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re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor...

Posted by: mikem 10:23 am EST 12/07/13
In reply to: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor... - Chazwaza 10:02 pm EST 12/06/13

I think that is overly harsh. At the beginning, she seemed incredibly nervous (understandable, given the situation). Not an excuse, but to say she has NO talent as an actor based on a performance that took place under kind of weird circumstances is too strong IMO.

And there are plenty of examples where actors have given many "meh" performances before surprising us all (Charlize Theron and Bradley Cooper come to mind quickly; also Will Forte just won Best Supporting Actor from the National Board of Review, which I find astonishing considering he was nothing but "meh" for years on Saturday Night Live. He would have been way, way down on my list of potential acting award winners.)


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re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor...

Posted by: Chazwaza 10:32 am EST 12/07/13
In reply to: re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor... - mikem 10:23 am EST 12/07/13

First of all, there is a big difference between a "meh" performance in a meh role, which is really what you're talking about.. when good actors don't have a chance to really show what they can do early in their careers (like Cooper and Theron), but they still give competent and natural performances. Underwood, like I said, acted like her goal was to be off-book… and anyone with acting talent, given that material and that much time to learn and rehearse, should have been able to perform the dialogue better.

Second of all, we clearly have different opinions because I loved Will Forte on SNL and am not surprised at all by his ability as shown in Nebraska.


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re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor...

Posted by: mikem 11:06 am EST 12/07/13
In reply to: re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor... - Chazwaza 10:32 am EST 12/07/13

I think Will Forte was funny on SNL, but I don't think he or most people on SNL showed much true acting ability, partially because they are given little rehearsal time and are playing one-note characters. I remember when Paul Giamatti was the guest host and he was actually playing 3-dimensional people, and I was totally thrown off. The weird circumstances of this SOM makes me give Underwood a bit of slack, which she will show us whether or not she deserves.

And all the rehearsal time in the world isn't necessarily going to help if you don't have a good director. While McDonald and Benanti were great, I think Moyer and Borle could have been better with a different director.

Another example: I thought Frances McDormand was HORRIBLE in The Country Girl, and I would have thought she was incapable of acting on stage if that was the only performance of hers I had ever seen. But she was fantastic in Good People.


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re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor...

Posted by: lowwriter 12:26 pm EST 12/07/13
In reply to: re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor... - mikem 11:06 am EST 12/07/13

Underwood was being coached at the same time to get rid of her twang and not perform in her usual style as a country singer. I have to give some slack. Maybe if she had known two years ago she was going to be expecting to act, too, she would have taken some workshops. She may not have the talent to do more musical theater. But she was much better than I expected during the songs so maybe she could try again, though not in a three hour TV show.


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re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor...

Posted by: mikem 12:52 pm EST 12/07/13
In reply to: re: But she is missing an INNATE talent as an actor... - lowwriter 12:26 pm EST 12/07/13

I think that this was the first time I have ever seen a musical wishing that it was sung-through!


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