His acting definitely wasn't great from S1, both because he was inexperienced and as
@DeadlyDuo says there was nothing much for him to work with. I think even DB said in an interview somewhere that he was constantly anxious about whether he was doing it right in those early days. There's definitely a step up though when you get to S1's 'Angel', because he finally has a fleshed out character to play. He's still a bit green even then, for example there's
this face.I have no idea why he has that expression. It's like he's forgotten he's on camera or has no awareness of his facial muscles or something...however, the other scenes in the episode are pretty good. There are a lot of times in the first season where his voice is also off, he speaks in a sort of accented drawl, something closer to his own voice rather than the deep low tones of Angel we get the following season. Again I put it down to lack of direction and character.
I do also think that SMG does carry the scenes a bit more than he does. Not completely mind you - it's probably 60/40 - but that's mainly because we are experiencing the relationship through her side; it's always told from her point of view. If they'd devoted as much time to Angel's experience as they do to Spike, or maybe even Riley, then it would have come up to 50-50.
One of my favorite bits of acting from DB is that little shoulder kiss during the hug.
I love that too. He does often throw in those tiny extra actions, sometimes it's just a glance or a smirk but it is there, it's just easy to miss.
Sometimes his stoicness (as in, not begging desperately or being a blubbering mess) is because he's trying to comfort and protect, but you can still see his reactions very much at the same time. He often has an imploring expression or a regretful one.
His stoicism is great. DB can do a wonderful blank/deadpan face and again you have to watch for subtle eye movements or gestures. One of my favourite moments is in AYNOHYEB where Judy tells him 'I'm nothing' and you can see that moment of recognition and compassion emerge in his eyes even though his face stays almost completely motionless. I think criticism of his broodiness or blankness is ultimately just down to a matter of taste. It is difficult to make an intensely stoic character interesting while remaining true to his nature and some people just aren't into it.
He's not monotonous. If he were monotonous, he wouldn't have the soft, sweet voice, the mockingly sarcastic voice and the threatening, angry voice.
I've just been watching S1 of Bones (i.e. when the show was actually good ) and you can really see how DB has developed into a solid actor. In 'Man on Death Row' for example he switches modes expertly and has some great subtleties in his eye movements and body language. Of course by then he and Emily Deschanel were working with an acting coach - I dunno if he had one during ATS - but it's still great to watch him improve consistently. One thing I have noticed from watching him is that DB's acting is much better when he's restricted and not allowed to bring too much of himself into it. Ironically the restriction helps him stretch his range. Once he's allowed to bring in his personality more he gets too comfortable and the character veers into dorkiness. You see it in AtS a little bit, and it's most apparent when you compare the early and later seasons of Bones (though that's also down to the writing becoming increasingly nonsensical)
