Talented Actors, an endangered species?

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Comment by DaAnimator on June 12, 2009 at 1:26am

@Brad Holt- Zac Effron is the least one I'm worried about. I saw him in Hairspray, which is pretty close to his work on HSM, and actually enjoyed him quite a bit. I have to agree with you that if he does indeed find himself a director willing to carve and polish him through out his career much like Tim Burton did with Depp, or Scorcese did with DiCaprio he will become quite a good actor.

I think you hit the nail over the head with your "that's what people want to see" argument. It is actually the very reason why films are they way they are today. The general audience for films doesn't really want to sit through a 2 and a half hour film with character exploration, all they want is big explosions with Calvein Klein looking actors and stupid plots. Which is why I love Star Trek, it is a film that embraced two of these concepts (the good looking but talented cast, and the explosions) but decided to go for an intricate story-line that actually involved the characters. I remember walking out and friends of my brothers said they were bored out of their minds by the film, and said is sucked. Then they stated they that transformers was their favorite film. Therein lies a perfect example of the unwillingness of today's audience to commit to a decent yet slow paced film.

Comment by Brad Holt on June 12, 2009 at 1:06am

You know I seriously see Zac Effron becoming a really good actor in the future, i mean it. Say what you want about High School Musical but he really brings energy to those movies as cheezy as they are, he does the best he could. He just needs that one script that is Oscar Caliber and work with a big name director to really show us what he really is capable of.

Micheal Cera i don't see him doing anything but the same shit for the rest of his career.

The Twilight guy, when the series is over, you won't see him again, maybe guest star on specials of the CW but that's it. (I could be wrong though)

Don't worry so much, the average teenage audience doesn't really get artistic when looking at actors. MTV has shown that. Wait til these guys are in their mid to late 20's and wait till they start getting into more serious films. We don't really know what they're capable of until they get that one script that will allow them to show us what they've got as far as talent.

Most of them are just popular to the crowd of people who don't want anything but the same old shit that they like to see. Why do you think Will Ferrell keeps doing the same shit? Because that's what people want to see.

Comment by DaAnimator on June 12, 2009 at 12:45am

@MDS- I have to agree with you on DiCaprio, after Titanic I was sick of the guy. I was sick that all the girls were going crazy for him and I was sick of seeing his face on every billboard. However after The Aviator he became one of my all time favorite actors, and now I love to see him act. It is true that nowadays actors have to work harder to get roles, and then prove themselves with future properties but sometimes, these actors can become accustomed to being in horrible properties that don't allow them to stretch their wings. Which is probably my main problem with Pattison, they guy isn't terrible, I could stand him in The Goblet of Fire. I know it is too soon to judge these actors, but it seems they are more content with choosing popcorn projects instead of going for the challenging roles.

@Stephan- Your points are valid, tell you the truth, I'm a bit jaded, mostly because I truly don't like recent teen flicks, which are more or less cookie cutter copies of themselves. Also Michael Cera is the male version of Kristen Stewart. At least to me he is.

Comment by MDS on June 12, 2009 at 12:28am

I'm apprehensive. I'll be honest in saying that I view a lot of the "young" stars being seen more for their looks than their talents. But, it's also true that a lot of young actors understand that you have to be able to GET the jobs that pay, THEN stretch your wings after you've built your fanbase enough to support you taking on those "challenging roles". I'm holding out hope that there is stil talent there, just hidden in the "Teenage" stages of being "formula and teen" movies. With something good, they might surprise you. I know that I thought that Leonardo DiCaprio was just a "pretty face", then he grew up and took on more "meaty" roles and impressed me as the years went by.

Comment by Stephan on June 12, 2009 at 12:21am

Those teenage actors up there are not horrible, they've just been a part of horrible properties and you're jaded as hell. They actually(though I can't speak for Micheal Cera since I've never seen one of his movies) are not that bad. Kristen Stewart is probably the worst actor you mentioned, and she isn't the worst I've seen. If you want to judge someone's acting, you might want to start by actually seeing them perform. Robert Pattinson, despite what you thought about the movie, was obviously trying hard to make the best of the role he had in Twilight. He showed as much subtlety as he could, and really wanted to make the character more than he actually was.

I will say they're not all that great. But they have at least a little talent, and maybe it can grow to be something more. I mean, if you had seen 21 Jump Street you would have never thought Johny Depp was a great actor. Wait until they expand their careers before writing them off. Most of the time an actor can only be as good as the script allows him/her.