Question Eliza's acting skills

E

Enemies

*insert user title here*
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
1,458
Age
38
Location
Worcestershire
Sineya
I got thinking about Eliza's acting skills after seeing the Sarah vs Eliza thread. I've seen a few people express the opinion that Eliza's best acting role is Faith and she's yet to top that. Do you think this is the case? Or do you think it's because she did such a fantastic job as Faith that viewers find it difficult to see her in another role, in effect always seeing her as Faith and not the new role. Has she been typecast? Or (finally) do you think the character Faith had such a big impact on Eliza fans that she will forever be Faith? I think Eliza will always be Faith to me because she's the character that reached out to me the most. I really loved that character so whenever I see Eliza I automatically think: Faith.
 
I loved her in Tru Calling and Bring it on as well. I didn't really like Dollhouse that much, but that's not to say she didn't do a good job, it was just too slow for me.

I think she's a good actress, she just doesn't get the credit she deserves sometimes.
 
I liked her in Tru Calling but not Dollhouse. I don't think she's been given as big a chance to expand her talents genre-wise compared to some of the other Whedonverse women.
 
I don't think it's Eliza's acting skills that have to top Faith, I just think that it's hard to top the way she portrayed Faith because Faith was an amazing and complex character, if she got a role with equal complexity to bite her teeth into I'm sure that she'd rock it too.
 
Enemies said:
I got thinking about Eliza's acting skills after seeing the Sarah vs Eliza thread. I've seen a few people express the opinion that Eliza's best acting role is Faith and she's yet to top that. Do you think this is the case? Or do you think it's because she did such a fantastic job as Faith that viewers find it difficult to see her in another role, in effect always seeing her as Faith and not the new role. Has she been typecast? Or (finally) do you think the character Faith had such a big impact on Eliza fans that she will forever be Faith? I think Eliza will always be Faith to me because she's the character that reached out to me the most. I really loved that character so whenever I see Eliza I automatically think: Faith.
Click to expand...

Have to say, she has not really broken out from being the character Faith. Wished that she did, as I think she is a very bright character. The only type of character I feel would make it as being a ‘Girl Fighter.’ The type of movie that I feel she would be very good at and the fans would support, would be a “Girl with Gun movie.” If she was in a ‘Resident Evil’ movie or something like that – she would make a new fan base. She is not really the girl next door, and I think she understands that.

It is a given that she is never going to get a Oscar, so it would be movies that is just looking for money. She could play a “Girl that goes crazy and kills other girls.” But, I am a little tired of those types of movies.
 
IMO, there are some actors who just excel at playing particular roles. I think Eliza, given the right role, is an amazing actress, it just has to be specific, you know? Some actors just don't have the acting chops to play so many different roles so convincingly. It's extremely difficult. Only the Meryl Streep's of the world can pull that off. But as I've said before, Eliza is Faith, and while she does her work well in other series, she will always be Faith in my eyes.
 
I just don't think that Eliza is a very good actress. If you can only play one exact, precise role (and sorry Faith fans but not very well) then you're not acting, you're just... Being. I saw her bring absolutely no complexity to the role of Faith at all. Eliza just happens to be an actress because of the way she looks.
 
S
Spikefan31
I kinda agree. No offence to Faith fans.
Because she always plays the same roles, for a long time I thought Eliza was just "being Eliza on screen" too. ...but then I met her IRL (when she wasn't acting), and she didn't seem Faithy to me at all. ...She does on all the interviews I've seen, which is weird because then it seems like she's acting then too... Maybe she just doesn't do one-on-one well (and by that, I mean, maybe she's shy IRL)?
...That leads me to think she's a much better actor than I thought she was, because she (normal plain ol' Eliza she) seemed totally different IRL. I always thought she'd be Faithy in person too.
 
I don't think any actress would've been 1) brave enough or 2) talented enough to try and do Dollhouse, playing a different character every episode. That takes guts, and I was pretty impressed with the results. 🙂
To me her characters were very distinct from each other (a favourite of mine is the sexy thief chick who appears in a couple of eps).

Also, the thing about Faith is she isn't just a bad girl stereotype. Faith fans (I think, I can't speak for the legions of us out there) like the character because she exhibits a range of emotions and layers.
She can be dangerous and loving it, psychotic, sexy, funny, vulnerable, guilt-ridden and haunted, take-charge or a combination of those. (Just go and watch 'Five-By-Five' and watch her go from fearsome to psychotic and then to gut-wrenching self-loathing and anguish. One of the moments of Angel, imo)
Joss just has a way of getting great actresses onto his shows.
Eliza is a top actress, with plenty of range. Not many actresses who are that gorgeous can do drama and comedy and action, all convincingly.

*dusts off his soapbox* Here endeth the lesson. 🙂
 
Gum Gnome33
Gum Gnome33
[No message]
I know some posts are really old, but I couldn't disagree more with some of the comments here. For those who have seen Tru Calling, Eliza is pretty much the polar opposite of Faith, and she does a very good job with the role. In fact, pretty much the only show I've seen her play the badass rebel sexy chick is on BtVS. She did do a very good job with Faith, it's debatable if it's her best role or not, but I also think she's done really good jobs playing other roles.

She might not be Oscar worthy, but I think she's more than good enough to support a show as a lead.
 
Gum Gnome33
Gum Gnome33
[No message]
I've only seen her in Buffy and Dollhouse (and that one episode of the Big Bang Theory) but I've seen enough to convince me that she's very good at her job.
 
I think she's good, but honestly, I think she's got worse as she's got older.

Watching Eliza in 'Who Are You?' was the main reason I was SO looking forward to Dollhouse. Eliza was PERFECT at playing Buffy - she was playing a completely different character, one who was so well known, and she nailed it. She was just phenomenal. I wanted that same level of commitment and skill when she was playing this hugely complex role, playing different characters, but I didn't get it.

Eliza was the weakest out of the main cast, or, at the very least, the weakest of the Dolls. She was being outshone week after week by Enver and Dichen and even Fran and Amy. I think she concentrated too much on the Caroline aspect of Echo's personality, while the imprints and Echo's default state sort of fell to the side.

On the whole, yes, I think she's great and I would like to see her on my screen every week again - but I don't think she's a strong enough actress to carry her own show.
 
E
EffyStonem
[No message]
Black Eye Guy
Black Eye Guy
[No message]
Lyri said:
I think she's good, but honestly, I think she's got worse as she's got older.

Watching Eliza in 'Who Are You?' was the main reason I was SO looking forward to Dollhouse. Eliza was PERFECT at playing Buffy - she was playing a completely different character, one who was so well known, and she nailed it. She was just phenomenal. I wanted that same level of commitment and skill when she was playing this hugely complex role, playing different characters, but I didn't get it.

Eliza was the weakest out of the main cast, or, at the very least, the weakest of the Dolls. She was being outshone week after week by Enver and Dichen and even Fran and Amy. I think she concentrated too much on the Caroline aspect of Echo's personality, while the imprints and Echo's default state sort of fell to the side.

On the whole, yes, I think she's great and I would like to see her on my screen every week again - but I don't think she's a strong enough actress to carry her own show.
Click to expand...

I totally agree all of this. I wish Enver had been the main star of Dollhouse, his transformations character by character were incredible, there was something not hitting 100% with Eliza
 
Lyri said:
I think she's good, but honestly, I think she's got worse as she's got older.

Watching Eliza in 'Who Are You?' was the main reason I was SO looking forward to Dollhouse. Eliza was PERFECT at playing Buffy - she was playing a completely different character, one who was so well known, and she nailed it. She was just phenomenal. I wanted that same level of commitment and skill when she was playing this hugely complex role, playing different characters, but I didn't get it.

Eliza was the weakest out of the main cast, or, at the very least, the weakest of the Dolls. She was being outshone week after week by Enver and Dichen and even Fran and Amy. I think she concentrated too much on the Caroline aspect of Echo's personality, while the imprints and Echo's default state sort of fell to the side.

On the whole, yes, I think she's great and I would like to see her on my screen every week again - but I don't think she's a strong enough actress to carry her own show.
Click to expand...

I tried to watch "Dollhouse" and was literally bored to sleep. I think you're right that Eliza's a good actress, but not strong enough to carry her own show. I've seen her in almost all her films she's done and I feel like her acting has gotten weaker as she gets older. I also agree with others that a lot of her roles have been Faith-esque.
 
Lyri
Lyri
[No message]
HisMrs said:
I tried to watch "Dollhouse" and was literally bored to sleep. I think you're right that Eliza's a good actress, but not strong enough to carry her own show. I've seen her in almost all her films she's done and I feel like her acting has gotten weaker as she gets older. I also agree with others that a lot of her roles have been Faith-esque.
Click to expand...

Season 2 is better than Season 1, in my opinion. But, yeah, if you're there for Eliza, you're not going to get much out of Dollhouse. Echo/Caroline is not a character that you can get very invested in, or at least, I couldn't. She's likable and her arc and storyline are strong, but there are better. Sierra, Victor, Topher and Whiskey all have better, more emotional arcs and backstories than Echo and S2 goes into that more than S1 does.

Plus, this was pretty much the only show where the twist really, really shocked me. I remember watching it and just bursting into tears, because it was so shocking, but it was just really upsetting, because it was in no way predictable. Even after rewatching the whole show at least three times, I still can't see any hints or suggestions.

So, yeah, watch Dollhouse just for that. That's my advice. Forget about Eliza, invest in Sierra, or Victor. The two best Dolls.
 
The problem with Dollhouse is that that half the time Elize isn't really playing a character.
Echo could more accuratly be called a mystery/plot device to push Paul Ballard's plot forward. You don't really empathize with her because she's a mystery to be solved.

I like her much more when she's playing an imprinted person (at least until S2, when she develops a bit more)

I still rate Eliza's acting skills, she's the best thing about 'Tru Calling', and I've seen her in plenty of non-Faith roles. Although she obviously enjoys the rough and tumble, bad girl stuff.
Still looking forward to seeing her in 'the Saint' pilot, when that finally comes out.
High hopes.🙂
 
Xin Rong
Xin Rong
never heard of the saint... quickly switching to google
Lyri said:
I think she's good, but honestly, I think she's got worse as she's got older.
Eliza was the weakest out of the main cast, or, at the very least, the weakest of the Dolls. She was being outshone week after week by Enver and Dichen and even Fran and Amy. I think she concentrated too much on the Caroline aspect of Echo's personality, while the imprints and Echo's default state sort of fell to the side.
.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm a big Eliza fan, and will usually watch anything if she's in it, but I do think her best roles were when she was younger. I think some of her best acting was on Buffy and Angel. Even though I like Dollhouse, her performance was pretty weak, but I do applaud her for trying to play a new character each week. She was definitely shown up by the rest of the cast though. I will say that she was like 17 when she got the role of Faith and for that age playing such a dark, promiscuous, psychotic character she nailed it. At 17 I could have not done that, I still probably couldn't go where I would need to go to play that role so kudos for her. I would love to see her in more stuff, but I know she's busy doing a lot of other things than acting right now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom