Originally Posted by Satchmo:
“Why can't we? We've seen her try to act several times and quite frankly it's not been good. The fact that the acting tasks have always been aired after the votes are in has kept her in this competition so far.
I'd also question why you think her movement (or lack of) works in her favour?”
The fact is that Sam has had consistently the same of worse comments on her acting. The only one who thinks she is good is Barrowman who taught her to overact just as unconvincingly as she was underacting. Her eyes still are acting something completely different and her voice rarely interprets the song either. Jodie for me hasn't been much better - in the context of this series all of the professional actresses could have acted a Jodie Nancy far better . Its just not convincing.
Jessie's first advantage is that she can interpret what she is reading or singing and get somewhere near to it - she at least knows what she should be doing and has six months to make it look right. They might be able to give very close direction to someone who can't interpret but I doubt if many people will believe it . In Sam's case people will notice that Sam is doing something odd as soon as she says her line just as much as they will Jessie doing something quirky (unless she falls over)
Jessie's second advantage (leaving aside having the only voice with wow factor) is that in her own clothes or the Victorian garb she looks the part more than Sam (too modern) or Jodie (who could be Oliver's grandmother and can't act well enough to look as if she was from a century earlier) She's also personally more like Nancy the vulnerable fighter - watch her reaction to going through last week compared to Jodie in tears and Sam who is just detached most of the time. I can see Jodie collapsing in tears at the sight of Bill or clouting him and being the urchins real mother more than I can see her doing what she's meant to.
The movement argument is clear. Sam would look like someone transported in from a pop video. Nancy woouldn't move as if she had done modern dance, tap or ballet. Jodie can move like a (former) street urchin of the period might but its not clear she could even do that in long dance numbers without doing an impression of someone in the London smog of the time. Jessie looks like she can do tomboy Nancy all day, will move better after 6 months and any quirks she has can probably be incorporated into the character.Helena Bonham Carter put years of experience and considerable acting brilliance into her gait in Sweeney Todd to convey aspects of her character - Jessie just does that walk naturally. I agree most other parts would require something a lot different but I can't see Fagin or Bill looking balletic either.
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