Best Whedonverse Actors

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Willow-Tree

Your Childhood Trauma
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In no particular order:

Sarah Michelle Gellar - Her performance in "The Body" was Emmy-deserving. And also just her portrayl of Buffy in general. She's quirky, funny, emotional, damaged, and kick-ass.

Amy Acker - Her acting ability and range is nothing short of astounding. Going from the sweet, innocent, emotional Fred to the fierce, powerful Illyria in a blink of an eye was brilliant.

Alyson Hannigan - And not just because Willow is my favorite character. Alyson is so great at both the humerous and the emotional scenes, which is ironic.

Emma Caulfield - Basically, read what I wrote for Alyson.

Anthony Stewart Head - His father figure portrayl of Giles is so fantastic. To see that, and then for him to occasionally resort back to the bad-ass Ripper, is great!

Also honorable mentions to Alexis Denisof and Charisma Carpenter.
 
Anthony Stewart Head for me. Everything I've seen him in has been top notch. He knows how and when to bring his A-game.
 
I think Charisma is a natural in acting!!!

although Cordy is not the best character..


I think Smg and Anthony are the best though, especially Anthony. No one else could of played Giles any better.
 
T
TheChosenTwo
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I love all of the actors!

My favorite actor though would have to be James Marsters. He originally plays such a bad ass, but then with the chip he becomes a lot more human. Like, in Once More With Feeling, the song Walk Through The Fire, when he's in the alleyway and he sings, "I hope she fries, I'm free if that bitch dies... I better help her out." There is such a change in his demeanor. And he's able to pull that out whenever. He's totally different depending on how Spike feels about who he's around, and I love it.

Also, Emma Caulfield does a really good job at learning how to understand humans.

Anthony Stewart Head, when he's Giles vs. how he used to be, as Ripper. Especially in the season 5 finale.

And, of course, Sarah Michelle Gellar. Especially as Buffy Bot!

I really like to see how actors can play different sides of their characters, I'm learning... Lol.
 
SMG

Anthony Stewart Head

Allison Hannigan

James Marsters

Alexis Denisof

Nathan Fillion

Adam Baldwin

Eliza Dushku
 
SMG, Allyson Hannigan and James Marsters. But really, the cast of both shows were exceptional. It's amazing how much talent they crammed into those things!
 
I agree with charmingslayer, at least on the Season 4 part. CC could not act in Season 4 at all!!

But about favorites....Anthony Stewart Head. I don't remember any gigantic standout performances, but he is just so consistently brilliant. He was amazing in Buffy. Sarah Michelle Gellar pulled off dramatic, without being cheesy, and excels in "Prophecy Girl", "Becoming", "The Body" (especially), "Dead Things". She also pulls off being the lead of a musical in "Once More, with Feeling"! She needs a mention on this list. And then the obvious Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker, who knocked it out of the park everytime they did anything, haha. Alexis for somehow being completely hilarious, and showing a completely convincing transformation to badass in Season 4, where he was absolutely flawless. Amy Acker for being crazy, to shy, to normal, to powerful, to a FRICKIN' GOD! During some scenes in Season 5, I was falling off my couch due to their awesomeness. The scenes in "A Hole in the World" with them and then all the Illyria/Wesley scenes later on. They are powerhouses, and the two best actors in the Whedonverse, no doubt.
 
I agree with Five by Five; James certainly deserves to be on this list. He is a terriffic actor. He can play all sorts of characters, and there's a real genuine quality to him. He has such great on-screen chemistry with every character. It's obvious he loves what he does.

Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Anthony Head, and SMG are all excellent actors as well. Joss really knows how to cast a good ensemble thats for sure. 😉
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
I agree with Five by Five; James certainly deserves to be on this list. He is a terriffic actor. He can play all sorts of characters, and there's a real genuine quality to him. He has such great on-screen chemistry with every character. It's obvious he loves what he does.

Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Anthony Head, and SMG are all excellent actors as well. Joss really knows how to cast a good ensemble thats for sure. 😉
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James Marsters is brilliant. He could have a whole show to himself as Spike. He's not even British! ha! He was also great in Smallville. As said by one of the producers that worked on Buffy and Smallville... Smallville needed a Spike! I totally agree.

Besides that I would have to go with SMG. I don't think she got as much credit as she deserved. Playing Buffy must have been really hard....especially towards the end when B was never happy. Maybe that's why she didn't want to do it anymore. Personally, I don't know about her career choices after BTVS. Scooby Doo....come on Buffy!:iamwithst
 
Everyone is so great, but I think the best actor is Alexis. He's very underrated I think. There's certain moments, where he has these heartbreaking looks on his face, like at the end of Billy when he's looking at Fred. Or his talk with Illyria at the end of Shells. He does so much with just a subtle look.
 
They're all great actors. 😀

But the best in my opinion is SMG, Amy Acker, Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof. J.August is also great as Gunn. For the others, I saw some off moments.
 
For me I think it would have to be Anthony and then probably Sarah.

Anthony was just so consistent throughout the whole show, I was never disappointed. And I'd say that Sarah played the most diverse of roles, for many of the reason/episodes mentioned previously.

I have to say though, I don't think James Marsters is outstanding. I think he played Spike well, but I don't think saying 'he wasn't even British' stands for him, I think it was very easy to tell he wasn't. But that's just me.

The other person who I found totally captivating was Julie Benz. I think she was extremely convincing in every side she played, as hell raising vampire Darla, and human Darla. She's awesome 🙂
 
Flannen said:
For me I think it would have to be Anthony and then probably Sarah.

Anthony was just so consistent throughout the whole show, I was never disappointed. And I'd say that Sarah played the most diverse of roles, for many of the reason/episodes mentioned previously.

I have to say though, I don't think James Marsters is outstanding. I think he played Spike well, but I don't think saying 'he wasn't even British' stands for him, I think it was very easy to tell he wasn't. But that's just me.

The other person who I found totally captivating was Julie Benz. I think she was extremely convincing in every side she played, as hell raising vampire Darla, and human Darla. She's awesome 🙂
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I actually agree that James isn't that brilliant. I mean, Spike is one of my favorite characters, but still... 😛

And Julie Benz is amazing, as well as Juliet Landau.
 
Willow-Tree said:
I actually agree that James isn't that brilliant. I mean, Spike is one of my favorite characters, but still... 😛
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Remember the end of Fool for Love? After Buffy said "You're beneath me", Spike goes in a couple of seconds from shame/crying to anger/fury. Isn't that brilliant?
 
ubi4soft said:
Remember the end of Fool for Love? After Buffy said "You're beneath me", Spike goes in a couple of seconds from shame/crying to anger/fury. Isn't that brilliant?
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Sure, he had his moments but he wasn't consistently outstanding like some of the others, ASH and SMG in particular.

I was never completely captivated by his performance and never had a 'OMG' feeling about watching any of scenes. Not even the one you mentioned! 😛
 
Flannen said:
I was never completely captivated by his performance and never had a 'OMG' feeling about watching any of scenes. Not even the one you mentioned! 😛
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"De gustibus", guess I like more the ones with theatrical background.
 
I agree that James Marsters was great, but not one of the best at all, IMO. He was fantastic in "Fool For Love", and he had some great standout moments in Season 7, but other than that, he didn't really jump out to me.

And ah! I forgot about Julie Benz. I absolutely adore her. Her stuff in "Lullaby" is outrageously brilliant.
 
In no particular order, for me its:

Sarah Michelle Gellar
James Marsters
Alexis Denisof
Anthony Head Stewart
Julie Benz
Allison Hannigan
D.B. Woodside
Harry Groener
Juliet Landau
Christian Kane
 
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