# Why don't some actors even TRY to act? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054 "2010-08-03T20:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/41 "2010-08-04T23:35:46Z")
I noticed a while ago that for the last 20 years or so Al Pacino has gotten away with either whispering or yelling all of his lines. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/42 "2010-08-05T00:49:00Z")
Watch _A Time to Kill_ --Jackson was fantastic in that. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/43 "2010-08-05T00:56:15Z")
I think there might be some confusion about having some basic acting skills and being a character actor. I think some people above are confusing the two. Basic acting skills (of which many of the young actors just don’t possess) includes things like blocking (standing so the audience can see everybody,) voice projection, timing, etc. Being a character actor means creating the illusion that you are no longer yourself but someone else completely. In some of the examples above, bad character actors (like Willis) have had a few films where they displayed some basic acting skills. On the other hand, they never, ever became the character. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/44 "2010-08-06T01:14:21Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Rather than derail another discussion, I’m starting a new thread about Certain Actors Of A Certain Standing that feel like they can just “ **be themselves** ” (as opposed to, I don’t know, maybe “ **being THE CHARACTER** ”?). > > We were discussing Patrick Stewart’s roles and I noticed that we now have a Frenchman with a British accent (_Star Trek_), a Connecticut Schoolmaster with a British accent (_X-Men_); and we even had a Russian Spy with a British accent (_Smiley’s People_)… > > Where does this end? Do I need to live in fear that we might see “Jean-Luc” (Geez! Would it have been so hard to just have a Brit as a starship captain?) playing _Colonel Klink_ with a British accent? > > And then I realized what must have happened – when he was offered the Picard role, Stewart had a secret acting seminar with Sean Connery: "Ah’ve played an Irishmun, an Amurican, hell, in _Highlander_, ah played a _ **Spaniard** _ with this Scots accent! _An ah steel go’ PAID, laddie!_ > > “So, ween they tell yuh to doo the french accent, yuh seh wha ah deed: ‘_ **Yoor looky ah’m IN this piece o’ SHITE et all** _! Now hond me thet script, an ah’ll shoo yuh bletherskites hoe it _shood_ be read!’” Well, he was speaking English in Star Trek, not French, and there’s a long history of Russians being played by English actors - so that they’re still foreign, but understandable (in any case, again he’s speaking English, not Russian, and the bloke above me says he didn’t speak at all anyway). His character in the X-Men is English. You’re right about Connery, though. His accent was his trademark, so I guess giving it up would have been detrimental to the film’s success. Keanu Reeves does try to act, it’s just that he mostly fails. When he’s just being himself, he’s enjoyable to watch. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/45 "2010-08-06T19:05:50Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > > [@digs](#): > > > > Rather than derail another discussion, I’m starting a new thread about Certain Actors Of A Certain Standing that feel like they can just “ **be themselves** ” (as opposed to, I don’t know, maybe “ **being THE CHARACTER** ”?). > > > > We were discussing Patrick Stewart’s roles and I noticed that we now have a Frenchman with a British accent (_Star Trek_), a Connecticut Schoolmaster with a British accent (_X-Men_); and we even had a Russian Spy with a British accent (_Smiley’s People_)… > > > > Where does this end? Do I need to live in fear that we might see “Jean-Luc” (Geez! Would it have been so hard to just have a Brit as a starship captain?) playing _Colonel Klink_ with a British accent? > > > > And then I realized what must have happened – when he was offered the Picard role, Stewart had a secret acting seminar with Sean Connery: "Ah’ve played an Irishmun, an Amurican, hell, in _Highlander_, ah played a _ **Spaniard** _ with this Scots accent! _An ah steel go’ PAID, laddie!_ > > > > “So, ween they tell yuh to doo the french accent, yuh seh wha ah deed: ‘_ **Yoor looky ah’m IN this piece o’ SHITE et all** _! Now hond me thet script, an ah’ll shoo yuh bletherskites hoe it _shood_ be read!’” > > Well, he was speaking English in Star Trek, not French, and there’s a long history of Russians being played by English actors - so that they’re still foreign, but understandable (in any case, again he’s speaking English, not Russian, and the bloke above me says he didn’t speak at all anyway). His character in the X-Men is English. > > You’re right about Connery, though. His accent was his trademark, so I guess giving it up would have been detrimental to the film’s success. Playing a Spaniard with a Spanish accent would be “detrimental to the film’s success”? If by “detrimental”, you mean “bare minimum effort”, then I agree. But I think we all agree that Sean Connery trying to sound Spanish would be horrific: \*“Dawn-day Too Airs, Compadray?” \*But, how much time would it have taken to change the script to “Scawttish warrior”? 30 seconds? Hey, wait, the protagonist is named MacLeod! _He_’s supposed to be a Scot! So … they went and got a Belgian to play him! Is anyone bringing critical thinking to bear on a movie script at any time during the months and months of the film-making process? Welllll, I guess they get paid whether it makes sense or not… > [@](#): > > Keanu Reeves does try to act, it’s just that he mostly fails. When he’s just being himself, he’s enjoyable to watch. True, true. When he’s playing [Theodore Logan](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096928/) he’s worth watching. [And he might just be doing it yet again…](http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2010/03/keanu-says-bill-ted-sequel-might-not-be-joking) ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/46 "2010-08-06T19:21:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I thought it was going to be about John Wayne. Hey now! Noone could play Gengis Khan like The Duke. I havn’t figured out if that is a compliment or not. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/47 "2010-08-06T19:57:00Z")
You’re all wrong. It’s about Gary Cooper. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/48 "2010-08-06T20:11:12Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And then I realized what must have happened – when he was offered the Picard role, Stewart had a secret acting seminar with Sean Connery: "Ah’ve played an Irishmun, an Amurican, hell, in _Highlander_, ah played a _ **Spaniard** _ with this Scots accent! _An ah steel go’ PAID, laddie!_ Nitpick: Ramirez was Egyptian, not Spanish. ‘Ramirez’ was his latest cover identity, just like ‘Nash’ was MacLeod’s. And hey, maybe the accent of ancient Egyptians was eerily similar to that of modern Scotland. You can’t prove it wasn’t anyway. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054/49 "2010-08-06T22:05:27Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Imho, it’s actually rare for movie actors to act, which is why being on Broadway is such a big deal. While any Broadway actor does well on screen, very few screen actors can make the opposite transition where they are required to fit into characters other people have made. That’s why Nathan Lane has done so well in Hollywood - either critically or popularly. Except for a very few cases, all movie, TV and Broadway actors fit into characters other people have made. If you are convinced they are all playing themselves, it is just good evidence of what excellent actors they are. Clearly every actor brings something of him or herself into a role, but only a few get to have scripts written around their stage personas. Not that this is who they really are - it is just a role which clicked and which they repeat for the audience. I wonder how many people who think actors don’t work hard have ever been on a New York or Hollywood movie or TV set. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-some-actors-even-try-to-act/549054.md?page=2)