No one’s cited Anne Ramsey yet? She was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Momma in Throw Momma From The Train. Won a few other awards, too. You’d be hard pressed to call her an attractive woman.
No, because it is a personality trait, not something that only shows up in front of a camera. It’s a combination of charisma (and there are several levels of this) and the ability to focus when needed. This last does get filtered, because people who can’t focus on the set don’t get lots of parts. I’m talking about your average actor, not stars here.
Two words: Walter Matthau
Not necessarily. What actors have to do is to turn on when the camera starts to roll. The epitome of this is Johnny Carson, a very introverted person who was wonderfully extroverted on stage. Plus, 95% (or maybe 99%) of actors don’t have to deal with fans.
If you want a non-appearance characteristic, it should be not minding rejection, since even a very good working actor will get rejected for 90 - 95% of the auditions he or she goes to. Anyone who is disturbed by that isn’t going to last long.
I think a lot of people in this thread are mixing up romantic lead with actor. It used to be that ugly people would never be romantic leads, though the slacker movies seem to have changed that, but less attractive people always had roles. Anyhow, ugly is not the same thing as not being a sex god or goddess. Amy Sedaris is ugly (or at least gets made up that way) while Juliette Lewis isn’t.
I agree that there are plenty of less attractive actors. I think we also tend to think people are better looking the more you see them. You also have to take into account that stars have tons of free time, and plenty of people who have a vested interest in them looking their best. Far more ordinary people would look their best if their livelihood depended on it.
Willem Dafoe. He always plays da foe, as he looks so sinister.
Danny Devito.
Well, he did have that acromegaly to blame.
There just aren’t very many people who are truly ugly and not just unattractive. Think about the responses to this thread; every keeps saying that this or that person isn’t ugly, he’s <insert>.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
ETA: And to be really ugly to everyone, you usually have to have something genetically wrong with you.
“Ugliness” is very subjective. What about inner beauty, people?! And inner ugliness, for that matter.
Let me add Humphrey Bogart to the list of not beautiful people. I think the old line of “Beauty is as beauty does” is very valid. A good ugly actor can convince you that he or she is not unattractive. I read some place the Julia Roberts was considered too ugly to be a leading lady until she became a star. I know they said the same thing about Kate Hepburn when she started.
I wonder if the OP has ever heard of Barbra Streisand.
Two words: Bea Arthur.
My college had a “Professional Actor Training Program”. You had to audition to get in, so it was supposedly based on talent. There wasn’t an ugly one in the bunch. There WERE some very good actors in the department that didn’t make the program that were larger, or balding, or less than the cultural ideal. So the program was a sham from the start, as they had a hidden qualification - looks.
Thankfully I was a tech, and didn’t have to deal with that shit.