# Can actors just "lose it?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [June 6, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571 "2024-06-06T22:38:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2024, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571/81 "2024-06-10T19:43:25Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > > [@ftg](#): > > > > I don’t think anybody was doing a good Bob Hope until Dave Thomas of SCTV. Then it became common. > > We’re getting off-topic here but there are a surprising number of well-known actors who seem to be impressionist-proof. For example, have you seen anybody try to imitate Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, or Warren Beatty? Paul Newman was a star for over 50 years but he was never part of any comic’s repertoire of impersonations. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/x4MaUIk0Thc/maxresdefault.jpg "I don't do impressions") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4MaUIk0Thc) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571/82 "2024-06-11T01:59:56Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I never saw his earlier movies, but there is the case of that guy who played Anakin Skywalker. Hayden, or Jake? And what do you mean, how did they “lose it”? . eta: If you meant Jake Lloyd, I’d say he lost it some time before Phantom Menace… ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571/83 "2024-06-11T03:14:41Z")
> [@digs](#): > > eta: If you meant Jake Lloyd, I’d say he lost it some time before Phantom Menace… I don’t Jake Lloyd really qualifies for this thread–he was a child actor, had a very short career, and his acting was at the same level in everything he was in. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571/84 "2024-06-11T15:52:05Z")
I wonder if we should include child actors at all in this thread. There are dozens of kid actors who turned in excellent juvenile performances, but fizzled in more mature roles. It turns out that many of them had drug or emotional problems rather than just a temporary setback, but there are others who just never matured as an actor. I’m thinking of someone like Shirley Temple, who failed as an ingenue and ended up hosting a children’s storybook show before quitting show business entirely. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571/85 "2024-06-11T19:11:08Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I wonder if we should include child actors at all in this thread. Unless they later had success as adults, probably not. Successful child actors know how to react but knowing how to act requires some maturity. Some child actors learn how to make the pivot as they get older but others don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-actors-just-lose-it/1002571.md?page=4)