I'm sure this thread is actually a very over-fished pond. But I'll load my hook, cast it out and see who bites.
I think the acting ability on Buffy/Angel ranged quite a bit. I think my favorite actor on the shows was Alyson Hannigan. Now, does this relate to the character she's playing? Her own personality? Her craft, her training? Or just some innate gift, unique to Alyson?
I love Willow. Great character. I can't tell for sure, but I suspect Alyson is fairly similar to Willow in certain respects: slightly goofy, nerdish, halting speech patterns to a degree. Of course it's all greatly exaggerated, but I suspect Alyson may actually have less of a challenge than some other actors in that regard.
I think Alyson may be the most gifted in terms of her ability to emote convincingly. That's a gift, it seems to me. To cry, laugh spontaneously and have it seem utterly real. Does she have some deep empathy that other human beings don't? Actually "feels" the lines she's speaking? Don't know. Can you train yourself to emote that naturalistically?
Some people are actors. They're great character actors, can play a very wide range of personalities well. Others are "stars". They may or may not be good actors, but it doesn't really matter because you like them: Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, etc. I think Alyson has qualities of a great character actor and also a star. She plays lovable Willow, seems like an extension of herself. Yet, look at Vamp Willow and Dark Willow. Also brilliant, and one would assume, out of charactor for Alyson.
You could take the ingredients of my formula and apply them to any actor in Buffyland. I think one test is to look at the actor interviews in the featurettes. How different does the actor speaking seem from the character they portray? James Marsters, very different, it seems to me, Juliet Landau (the great Landau genes shining through). Also Amy Acker. Still the slight Texas drawl, yet different than Fred. And of course we all witnessed her brilliance with Illyria. Obviously, radically different than Amy and Fred.
Another test of acting chops: accents. Is it craft or innate gift? Don't know. James Marsters, pretty bad, yes? but he makes up for it with charisma and general acting skill. David Boreanaz? Atrocious! Horrible Irish accent that became almost a running gag by season 4. But I like how David grew into the role of Angel very much. Juliet Landau? Seems really good to me. But I'm a Yank. What do you Brits think? What's the region, the class being attempted there? And Alexis Denisoff is a special case, right? A Yank who spent so much time in England that now his American accent sounds atrocious.
Thoughts?
I think the acting ability on Buffy/Angel ranged quite a bit. I think my favorite actor on the shows was Alyson Hannigan. Now, does this relate to the character she's playing? Her own personality? Her craft, her training? Or just some innate gift, unique to Alyson?
I love Willow. Great character. I can't tell for sure, but I suspect Alyson is fairly similar to Willow in certain respects: slightly goofy, nerdish, halting speech patterns to a degree. Of course it's all greatly exaggerated, but I suspect Alyson may actually have less of a challenge than some other actors in that regard.
I think Alyson may be the most gifted in terms of her ability to emote convincingly. That's a gift, it seems to me. To cry, laugh spontaneously and have it seem utterly real. Does she have some deep empathy that other human beings don't? Actually "feels" the lines she's speaking? Don't know. Can you train yourself to emote that naturalistically?
Some people are actors. They're great character actors, can play a very wide range of personalities well. Others are "stars". They may or may not be good actors, but it doesn't really matter because you like them: Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, etc. I think Alyson has qualities of a great character actor and also a star. She plays lovable Willow, seems like an extension of herself. Yet, look at Vamp Willow and Dark Willow. Also brilliant, and one would assume, out of charactor for Alyson.
You could take the ingredients of my formula and apply them to any actor in Buffyland. I think one test is to look at the actor interviews in the featurettes. How different does the actor speaking seem from the character they portray? James Marsters, very different, it seems to me, Juliet Landau (the great Landau genes shining through). Also Amy Acker. Still the slight Texas drawl, yet different than Fred. And of course we all witnessed her brilliance with Illyria. Obviously, radically different than Amy and Fred.
Another test of acting chops: accents. Is it craft or innate gift? Don't know. James Marsters, pretty bad, yes? but he makes up for it with charisma and general acting skill. David Boreanaz? Atrocious! Horrible Irish accent that became almost a running gag by season 4. But I like how David grew into the role of Angel very much. Juliet Landau? Seems really good to me. But I'm a Yank. What do you Brits think? What's the region, the class being attempted there? And Alexis Denisoff is a special case, right? A Yank who spent so much time in England that now his American accent sounds atrocious.
Thoughts?
Xin Rong
Wow! by any chance are you a studier of philosophy because there are a lot mof word there that we learn about in philosophy?
