I'm glad I'm not the only one! That's happened to me twice now - I wasn't that bothered about him then dreamt about him and had a massive crush on him for weeks and then wasn't bothered. A few weeks later I dreamt about him again and BAM! massive crush again! (And I'm 33!!! - when do we grow out of crushes?)

For starters it's Nigel Harman not Hermen,
It is perfectly acceptable to have your own opinion on the appearence of another person but to talk about their acting skills in a way which you have is unacceptable. I don't think any of you have the first idea.
I may be the minority on this message board for liking Nigel Harman but I am certainly not anywhere else. This is reflected in his huge success of his character Dennis Rickman in the show, a best newcomer award for his acting and the publicity which surround him coming in all forms for magazine, interviews, parkinson, jonathan ross and many more. I could name you at least 700 women who would totally contridict the opinions of both his acting ability and his looks you people have put forward here.
I don't understand how you can sit there typing away about what an appalling actor who is over-rated when he is clearly not! He is one of the best soap actors on your screen at the moment and certainly one of the best looking. I agree at the beginning on his time at eastenders his acting may have been wooden but considering he had to overcome the transfer from theatre work to screen work i think this is totally acceptable. Over-rated he is not and the sooner you accept this the better because it doesn't look like he's going anywhere soon.

I suggest if you do not like what you see on television of Nigel, don't watch it. If you don't like him then why waste your time discussing this it's pointless.

...and what does his height have to do with anything?

We don't - married or not

I concur.

Rudi

I didn't rubbish his acting or his height, or even spell his name wrong. I just mentioned that he has appeared in a few of my dreams which have left me in a hot and sweaty condition. I don't watch or read things I don't like. Are you his mother or what?

So, you agree that his acting is wooden and then you ask how we can criticise his acting ability? And how abstemious of you to state that it is OK to slate someone's looks but not their acting ability. This thread was started based on a PERSONAL OPINION. I think he is a dreadful actor and some have agreed, some have disagreed. & yes, it must have been terribly hard transferring from theatre to TV on a salary of probably in excess of 100k. I have vast experience of acting, both from an acting and directorial viewpoint and I can assure you that he is appalling - his delivery, his expressions, his over stated mannerisms, everything smacks of amateur. & winning awards from cruddy little 'Inside Soap' magazines and the like hardly equates him to Laurence Olivier does it?

& the comment about his height was a joke, especially being five feet tall myself. Look at Tom Cruise, he hasn't done badly for a short-arse.

Nigel Harman is a terrible actor and not very good looking IN MY OPINION. If it's different to yours, well, that's what makes this thread more interesting.

errgghhhhhhh

But the whole point of forums like this IS to discuss these things. We enjoy discussing them, and if someone has a different opinion than us, we enjoy reading that as well (as you can see from the thread, there are people for & against).

This is a soap forum so we discuss soaps - everybody is free to put forward their opionion without it being belittled.

I agree with you that his performance has improved, and certainly when I have seen him interviewed, he's seemed like a nice bloke. Still think he's a bit wooden, though

Surely as he's employed as an actor (paid for by my licence fee money) then I am perfectly entitled to comment upon his skills for the job. Just like my boss, who pays my wages, is perfectly entitled to give his opinion of my skills for my job.

Excellent point. I can never think of good points to say when I need to, but I think you have summed up what I was trying to say.

I also find it a bit strange that someone is OK with us criticising the way an actor looks, but thinks we shouldn't have a go at his performance. i find it more acceptable the other way round - looks you can't change, but you can always take acting lessons.

Sorry, that doesn't make sense. It's perfectly acceptable for us to express opinion about performance.


If you can truly name at least 700 women, then you must either have or be a member of a fansite dedicated to him. Your opinion is therefore bound to be a little biased towards him.


We sit here typing away because we can.... it's a forum! I don't judge people for liking his performance even though I personally don't like his acting. "Calm down, dear.... it's a soap opera"

leftfieldlover my comment was not directed to you, i'm sorry for any offence this may cause you or others who hold nothing against him.

secondly i am not his mother as someone suggested. and if i am bias that is my business. of course i am, i am here to argue the fact i think he's a good actor. I'm not going to hate him am i!

i am a fan of his and i don't understand how you can talk down of such a sucessful actor. I am sorry to say this but me and many others would not agree with youre opinion because you do not know what you are talking about.

I think it's safe to say that you are not in the business and clearly cannot see a good actor if it was staring you in the face. and thankfully people like you aren't in charge of television otherwise it looks like it would be a very sorry scene! alot of people who do know the business, thank god have recognised Nigel Harmans talents and made Eastenders a better show for it.

I explained that i thought he was wooden as an actor WHEN HE FIRST CAME INTO THE PROGRAMME BUT HAS IMPROVED as he made the TRANSITION FROM BEING A THEATRE TO A SCREEN ACTOR. please read my comments properly when passing judgement on them eh!
saying his acting is wooden is not the same as saying he is a bad actor so don't get confused with the point i am trying to make!

You can remark sarcastically on my comments if you like, but i'll come back and fight 100% my opinion thank you. mainly because i think some of you are talking rubbish! and you are the minority!

and as for this comment, i am not talking about the soap opera am i, i'm talking about the actor himself.

In answer to the last comment above, it's not safe to say, alihg.

Anyway, I appreciate you like him as an actor, but I think you have to get this into context. We are all entitled to different opinions and to say, "you don't know what you're talking about" and "some of you are talking rubbish" is offensive.

What idiotic madhouse did "alihg" just crawl out of?

We are ALL entitled to think and say he is an awful actor, that does NOT make us wrong, and don't use such patronizing nonsense like, "you're clearly not in the business", as if that means we can't tell if someone is acting terribly. Or good for that matter. A lot of us think he is simply not a great actor at ALL, simple as. He just doesn't cut it. YOU may think differently, but don't try and enforce that on the many of us who tend to think otherwise as if you have some untouchable knowledge that makes us all wrong. Just get over it..

Secondly, if you HONESTLY believe Nigel Harman would've picked up the "Best Newcomer" award at the NTA's if he looked greatly on the wrong side of good looking, then perhaps YOU'RE the one who doesn't have the first idea. If he had been ugly, you can almost be sure he wouldn't have won that. I cannot prove this and even if some voted specifically for his acting ability, the majority quite possibly did not. We can argue about it till the sun goes down, but I certainly believe this to be true. Naturally you'll disagree, but don't try and tell us as if it's 100% fact that he won such stuff because of his "acting ability".

Oh and isn't it NICE that he's not nominated for Best Actor at this year's British Soap Awards? Even the show's producers didn't put him forward, and thank God some sense has prevailed THERE...

He did alright last night tho didn't he? Bless his little cottons Didn't you just want to give him a huge big cuddle at the end - why was Den being sooo creul - must have gone over my head

[quote=alihg]leftfieldlover my comment was not directed to you, i'm sorry for any offence this may cause you or others who hold nothing against him.

secondly i am not his mother as someone suggested. and if i am bias that is my business. of course i am, i am here to argue the fact i think he's a good actor. I'm not going to hate him am i!

i am a fan of his and i don't understand how you can talk down of such a sucessful actor. I am sorry to say this but me and many others would not agree with youre opinion because you do not know what you are talking about.

I think it's safe to say that you are not in the business and clearly cannot see a good actor if it was staring you in the face. and thankfully people like you aren't in charge of television otherwise it looks like it would be a very sorry scene! alot of people who do know the business, thank god have recognised Nigel Harmans talents and made Eastenders a better show for it.

OK, what is your job then? You are clearly an industry insider if you persist in making these absurd comments about you being right and everyone else being wrong. Your whole thread is just waffle, you have given no indication as to why you think he's a good actor other than that he stars in EastEnders. As previous posters have said, as license payers we expect a high quality of programme and Eastenders just doesn't fit the bill and neither does nigel harman IN OUR HUMBLE LITTLE OPINION. Just because it's different to yours does not make you automatically right. If I was in charge of television it would be in a much better state than it is now and minus Nigel Harman.

& it appears to be you who does not know what they are talking about as your waffle and hyperbole have contributed nothing other than to make us think you are obsessed with the man. Let me state this again so that you understand SOME OF US DO NOT RATE NIGEL HARMAN AS AN ACTOR. WE ARE NOT WRONG, WE DO KNOW WHAT WE TALKING ABOUT AND OUR OPINION IS JUST AS VALUABLE AS THOSE WHO DO RATE HIM. Good bye.

[quote=The Prumeister]
Oh my god - who got out of bed the wrong side this morning - cheer up it's the weekend

Say it as it is - oh you already have!

Heh Just wanted to make my feelings known in case of any confusion!!

I totally agree, though. It does my head in when people come on here like that as if they're the only one talking sense and everyone else must be wrong

I thought he done a fine job last night. Both Den and Dennis done much to sustain an air of menace throughout the confrontation scene. Also, you may have noticed that Nigel's voice has lost the hysterical highness that sometimes punctuated his voice. It was all deep base menace.

I am not sure one can quantify good acting. Is it about believability? Or, just seeing a craft in progress? For me, it is wether I believe that Nigel is Dennis, Does he carry off the mannerisms and tics of a man living in the shadow of a disappointing childhood? Well yes he does. I think. Does he seem haunted by some unresolved conflict? Yes, yes he does. I sense his history in the way he deals with life. Which gives him much kudos, as an actor.

A bad actor is one whom the shift between acting points, or personality expressions are well noted. That the graft is being spun out from an 'awareness' of movement. You wont find that kind of shadowing with Nigel. His graft is entirely invisible when he works. That is a sign of a good actor.

His last job was singing and dancing in a theatre production. The theatrical nature of his acting was seen in the first few weeks. But one must allow for such a transition.

I can't see the sign of 'over large' acting now.

[I am not sure one can quantify good acting. Is it about believability? Or, just seeing a craft in progress? For me, it is wether I believe that Nigel is Dennis, Does he carry off the mannerisms and tics of a man living in the shadow of a disappointing childhood? Well yes he does. I think. Does he seem haunted by some unresolved conflict? Yes, yes he does. I sense his history in the way he deals with life. Which gives him much kudos, as an actor.

A bad actor is one whom the shift between acting points, or personality expressions are well noted. That the graft is being spun out from an 'awareness' of movement. You wont find that kind of shadowing with Nigel. His graft is entirely invisible when he works. That is a sign of a good actor.

His last job was singing and dancing in a theatre production. The theatrical nature of his acting was seen in the first few weeks. But one must allow for such a transition.

I can't see the sign of 'over large' acting now.[/quote]


To me, the episode last night, and in particular the acting, was embarrassing. Considering these are some of the highest paid actors in the country, what I witnessed was amateur pantomime style villianess and total self conciousness on the part of the actors. I kept expecting an audience to keep shouting 'he's behind you'. You say that his graft is 'totally invisible' but to me it's painfully and acutely visible. I can't comment on any of his previous work as the only thing I have seen him in is EastEnders but as far as I'm concerned he is one step away from Hollyoaks.

I guess the assessment of good acting is the same as a good book, a good telly programme, it's all totally subjective and dependent upon individual opinion. One man's meat is another man's poison. You cannot assess or equate what good acting is or isn't but in my opinion, good acting and Nigel Harman are two totally opposing ends of the spectrum!

See, I would agree that he was quite good last night. Nothing amazing and I wouldn't at all him a good actor because of it, but it was decent enough, and yes, I felt dead sorry for him. Some of it was plain silly and went on for too long, but that's neither here nor there..

But yeah, I agree with Pru about his acting "transitions" being totally visible (not ALWAYS, but mostly), blatantly self-conscious and his delivery of lines seems to show that he's actually *thinking* about what to say next and when. It's like he's reading a chore list of things to do. Of course actors have to *think* about what they're doing, but they shouldn't show it. Plus some of his emotions like when he's being angry are hilariously bad and yes, wooden and more than a few times he's blurted out lines and stopped dead straight after - both with the words and facially - in a very tense manner that looks totally self-aware and unnatural.

Anyway, he's not the worst actor in Eastenders by any stretch. Compared to Spencer, he's an Oscar winner. Let's face it, if we're going to maul someone's acting ability, it should be HIS...

Agreed about Spencer. Other awful actors in EE include:

Vicky
All the Ferraias (Ronny's best acting was when he was having his kidney transplant and lying comatosed in bed)
Sharon 'wobbly lips' Watts
Janine (used to be good but towards the end just started hamming it LARRRRRRGE style)
Barry (RIP)
All the Slaters (especially Little Mo who everyone seems to big up but she just hams it too much)

The only one I have any time for is Alfie. Never thought I'd hear myself say this but Shane Ritchie is the saviour of that show, although they've made him a bit too serious recently, he needs some more humorous storylines. & I like Nana Moon because she's more of a caricature and quite amusing although just seems to play the same character she played in Citizen Smith.

Anyway, if I was Exec producer, I would kill off all the aforementioned in a bomb or some such other plot, bring in some new characters, have ethnic families who were believeable and not just there as a result of tokenism (anyone remember the dreadful Gita and Sanjay) and bring back Michelle (Susan Tully is a fine actress) and David Wickes (totty)! Anyways, best do some work