# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**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, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/41 "2015-03-18T05:23:54Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > 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) I know that thread shitting is frowned upon, but I can’t help myself with this one. David Spade is the only person in the entertainment business (reality stars and Paris Hilton types not included) who I actually hate. In fact, I hate David Spade as much as it’s possible for a human being to hate. His only shtick was going out there and insulting other celebrities. He’s a tiny, disgusting man. And he makes Chevy Chase look like Richard Pryor in terms of comedic talent. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/42 "2015-03-18T05:48:06Z")
_I’m not an actor! I’m a movie star!_ - My Favorite Year ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/43 "2015-03-18T05:56:26Z")
Getting cast has very little to do with actual acting talent. Parts go to actors that look like what the director/casting agent envision for the character. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/44 "2015-03-18T06:30:05Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > I know that thread shitting is frowned upon, but I can’t help myself with this one. David Spade is the only person in the entertainment business (reality stars and Paris Hilton types not included) who I actually hate. In fact, I hate David Spade as much as it’s possible for a human being to hate. His only shtick was going out there and insulting other celebrities. He’s a tiny, disgusting man. And he makes Chevy Chase look like Richard Pryor in terms of comedic talent. Chase has a certain… reputation as well. Neither is an Andy Dick, so there’s that…? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/45 "2015-03-18T07:45:45Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > 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…” That’s who I thought of when I saw the thread title. I remember another interview he did (with Charlie Rose, I think, somewhat late in his life), and was talking about some role that would have called for him to be more hard-edged than his usual characters. He said that he’d been in the business long enough to know what he could bring to a role, and that wasn’t it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/46 "2015-03-18T09:15:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Alex Keaton moves to Manhattan and does lots of drugs . . . You…saw a very different _Spin City_ from the rest of us. 🙂 Yes, I realise this is about _Bright Lights, Big City_. It’s a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/47 "2015-03-19T00:13:10Z")
Katherine Hepburn used to say that acting is not a special talent, Shirley Temple was doing it when she was six. She also said she never had kids because she knew if the kid didn’t do what she wanted, she would kill it (language of 35 years ago). And after having one brief, failed marriage (she and Luddy remained friends) she said men and women shouldn’t get married, but live next door and visit occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/48 "2015-03-19T00:27:13Z")
[. Quoted in Craig Modderno, “Newman remains animated at 81,” Reuters (2006-06-12)"]I)](I started my career giving a clinic in bad acting in the film, “The Silver Chalice,” and now I’m playing a crusty old man who’s an animated automobile [in "Cars) I started my career giving a clinic in bad acting in the film, “The Silver Chalice,” and now I’m playing a crusty old man who’s an animated automobile [in “Cars”]. That’s a creative arc for you, isn’t it? -Paul Newman ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/49 "2015-03-19T00:49:44Z")
> [@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. Whoa… ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/50 "2015-03-19T12:00:20Z")
I can’t find a site, but I remember once Slim Pickins was asked how long he’d been an actor, he replied something like “Well, I’ve been in 47 movies, but so far, nobody’s ever accused me of ‘acting’ before.” ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/51 "2015-03-19T12:06:03Z")
[M.C. Gainey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0301370/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm)? > [@](#): > > With a face like this, there aren’t a lot of lawyers or priest roles coming my way. I’ve gotta face that was meant for a mug shot and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past thirty years. If I play a cop, it’s always a racist cop, or a trigger-happy cop or a crooked cop - but by and large I play cowboys, bikers, and convicts. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/52 "2015-03-19T13:12:03Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > I know that thread shitting is frowned upon, but I can’t help myself with this one. David Spade is the only person in the entertainment business (reality stars and Paris Hilton types not included) who I actually hate. In fact, I hate David Spade as much as it’s possible for a human being to hate. His only shtick was going out there and insulting other celebrities. He’s a tiny, disgusting man. And he makes Chevy Chase look like Richard Pryor in terms of comedic talent. Given that Chase is/was very talented…you’re saying Spade is? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/53 "2015-03-19T14:33:02Z")
It’s all very well for a star to joke modestly that acting isn’t so hard, if Rin Tin Tin or little Shirley Temple could do it. But could anybody off the street have been as effectively menacing as Robert Mitchum was in \*\*\*Cape Fear \*\*\*or _ **Night of the Hunter** _? Could I have done it? I don’t think so, and despite his jokes, I’m sure Robert Mitchum didn’t really think so either. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/54 "2015-03-19T16:12:48Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > 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. Roger Moore does seem to have a realistic handle on his acting range: “I only had three expressions as Bond: right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020/55 "2015-03-19T16:35:27Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Roger Moore does seem to have a realistic handle on his acting range: > > “I only had three expressions as Bond: right eyebrow raised, left eyebrow raised and eyebrows crossed when grabbed by Jaws.” To confirm my memory, I looked up the story and found Moore had dropped out of the original production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s\*\*\* Aspects of Love.\*\*\* I don’t know if Moore has any background in musical theater, but apparently he found the songs beyond his vocal ability. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-honest-about-their-talents/715020.md?page=2)