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Is the acting in Australian soaps better than Brittish soaps?


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Old 06-07-2014, 21:31
chloedancer
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The reason i ask is because a fair few actors from home and away/neighbours even some from shortland street(nz) seem to go on to have Hollywood careers.Way more than the British soap actors do.

What do you think?
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:33
J-B
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I'm not one to generalise, as well you know Chloe, but 100% of acting in all Australian soaps is just people throwing shrimp on the barbie, surfing, moaning about the heat and then feeding the pet koala. Great work if you can get it.
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:37
abbottab
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I think a lot of the old school actors in Oz are British born anyway.
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:39
trevon1
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I'm not one to generalise, as well you know Chloe, but 100% of acting in all Australian soaps is just people throwing shrimp on the barbie, surfing, moaning about the heat and then feeding the pet koala. Great work if you can get it.
As you said, I'm glad you're not one to generalise.
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:39
JamieHT
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Current Home and Away, yes! Current Neighbours, absolutely not. In the past I'd guess Home and Away has produced better talent, because I can think of more names, but I'm not sure.
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:42
MrJames
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Comparing the Austrailian soaps to the British soaps - the acting is definitely better on the British side. It doesn't really come much better than the EastEnders cast when it comes to continuing drama.

In regards to Australian soapstars making it big Hollywood - I think that possibly has more to do with them fitting the bill for the Hollywood profile. There's not many EastEnders or Corrie actors you could imagine in Hollywood.

Charlie Hunam is fairly successful in Hollywood now, but his acting is God awful in Queer as Folk.
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:44
Danny_Francis
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I think that there's good and bad actors across the Aussie and British soaps, but its a good question and one i would like to learn more about...
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Old 06-07-2014, 21:44
jamesc_715
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Current Home and Away, yes! Current Neighbours, absolutely not. In the past I'd guess Home and Away has produced better talent, because I can think of more names, but I'm not sure.
I think Neighbours have some good actors as well.. Eg: Stefan Dennis, Morgana O'Reilly, Eve Morey, Ryan Moloney, Jackie Woodburne, Kate Kendall, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Ariel Kaplan, Tim Phillipps, Olympia Valance, Colette Mann, etc...
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Old 06-07-2014, 22:26
JamieHT
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I think Neighbours have some good actors as well.. Eg: Stefan Dennis, Morgana O'Reilly, Eve Morey, Ryan Moloney, Jackie Woodburne, Kate Kendall, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Ariel Kaplan, Tim Phillipps, Olympia Valance, Colette Mann, etc...
Neighbours can't claim Rebekah
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Old 06-07-2014, 22:29
Brookside
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I spend to long getting used to their accents to know so go off reputation.

Paul Robinson and Susan and Karl Kennedy I EXPECT to be good so just presume they are (in this case I think they have earned that rep.)
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Old 06-07-2014, 23:37
chloedancer
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I'm not one to generalise, as well you know Chloe, but 100% of acting in all Australian soaps is just people throwing shrimp on the barbie, surfing, moaning about the heat and then feeding the pet koala. Great work if you can get it.
haa
Comparing the Austrailian soaps to the British soaps - the acting is definitely better on the British side. It doesn't really come much better than the EastEnders cast when it comes to continuing drama.

In regards to Australian soapstars making it big Hollywood - I think that possibly has more to do with them fitting the bill for the Hollywood profile. There's not many EastEnders or Corrie actors you could imagine in Hollywood.

Charlie Hunam is fairly successful in Hollywood now, but his acting is God awful in Queer as Folk.
do you mean,blonde/good looking etc.
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Old 06-07-2014, 23:42
Scorpio2
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No way Home and Away and Neighbours have had very wooden actors these more recent years.
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Old 07-07-2014, 00:17
Old Man 43
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I have to say that both Home & Away and Neighbours seem to have a lot of success in Hollywood.

The most recent is Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) who played Donna Freedman/Brown in Neighbours and Eliza Taylor (TV Series The 100) who played Janae Timmins also in Neighbours.
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Old 07-07-2014, 02:28
GracieL
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Most of the actors in H&A and Neighbours are all very mediocre with the few exceptions of the older cast. Most of the teens on H&A now are cast on their bikini body or 6 pack. H&A haven't had a Hollywood superstar in about 5 years but Neighbours are have had a few recently.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:00
JamieHT
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Most of the actors in H&A and Neighbours are all very mediocre with the few exceptions of the older cast. Most of the teens on H&A now are cast on their bikini body or 6 pack. H&A haven't had a Hollywood superstar in about 5 years but Neighbours are have had a few recently.
Well Steve Peacocke who is currently in Home and Away was given time off to star in a new blockbuster.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:17
Dr.Fever
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The only soaps I watch now are Corrie and Neighbours, I think the acting on Neighbours is far superior to Corrie.

Even the younger actors on Neighbours, they have bigger storylines but I find them to be far better than the most of the actors (young or old) on Corrie.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:29
mvloca
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I am Australian but I only watch British soaps because I believe the actors - and general quality of writing - is far superior.

I think the only reason so many Australian soap stars do well in Hollywood is because you really have to head overseas as an actor to make it, the industry is *so* small here. You are watching the only 2 Australian TV shows that are not daily serials. We do have once-a-week dramas and comedies but H&A and Neighbours are it. In Britain you can still have a good career locally. You have the 4 big soaps plus Doctors, plus loads of weekly shows. I've lived in the UK and you have so much more local content than we do. It's a shame but we're only a small population of 23 million so it's to be expected really.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:30
mvloca
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Most of the actors in H&A and Neighbours are all very mediocre with the few exceptions of the older cast. Most of the teens on H&A now are cast on their bikini body or 6 pack. H&A haven't had a Hollywood superstar in about 5 years but Neighbours are have had a few recently.
It was when Charlie joined H&A that I stopped watching. She only had 3 bloody acting faces… she was awful to watch but because she's gorgeous she was front and centre and I just found it embarrassing watching her try to be an actress.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:33
GracieL
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Well Steve Peacocke who is currently in Home and Away was given time off to star in a new blockbuster.
But that blockbuster might not become a huge hit. Very little people in the US have heard of him.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:38
Ell_Ren
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I caught a bit of Neighbours the other day and I was shocked....not in a good way either. Haha.
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:53
JamieHT
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But that blockbuster might not become a huge hit. Very little people in the US have heard of him.
Yet.

It was when Charlie joined H&A that I stopped watching. She only had 3 bloody acting faces… she was awful to watch but because she's gorgeous she was front and centre and I just found it embarrassing watching her try to be an actress.
Yes, Charlie was a low point but in general the acting in Home and Away is very good. I stopped watching Neighbours when the new families joined so can't comment anymore, but I'd always say the standard was lower in the past than H&A.
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Old 07-07-2014, 11:01
Pete Callan
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I wouldn't say better, I'd say equal to. They're no better or worse than the actors in ours, though having more soaps to pick from and much larger casts, we probably boast a lot more standout actors simply down to the law of averages.

The Hollywood thing has a lot more to do with looks in my opinion. Neighbours and Home and Away don't necessarily cast on looks alone but for many younger characters it's definitely a big factor, whereas good looks getting you the job is far less commonplace over here (though not unheard of obviously). So when the Aussie casting departments find someone with movie star looks and competent acting skills, it stands to reason they'll probably do quite well afterwards in a land where that counts for everything.
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Old 07-07-2014, 12:38
felixrex
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No, they are more likely to move on to mainstream US success post-soap career than British soap stars because Australian soaps tend to cast actors based on the same criteria that Hollywood does, i.e being very naturally attractive takes precedence over being able to act with any particular degree of skill. British soaps, for the most part, tend to cast people who look like real people rather than plumping for the most attractive person that showed up to the audition.
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Old 07-07-2014, 14:20
David Mills
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It's not just young actors though, a lot of older actors have went on to Hollywood.

A good example is the guy who played Jim Robinson, America took to him and he's a brilliant actor (and not someone who would have been cast on looks).

The UK equivalent of say Phil Mitchell, is just a World away from that so I do think Neighbours has some great actors.

But it also has some shockingly bad acting, there was a scene recently with Mark and Sienna and it was like watching two 7 year olds acting for their parents, it was horrific and it was especially bad because they had to show Mark's grief over Kate being shot so it was mean to be dramatic but it was just so wooden. Eugh.

It might be something to do with Australians being a bit more positive, they're quite similar to Americans were as British people are generally more sarcastic and a little negative especially Eastenders, it's the most depressing show on TV. Not sure if I was an actor I'd be that proud of having 'I played a depressive alcoholic who never smiled' on my CV.
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Old 07-07-2014, 16:02
MrAndrew
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I think in terms of 'great acting', there are stars in both Australian and UK soaps that are equally brilliant. Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher are consistently amazing, as was Kate Ritchie.

But I do think the Aussie soaps are similar to Hollyoaks in the acting stakes, in that there's some brilliant ones, but then some that are so bad and hammy that you could never imagine them ever being considered for EastEnders, Corrie or Emmerdale. Mark, Sienna and Bailey in Neighbours spring to mind.
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