Clooney is a very solid, capable actor in the right parts, but he’s admitted that, for instance, he doesn’t have the skills or talent to do what Daniel Day-Lewis did in _ **My Left Foot.** _ Years back, Roger Moore tried to do a musical in London’s West End, and I remember that he dropped out during rehearsals, admitting humbly that he couldn’t sing well enough to carry the show. He said he liked and respected the producers and his co-stars too much to continue, and quit so there’d be time to find a more talented replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/30 "2015-03-16T19:50:36Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Acting is a really hard job. Not just the actual craft of acting, but the constant judgment and rejection that you are exposed to on a daily basis. MOST people, even if they are super talented actors, can not be professional actors. Most people can’t handle the realities of what being an actor means. If you have heard of an actor it means that they had the internal drive and belief in themselves to keep going even when they got shot down at every audition they went on, going on multiple auditions a day, for 6 months straight or more and didn’t give up because they believed that their break was coming. That’s reality for most actual working actors. If they don’t think they are good they don’t stick with it. > > That doesn’t mean that there aren’t some people who fluked into the job, many of them are very honest about it. This was more true back in the studio system days, and it’s mostly only true of movie actors. But today you don’t survive long as an actor unless you believe you are good at what you do. The job is just too hard. I would argue against you on this one. I don’t think acting is that particularly hard of a job, but being an actor is a trying one. I remember David Spade (I know, I know) on a late show some night talking the actress from Precious and he was saying (paraphrasing) “I wonder how long it will take for people to know that it’s not hard to do what we do. I mean, look at her…she walks off the street and has an Oscar”. It’s not that hard to act, but being a professional actor is difficult (as you said above) ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/31 "2015-03-16T20:01:19Z")
I’m drawing a blank on names at the moment, but a lot of comedians-turned-actors have very little ego about their acting talents. Listening to interview shows like WTF and You Made it Weird over the years, I know I’ve heard several variations on, “I’m not much of an actor, but I know how to show up and do what they hired me for.” ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/32 "2015-03-16T20:08:18Z")
Years ago I saw **James Garner** (_Maverick, Rockford Files_ etc.) on the old Bob Costas hosted \*Later \*show. Costas asked him about method acting etc. and Garner just kinda laughed and said something to the effect of, “Nah, I just make sure I learn my lines and hit my marks and get paid…” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/33 "2015-03-16T20:10:40Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I’m drawing a blank on names at the moment, but a lot of comedians-turned-actors have very little ego about their acting talents. Listening to interview shows like WTF and You Made it Weird over the years, I know I’ve heard several variations on, “I’m not much of an actor, but I know how to show up and do what they hired me for.” Tim Allen and Ray Romano, among others, have said almost this very thing. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/34 "2015-03-16T20:43:16Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Robert Mitchum never went so far as to say he was a lousy actor (he wasn’t), but he was on the record saying that being a movie actor wasn’t so special. One of his favorite wisecracks was, “For years the biggest star in the world was Rin Tin Tin. Can’t be much to it if a dog can do it.” Reportedly, when Mitchum was asked about acting, his response was, “It sure beats working.” I was just googling to get a cite for that, and I see that a biography of him is titled _It Sure Beats Working_. I seem to recall some Very Handsome Actor recently saying something about how he knew he was hired for his looks and that his acting was not that great. But I can’t find it now. I want to say it was Channing Tatum, maybe around the time _The Eagle_ came out. But I can’t find it now. Does that sound familiar to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/35 "2015-03-17T11:31:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I get this impression about Keanu Reeves that he… is constantly surprised by his own success. He’s not the only one. I like him and he seems really cool, but there was no way to pass that up. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/36 "2015-03-17T14:28:54Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > He’s not the only one. > > I like him and he seems really cool, but there was no way to pass that up. Whether one thinks he’s a good or bad actor (he’s had huge hits and huge misses), there is something different, something special about him. He’s not a cliched publicity mad, boozing, drugging, loud mouthed pussy hound, dating the starlet of the week, showing up on talk shows plugging his movie, or getting in brawls in bars. A bit of a mystery, Keanu is. His exotic looks and quiet demeanor don’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/37 "2015-03-17T14:50:22Z")
Bear in mind that Keanu gave \*$80 million \*out of the $114 million he earned from the Matrix movies to the films’ special effects, makeup and costumes staff, because he said he already had enough money and he thought they deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/38 "2015-03-17T15:01:12Z")
I don’t think Michael J. Fox ever would have denied that he spent his whole career playing Alex Keaton – Alex Keaton travels through time, Alex Keaton goes to Vietnam, Alex Keaton moves to Manhattan and does lots of drugs . . . ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/39 "2015-03-17T15:15:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Bear in mind that Keanu gave \*$80 million \*out of the $114 million he earned from the Matrix movies to the films’ special effects, makeup and costumes staff, because he said he already had enough money and he thought they deserved it. He added that they should be excellent to each other, and party on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Winkler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Winkler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Winkler)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/40 "2015-03-18T05:19:37Z")
Chevy Chase has admitted that he’s by no means a brilliant actor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020.md?page=3)