What is good acting?

[21%]

What is good acting? Is it how believable you are? Is it range? Is it the ability to speak with your eyes? Is it subtlety? Is it your ability to bring something new and unexpected to the script you are given?

I'm asking because I was talking to someone, and I like asking questions like "Name some really good books!" or "Name some movies that you will watch over and over!" -- but when it came to movie performances, I found that I couldn't really come up with a favorite list. These are some of the things that were going off in my head:

a) if you have a very good script and directing, moderate acting will do the job
b) if you are basically playing yourself, of course you're going to be convincing without having to actually be good at acting
c) if you have to work with terrible writing, and still manage to do something with it, then maybe you're a really good actor
d) maybe 'acting' as we perceive it actually depends a lot on 'editing'
e) maybe 'acting' depends on other things as well, like lighting and music
f) there is actually no 'objective' good acting -- it's pretty much all personal taste
g) if this is the case, awards are totally bunk (even more bunk than I originally thought)
h) likeable characters are, well, too mainstream -- so portraying unlikeable characters actually makes people think you're good at acting
i) expectation plays a huge part -- if you are in a comic book movie, no one expects a lot of acting from you
j) it's all relative -- if everyone else in the movie sucks, people are going to praise you (and, again, think you are better than you actually are)
k) if your character has a dark past, people confuse it with depth and praise your acting
l) or maybe good acting is just an ability to be someone else who is totally different from who you are
m) this is starting to sound like runaway Ni, so I'm going to stop


So... in your opinion, what is good acting? What is a good actor? How do you judge? Feel free to give some examples

 

[Southern Kross]

A film site I used to post on, voted on a top 100 all-time performances in 2006 and I kept the list. I don't necessarily agree with the order but most are generally agreed upon as examples of excellent acting. A warning, this was voted on by serious cinephiles so don't expect it to be entirely contemporary, English-speaking, mainstream film:

1. Bette Davis - All About Eve
2. Robert DeNiro - Raging Bull
3. Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice
4. Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs
5. Diane Keaton - Annie Hall
6. James Stewart - Vertigo
7. Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver
8. Jack Lemmon - Some Like it Hot
9. Peter Sellers - Dr. Strangelove
10. Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven

11. Maria Falconetti – Le passion de Jeanne d'Arc
12. Katherine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story
13. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd.
14. Marlon Brando - The Godather
15. Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's
16. Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive
17. Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence
18. Giulietta Masina - Le Notti de Cabiria
19. Anthony Perkins - Psycho
20. Sigourney Weaver - Alien

21. Anthony Hopkins - Remains of the Day
22. Holly Hunter - The Piano
23. Victor Sjöström - Wild Strawberries
24. Dustin Hoffman - Tootsie
25. Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby
26. F. Murray Abraham – Amadeus
27. Liza Minelli - Cabaret
28. Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
29. Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love
30. Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon

31. Liv Ullman - Face to Face
32. Marcello Mastroianni - 8 1/2
33. Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves
34. Malcolm Macdowell - A Clockwork Orange
35. Isabelle Adjani - L'historie d'Adele H.
36. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
37. Marlon Brando - A Streetcar Named
38. Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons
39. Vivian Leigh - Gone with the Wind
40. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

41. Peter Lorre - M
42. Katherine Hepburn - Bringing Up Baby
43. Dennis Hopper - Blue Velvet
44. Meryl Streep - Bridges of Madison County
45. Ingrid Bergman - Notorious
46. Peter O'Toole - Lawrence of Arabia
47. River Phoenix - My Own Private Idaho
48. Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple
49. Ralph Fiennes - Schindler's List
50. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain

51. Richard Burton - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
52. Bibi Andersson - Persona
53. Al Pacino - The Godather
54. Judith Anderson – Rebecca
55. Katherine Hepburn – The Lion in Winter
56. James Dean - East of Eden
57. Anne Bancroft - The Graduate
58. Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
59. Faye Dunaway - Mommie Dearest
60. Ian Mckellan – The Lord of the Rings

61. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity
62. Jack Nicholson - The Shining
63. Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs
64. Ed Norton - American History X
65. Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
66. Isabella Huppert - The Piano Teacher
67. Brenda Blethyn - Secrets and Lies
68. Boris Karloff - Frankenstein
69. Angela Lansbury - Manchurian Candidate
70. Catherine Deneuve – Belle de Jour

71. Ian Mckellan - Gods & Monsters
72. Max Shreck – Nosferatu
73. Bjork - Dancer in the Dark
74. Gregory Peck - To Kill A Mockingbird
75. Toshiro Mifune - Rashomon
76. Timothy Hutton - Ordinary People
77. Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean
78. Charlie Chaplin - Modern Times
79. Judy Garland - A Star is Born
80. Dianne Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters

81. Tony Leung - In the Mood for Love
82. Nicole Kidman - Dogville
83. Jean Louis Barrault – Les enfants du paradis
84. Peter Finch - Network
85. Cloris Leachman - Last Picture Show
86. Meryl Streep - Adaptation.
87. Emma Thompson - Sense & Sensibility
88. Ruth Hussey - The Philadelphia Story
89. Tony Leung – Happy Together
90. Uma Thurman - Kill Bill

91. James Stewart - It's A Wonderful Life
92. John Hurt - The Elephant Man
93. Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter
94. Humphrey Bogart – Casablanca
95. Meiko Harada - Ran
96. Montgomery Clift - Judgement At Nuremberg
97. Orson Welles - Touch of Evil
98. Juliette Binoche - Blue
99. Sissy Spacek - The Coal Miners Daughter
100. John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig

EDIT: OMG I just realised it has Faye Dunaway for Mommie Dearest! That must be an ironic inclusion

NO. WIRE. HANGERS. EVER!

 

[Southern Kross]

More OT:

These are some of the things that were going off in my head:

a) if you have a very good script and directing, moderate acting will do the job
b) if you are basically playing yourself, of course you're going to be convincing without having to actually be good at acting
c) if you have to work with terrible writing, and still manage to do something with it, then maybe you're a really good actor
d) maybe 'acting' as we perceive it actually depends a lot on 'editing'
e) maybe 'acting' depends on other things as well, like lighting and music
f) there is actually no 'objective' good acting -- it's pretty much all personal taste
g) if this is the case, awards are totally bunk (even more bunk than I originally thought)
h) likeable characters are, well, too mainstream -- so portraying unlikeable characters actually makes people think you're good at acting
i) expectation plays a huge part -- if you are in a comic book movie, no one expects a lot of acting from you
j) it's all relative -- if everyone else in the movie sucks, people are going to praise you (and, again, think you are better than you actually are)
k) if your character has a dark past, people confuse it with depth and praise your acting
l) or maybe good acting is just an ability to be someone else who is totally different from who you are

This is an excellent list of contributing factors! I thoroughly agree with their influence on the situation. I would add:

m) A very skilled director manages to get a performance from an actor that is far beyond their ordinary ability
n) The actor is very attractive and people are more inclined to celebrate their work
o) The actor goes to extra-ordinary lengths to physically transform themselves for the role and people admire their commitment (in the case of attractive actresses making themselves less attractive, the awards commentators have a term for this, "de-glam" - around 2000-2010 this had a lot of bearing on the awards seasons)
p) Actors more likely to get praise for playing a 'loud' part, which has lots of dramatic moments, than ones playing a more muted, subtle character which perhaps has a great deal more realism
q) An actor plays a minor character but do so incredibly well that they steal the show from the lead actors
r) An actor has a really good story of personal struggles that go well with the film and people think better of the performance because of it
s) It's hard to compare performances from different periods in history because the standard approaches were vastly different (ie. due to shifts towards different degrees of realism)
t) Some actors had to do (or learn to do) things in the role that add to the difficulty of the role (eg. learn to box, sing and dance, do an accent etc)
u) Fanboys/fangirls are biased toward their favourite actors and biased against certain other actors, and struggle to judge their performances objectively
v) Some (in the stage acting school of thought) consider good acting to be down to great line delivery, whereas others believe skill in silent emoting is more important

I should probably stop too, because I will go on all night.

 

[21%]

A film site I used to post on, voted on a top 100 all-time performances in 2006 and I kept the list. I don't necessarily agree with the order but most are generally agreed upon as examples of excellent acting. A warning, this was voted on by serious cinephiles so don't expect it to be entirely contemporary, English-speaking, mainstream film:

Wow -- impressive list. I haven't seen the majority of it, unfortunately.

I'm wondering if some of them are on the list because it was 'something never done before' and had the novelty value, hence lots of older films.

 

[The Ü™]

As that director in The Rocketeer said, acting is pretending like you're not acting...which means stage actors are by far the hammiest of them all.

 

[Southern Kross]

Wow -- impressive list. I haven't seen the majority of it, unfortunately.

I'm wondering if some of them are on the list because it was 'something never done before' and had the novelty value, hence lots of older films.

That might be an aspect, but I think it has more to do with: a) a reverence for classic film, and/or b) a lack of bias toward modern film (which most people unfortunately have).

I would include slightly more recent performances, personally. Even truly great actors like Streep and De Niro have said they think acting is better than it's ever been. Still, Bette Davis in All About Eve is perfection - then, now and forever more.

 

[21%]

Still, Bette Davis in All About Eve is perfection - then, now and forever more.

*adds to watch list

 

[zago]

Few of my favorite roles:

1. ALL TIME FAVORITE BY 1 ZILLION MILES: Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Fucking incredible. Best acting ever.

2. Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs

3. Kevin Spacey and Anette Bening in American Beauty

4. Jack Nicholson in The Shining

 

[highlander]

What comes to mind is Naomi Watts in The Impossible. It felt so REAL.

 

[21%]

81. Tony Leung - In the Mood for Love
89. Tony Leung – Happy Together

Just spotted this on the list. I'm a huge fan of Tony Leung!

And Happy Together is definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.

 

[Totenkindly]

To get back to "What makes a good actor?", for me it's pretty simple: If I fully believe you are this person who you are pretending to be on screen -- even with me knowing you're not -- then you're acting successfully. And you're an even better actor if, as this person, I can see the world through your eyes and resonate with you and you can convey your emotions and thoughts to me so that I feel them and understand them.

There are qualifications to that. (For example, if I know you are playing REALLY against type for who you are and what you've done in the past, that increases my estimation. If I know you are just being yourself, then that's not as much "acting" per se. Or if you have a terrible script, it's harder for you to seem like a real person no matter how good you are.)

 

[Nicki]

Good acting is when you are able to convey the depth of emotion in characters using subtle gestures, facial expressions, etc.

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

If I know you are just being yourself, then that's not as much "acting" per se.

I hear this repeated a lot, but I don't think it's true. If it were, everyone would be able to play themselves in a movie. I think it's much more about comfort in front of the camera, charisma, and body control. Some people will look terribly awkward on film even with a complete grasp of the character, and some will look great tossing off ad libs after barely reading the script.

Or if you have a terrible script, it's harder for you to seem like a real person no matter how good you are.)

This, however, I agree with 100%.

 

[The Great One]

Some may call me crazy for saying this, but I believe the best actors are actors that can play any personality type, and look like any variant stacking. There are very few actors can do this. For instance, let's take Al Pacino. This man can literally play an ESTP 8w7 sx/so in "Scarface", an ESTP 7w8 so/sp in "Glen Gary Glen Ross", an INTJ 6w5 sp/sx in "The Godfather", and an ENTJ 8w7 so/sp in "The Devil's Advocate" and really look like these various personalities and look like every variant stacking. Playing a different character is easy, but being able to look like each and every one of the different variant stackings is extremely difficult and only the best actors can pull this off.

 

[Totenkindly]

I hear this repeated a lot, but I don't think it's true. If it were, everyone would be able to play themselves in a movie. I think it's much more about comfort in front of the camera, charisma, and body control. Some people will look terribly awkward on film even with a complete grasp of the character, and some will look great tossing off ad libs after barely reading the script.

Yeesh. Obvious, if you're a charismatic person who knows how to interact to start with (Will Smith or Michael J Fox are easy toss-outs here), or you're someone who naturally thinks in terms of self-narrative/presentation, then you can come off better; but some people just aren't naturally charismatic and/or don't know how to engage others.

I didn't think I needed to clarify this to such a level of detail, I just was making a general comment.

 

[ndovjtjcaqidthi]

And not a single mention of Daniel Day-Lewis was seen that day..

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

Yeesh. Obvious, if you're a charismatic person who knows how to interact to start with (Will Smith or Michael J Fox are easy toss-outs here), or you're someone who naturally thinks in terms of self-narrative/presentation, then you can come off better; but some people just aren't naturally charismatic and/or don't know how to engage others.

I didn't think I needed to clarify this to such a level of detail, I just was making a general comment.

I was just responding to an assertion that playing a character close to one's own self didn't require as much acting. The bolded is exactly what I was saying, and indicates that it does require it. I'm not sure what you're yeesh-ing about.

 

[Giggly]

Good acting is when you are able to convey the depth of emotion in characters using subtle gestures, facial expressions, etc.

Agreed. Vocal inflection would also be included in that, but last, since it's more obvious.

And not a single mention of Daniel Day-Lewis was seen that day..

For real. He's an AMAZING actor. My favorite.

 

[Stanton Moore]

It seems that our culture exalts personalities that are most capable of pretense. To be honest, I’m not sure what the ultimate artist value this has, if any.

 

[zago]

I think my key criteria for good acting is how memorable the performance was. As in, just what bizarre subtleties and quirks was the actor able to incorporate that make the character seem like a real, unique person. This goes beyond convincing. Being convincing with your emotions and delivery is a hallmark of good, but not great, acting. To be great, the actor has to do things that no one else would have ever even thought off, they have to completely lose themselves and go a little bit insane as they become another person, with separate quirks, gestures, and behaviors. Just look at Johnny Depp when he takes "adrenochrome" in Fear and Loathing, and ask yourself where the hell he came up with those moves.

A lesser actor would have used the appropriate facial expressions and gestures to convey panic and insanity, and they perhaps would have been very accurate and convincing, but they can still be lacking that something extra... that entire world that Depp is able to create with his ridiculous sounds and gestures. Note: del Toro is equally great here.