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Acting on Smallville
Have I mentioned recently that Tom Welling is just killing me in my rewatch of Smallville? Oh, I have.
Yet here I go again -- I love how all the different 'off' versions of Clark are off in different ways. RedK!Clark is not the same as Mind-wipedKal!Clark who is not the same are SilverK!Clark who is (definitely) not the same as Lionel in Clark's body. The subtle (and sometimes less than subtle) gradations of difference in these character also serves to remind me of how good Tom is as just plain ol' Clark (who, from all appearances, isn't all that much like Tom Welling) and in showing how Clark has grown over the years.
I rather adore Erica Durance's quirky expressions. She does such cute things with her mouth. Very expressive. She also has really great comic timing and is very good at both delivering the sarcasm and kicking people's asses in a realistic way (But of course she is! Teal'c taught her.).
I'm not thrilled with odd prim pout thing that Annette O'Toole does. And it's definitely an AOT thing, not a Martha Kent thing, because she does the same thing with her mouth in Superman 3. I do love a lot of what she does with regards to Clark, though not everything (the disappointment in the 'marriage' talk in Unsafe was just... when your kid is that upset, you should save the moral outrage for a little later).
I'm fond of Rosenbaum's Lex, though not quite as much as many people are. I think he does a really good job selling some iffy stuff. He and Lionel are often a little too melodramatic for my tastes, but the characters are clearly supposed to be.
I've gotten more respect for KK's Lana recently. I still find some of her choices... odd, but workable into the character. Allison Mack is a good dramatic actress and very sympathetic, very good at playing 'tugging-at-heartstrings'.
People on my flist who watch Smallville -- what do you think of the acting?
Yet here I go again -- I love how all the different 'off' versions of Clark are off in different ways. RedK!Clark is not the same as Mind-wipedKal!Clark who is not the same are SilverK!Clark who is (definitely) not the same as Lionel in Clark's body. The subtle (and sometimes less than subtle) gradations of difference in these character also serves to remind me of how good Tom is as just plain ol' Clark (who, from all appearances, isn't all that much like Tom Welling) and in showing how Clark has grown over the years.
I rather adore Erica Durance's quirky expressions. She does such cute things with her mouth. Very expressive. She also has really great comic timing and is very good at both delivering the sarcasm and kicking people's asses in a realistic way (But of course she is! Teal'c taught her.).
I'm not thrilled with odd prim pout thing that Annette O'Toole does. And it's definitely an AOT thing, not a Martha Kent thing, because she does the same thing with her mouth in Superman 3. I do love a lot of what she does with regards to Clark, though not everything (the disappointment in the 'marriage' talk in Unsafe was just... when your kid is that upset, you should save the moral outrage for a little later).
I'm fond of Rosenbaum's Lex, though not quite as much as many people are. I think he does a really good job selling some iffy stuff. He and Lionel are often a little too melodramatic for my tastes, but the characters are clearly supposed to be.
I've gotten more respect for KK's Lana recently. I still find some of her choices... odd, but workable into the character. Allison Mack is a good dramatic actress and very sympathetic, very good at playing 'tugging-at-heartstrings'.
People on my flist who watch Smallville -- what do you think of the acting?
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And the director helps no one when they leave the camera on people for infinity -- there was a moment in the latest episode where Clark just looked silly, they held his reaction shot so long. But that's a directing complaint, not an acting one.
Tom's definitely better now than in first season -- I think that he made a huge leap upward at the start of season three and has been continuing to steadily improve since then. He definitely cares about getting better, which is always nice to see.
Kristin has a hard time with emotional dynamics. She never achieves much intensity. And often her line readings are a bit odd or stilted. And she has no sense of spontaneity. She's gotten a little better over the years, but she still underacts. She just doesn't do much with what she's given.
Agreed, for the most part. KK's pretty good at playing Bad!Lana, but 'bad' is generally always easier to play.
With Allison, my problem is that I don't see any change at all in her acting technique from the pilot until now. She was good at the same things then that she is now -- she doesn't seem to have worked on her weak spots at all.
I pretty much agree with you on Erica, too -- she's good now, with some hiccups, but she has the instincts to be better in the future.
Michael *can* be really good, in every way. But when he's bored, it shows. He lets his contempt for or amusement at the script show through, and he plays it like he's on the world's worst soap opera. Lately, I'd say he's been bored a lot. :P
Or during most of the relationship with Helen, as I recall. Which could definitely be a problem for him in the future if he wants to do television again -- because television is never always excellent.