Dukat In "Covenant"

[Jbarney]

I just rewatched this episode last night and while I still think Dukat during the Dominion War is not as good as Dukat through seasons 1-5, it was a great performance.

As I think back over the various Dukat appearences this might be one of the best performances by Mark Alaimo in the entire series. The episode had a lot of good twists, but the scenes where he is communicating his faith to Kira were extremely well done.

I loved the scene at the end where he is furious with Kira for upsetting his plans to trick the cult into committing suicide. He just looked so crazed and full of venom.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I don't care what anybody else says...I thought Dukat was truly freaky in this episode. Marc Alaimo's acting really sold the whole cult-leader thing. Personally, I think he must've watched actual footage of cult leaders before he shot this episode because it seems SO real. And I agree about the scene where he tells Kira that he believes--also the scene where he tries to fool Kira into believing that he will be committing suicide along with his cult...I mean, DANG, his eyes!!

This side of Dukat actually inspired me in the writing of an AU version of him that I've been working on--I found myself wondering, what if another version of Dukat had REAL faith, the sincere and good kind? Might he be just as dedicated to that, and could it actually influence him in a different direction than he went in the canon universe? What kind of person could he have been?

I don't know exactly how to explain this--but Alaimo always seems very, very aware of his body, of his nonverbals, of exactly what sort of impression his gestures convey. Even a still shot of him speaks a thousand words.

Here he does one heck of a job at playing like he's a "true believer," all Mr. Sincerity. Blurry shot, yes, but even this gets the message across. Instead of his usual "claiming-the-room" type gestures, we get something more subdued:

http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/7x09/covenant_099.jpg

Which I actually used as a reference for drawing my AU Dukat. All it took was just some very slight changes to the facial expression to make that into REAL sincerity:

http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=95195

 

[PSGarak]

I have to agree with Nerys Ghemor about Marc Alaimo's body awareness. He does it in a very realistic way, too, not overblown and too theatrical. I think in the hands of almost any other actor, Dukat would have been farce from start to finish. I feel the same way about Andrew Robinson as Garak. Few could handle the nuances. They both sold me on their characters utterly.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

What's amazing is that when you consider Alaimo came from a theatrical background yet managed to dial it back JUST enough for TV, it's even more impressive (considering certain actors--BROOKS, I'm looking at you!) that didn't get that right balance sometimes. And I can never think of a case where Alaimo screwed up a scene with his acting.

 

[PSGarak]

Casey Biggs came from a theater background, too, and so did Andrew Robinson. I think well trained theater actors have some of the best control of any actors I've seen.

 

[Anwar]

It was stated in a special feature on one of the DVDs that Trek went for theater actors when it came to the actors playing aliens with lots of makeup. They could express themselves through it all much better.

 

[DevilEyes]

It was stated in a special feature on one of the DVDs that Trek went for theater actors when it came to the actors playing aliens with lots of makeup. They could express themselves through it all much better.

Trek often went for theatre actors even when they played humans and had little makeup (Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks...).

 

[Anwar]

In Stewart's case, it worked out. Brooks...hit and miss.

 

[DS9forever]

Meh, Stewart's accent sort of distracts people into thinking he's a better actor than he is.

 

[Anwar]

Replace Stewart with Shatner/Brooks and accent with voice/hamminess and you're spot on.

 

[JustKate]

Meh, Stewart's accent sort of distracts people into thinking he's a better actor than he is.

Um...you do know that Stewart won the Laurence Olivier Award this spring for his role in Hamlet? In England? Do you really think that his accent is all that special in the Royal Shakespeare Company? If his accent has distracted me, it's apparently distracted far more knowledgable people, too.

In any case, Alexander Siddig has a nice accent too, but that's not enough to turn him into a great or even good actor. He's OK most of the time, but he seldom got better than that, at least not on DS9. I haven't seen him in anything since, so he might have improved.

 

[PSGarak]

^ He did well in what I saw of him on 24, but no, he's not a great actor.

 

[Thor Damar]

May I say that as a Britassian, I mean Brit (sorry), I'm pleased to find out that the merest trace of a British accent confers acting talent to someone welding one

 

[JustKate]

^ ^ I was afraid of that, PSGarak. I just watched "The Passenger" last night and was struck (repeatedly) with how much better it would have been in the hands of a better actor. I mean, it was OK, but...

Spoiler: Spoiler from 'The Passenger'

a better actor could have made Bashir's possession sooooooo much more believable and sooooooo much creepier.

Oh, well.

 

[Anwar]

I thought he was good in "Kingdom of Heaven".

 

[rahullak]

In any case, Alexander Siddig has a nice accent too, but that's not enough to turn him into a great or even good actor. He's OK most of the time, but he seldom got better than that, at least not on DS9. I haven't seen him in anything since, so he might have improved.

Siddig was decent in Syriana (2005) and in Doomsday(2008) .

 

[DevilEyes]

In any case, Alexander Siddig has a nice accent too, but that's not enough to turn him into a great or even good actor. He's OK most of the time, but he seldom got better than that, at least not on DS9. I haven't seen him in anything since, so he might have improved.

Siddig was decent in Syriana (2005) and in Doomsday(2008) .

I haven't seen those yet (and I actually have Syriana on my hard drive! But, to be honest, I tried to watch once but found it boring... granted, I was tired and sleepy at the time, so I should probably try again...) but I liked him in the guest starring role in "Spooks".

 

[rahullak]

^
Syriana is a serious movie. So if you're in the mood for some light-hearted stuff, you probably shouldn't watch it then, and reserve it for when you want some serious real-life stuff. Siddig's the son of a middle-eastern monarch here.
Doomsday's full of wild action (with plenty of gore). Siddig's the Prime Minister of Britain in this one.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

He's not bad at looking disgruntled. Had a right face on him when Sisko wanted that biomimetic gel in In the Pale Moonlight. And most of the rest of the time!

 

[DevilEyes]

He's not bad at looking disgruntled. Had a right face on him when Sisko wanted that biomimetic gel in In the Pale Moonlight. And most of the rest of the time!

I thought he got much better throughout the show. He was really bad early on. Although his character was also not very well written or interesting at that point, so that might have played a role.

I find it amazing that he initially auditioned for Sisko and was even apparently seriously considered for the role, but they just thought he was too young. He must have done something right in that audition, since they liked him enough to give him a different role.

Boy, this thread has really gone off-topic. This is more for the thread about DS9 acting.