I’ve hated Keanu for a long time, but I was stunned in the first part of the Matrix at the brilliant casting. I mean, you need a guy who can express dopey confusion and generally being stunned at the incomprehensibility of the world, and Keanu was just note-perfect for that role.
But once he became the messiah? Yeah, not buying it.
January Jones is another example for me: based on what I saw in X-Men, she’s a terrible actress, but on Mad Men, she embodies this halfwitted emotionally stunted harridan character as nobody else that I know of could. I spent a lot of time loathing her character, not loathing the actress, which is IMO a good sign.
Elaine Miles (had to look it up) the office manager on Northern Exposure. Not a trained actress, but all that was required of her was to counterpoint Rob Morrow’s Jewish plotzing. To her credit, though, she shifted her accent to Pacific NW from her native Nez Perce, even though the vast majority of the audience wouldn’t know it.
Pout and kick something. That’s about all she seems to do. I want to see her try a romcom or something, just to make sure she’s only acting like a robot. I suppose it doesn’t help that her most popular roles cast her that way.
Shoot. I meant William Hurt. The guy from Dune and Lost in Space. I’ve never seen anyone look so fucking sleepy while acting in my life. He was pretty good in Body Heat, but damn, not in anything I’ve ever seen him in since. And in Body Heat he was supposed to be an idiot, so the sleepy look worked.
This is one I can’t agree on; if anything, I’d call her overemotive. At least on her show “New Girl,” which is most of what I’ve seen her in. There’s a reason she’s often paired with the phrase “manic pixie dream girl.” She spends a lot of time mugging at the other characters and making elaborate gestures.
I’m surprised there’s been no mention of Timothy Olyphant on Deadwood. IIRC he got lambasted for his wooden approach. Personally, I thought it suited the character quite well - a massively repressed powder keg. Essentially, his only emotion was anger.
Channing Tatum is getting a lot of work, and he quite literally sounds like someone who is on heavy medication or who has suffered a brain injury. Jesus, listen to that voiceover!
That is the way the character is written. In a boxed set interview, the actor, Tim Kang, commented on the impassive nature of the character, laughed about it, and in general revealed himself to be lively and expressive. I find the actor – and the character – to be dynamic and compelling and fun to watch, which is good acting, considering the limitations of his character.
