Originally Posted by spunger:
“Imo a good actor is one who is good enough to step into a good drama with a well respected cast and take the lead role. How any say Michael Parr is anywhere near that level at this moment in time? For me the male acting in ED is quite poor. I'd say that only the ones who play Cain, Ross, Robert and Lawrence are average or a bit above that.
There are a lot of really bad ones.”
I would say these actors are you mention are capable of that. I'm not an expert but I would say rhat if they can turb in credible performances with their workload and lack of rehearsal time then given a piece with more time to rehearse etc they could do extremely well. I like the attitude of jobbing actors who will like the rest of us, take what work comes their way. On another thread, you referred to Life on Mars as being ab example of a quality drama, particularly the acting of John Simm Glenister. These are both actors that I like, but there was nothing challenging about either role, one character was an unbelievable cliche and the other insantly forgettable. both actors coulddo these parts in their sleep and I'm pretty sure Jeff Hordley and John Bowe could. By the way, you might be interested in Jeff's recent very moving performance in the BBC Radio play 'Dirt' if it's still on Iplayer, alongside Hugo Speer.
I've seen actors who I've never heard of put in really good performances, iften holding their own against established ones. I've seen oscar winning actors be cringeworthy and theatre greats really struggling on Coronation St. I remember being pleasantly surprised that it was the under rated Nigel Havers who was by far the best of all the big names.
I daresay that many had similar attitudes about Sarah Lancashire and Suranne Jones (who by the way has also worked with Jeff
). These actresses are great at playing ordinary, everyday people in abnormal situations. Daniel Day Lewis is great at playing extraordinary people but I wonder how well he could do 'the man in the street?'Especially with little rehearsal and preparation time.
Yes. in an ideal world ALL talented actors would get the chance to develop their skills in a range of media but that will never happen in acting any more than in other career paths.
The few who do get regular work - enough for them to make a living without signing on - haven't done it based on talent alone, but luck, persistance, location, family,an eye for a good opportunity, self confidence will have all played their parts
And popping a tear stick.
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