best Captain actor

[indolover]

which Captain was the best actor?

IMO, it's a toss up between Sir Patrick Stewart and Avery Brooks, with Kate Mulgrew a close third.

I cannot remember many memorable acting performances from Shatner in TOS. Yet Chain of Command in TNG, and First Contact (well the scene when Picard admits his will for revenge against the Borg), and the Visitor, Far Beyond the Stars in DS9 for Brooks stand out. In First Contact, you could believe the rage Picard was in. In Far Beyond the Stars, Brooks did the nervous breakdown to a tee.

what say you?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike....

 

[RyuRoots]

Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike....

He certainly had a lot of charisma. I wouldn't have minded seeing a more Pike-centric movie starring Greenwood.

As for Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway, the acting quality of the regulars is something Star Trek was always been good about, Chuckles and Harry notwithstanding. I'm not a big fan of Kirk compared to the 24th-century captains, but Shatner did a good job of making him distinct and bringing him to life. Mulgrew is a wonderful actress, and it shines through even in some of VOY's bad eps. But as for my favorite, it's definitely a toss-up between Stewart/Picard and Brooks/Sisko. Both characters were portrayed so fully, so three-dimensionally, and really made me care about them so well through 7 seasons it's hard to pick.

And Archer...I think Bakula was horribly ill-suited to the role. He didn't have a captain's presence. All writing issues aside, he came across like a man they found sitting on a park bench and asked if he wanted to captain a ship. "Really? Oh, that'd be really cool, sure. Thanks." I'm not sure how to describe it, but he just didn't seem like a captain, and I'm not sure I'd believe it if the show didn't outright tell me.

 

[DevilEyes]

Though Sisko is my favorite captain, Patrick Stewart is by far the best actor out of all the "captain" actors. Unless you count Nimoy as Captain Spock

 

[sbk1234]

Patrick Stewart by a wide margin. Nothing against the others, but Stewart was just an incredible talent.

 

[D Man]

Patrick Stewart by a mile, though I also really enjoy Avery Brooks. Stewart in vehicles like "Sarek" or "The Inner Light" just sells the role like no one else could. I also think Shatner gets a bad rap sometimes; his range was pretty remarkable, really. Nimoy one ups him, certainly, but the Shat knew/knows what he's doing and sold some really powerful stuff when he was trying. Mulgrew and Bakula are both great actors, but I never felt like they were given big opportunities to shine. Bakula did the Dark Archer thing really well in S3 of ENT, but that got tired pretty fast.

 

[Scotty]

Stewart by a mile indeed. But I did like Mulgrew a lot of as well, especially in the latter seasons. I thought her portrayal of Janeway in the earlier seasons was way too theatrical, OTT as if she was playing to the back rows. But in the latter half of VOY's run she hit her stride and at times, nearly matched Stewart.

Brooks was pretty good as well, but he overacted sometimes. Shatner is an institution. His performance goes beyond acting, beyond reality, beyond believability really.

The only performance I really didn't like was Scott Bakula as Archer. His character was underwritten, sure, but his performance was one-note and bland.

 

[Green Shirt]

And Archer...I think Bakula was horribly ill-suited to the role. He didn't have a captain's presence. All writing issues aside, he came across like a man they found sitting on a park bench and asked if he wanted to captain a ship. "Really? Oh, that'd be really cool, sure. Thanks." I'm not sure how to describe it, but he just didn't seem like a captain, and I'm not sure I'd believe it if the show didn't outright tell me.

He seemed more suited to doing his exploring from behind a telescope, or in the pages of a book.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Ronny Cox as Captain Jellico.

And Archer...I think Bakula was horribly ill-suited to the role. He didn't have a captain's presence.

He seemed more suited to doing his exploring from behind a telescope, or in the pages of a book.

That was the whole point of the character.

 

[RyuRoots]

Ronny Cox as Captain Jellico.

And Archer...I think Bakula was horribly ill-suited to the role. He didn't have a captain's presence.

He seemed more suited to doing his exploring from behind a telescope, or in the pages of a book.

That was the whole point of the character.

...the whole point was to not have a believable captain?

 

[Lor'Vela]

Well, if you're talking about best actor IMO, I would also go with Patrick Stewart. However, Robau and Jellico strike me as being the most believable Captains. They just seem to have that presence of such.

 

[BillJ]

William Shatner... by a mile.

He made me believe Jim Kirk was a real person. Never was there an episode that I thought Shatner did not believe in the material he was working with.

While Stewart was a talented actor, you could tell there were times where he was bored or didn't believe in the material he was presenting.

The rest don't even belong in the conversation.

 

[Luther Sloan]

Patrick Stewart

 

[Guardian Bob]

I think half way through season 4, Bakula really started to get his character. But no question Sir Patrick is the best actor.

 

[Mary Ann]

Stewart is the best overall actor, in my opinion, but I like the characters of Janeway and Sisko more than Picard. All three are excellent actors IMO.

 

[SFRabid]

I don't think any of the main 5 were that great in their parts as captain. If I was offered a ticket to see any single one on stage it would probably be Mulgrew. So many people say Stewart. He must be much better at Shakespear than he is with Star Trek or XMen.

 

[sbk1234]

Ronny Cox as Captain Jellico.

And Archer...I think Bakula was horribly ill-suited to the role. He didn't have a captain's presence.

He seemed more suited to doing his exploring from behind a telescope, or in the pages of a book.

That was the whole point of the character.

...the whole point was to not have a believable captain?

Actually, I think the whole point was that space exploration for Earth was so new that NOBODY was fully prepared for it, and had to really gain their space legs on the job.

While I do think Stewart was the best actor of the captains, I think they were all good. Yes, even Bakula and Muldrew. They all gave different characterizations. But I think all were good performances. If you look at enough performances by any actor after a long time, they will all have their "off" performances. Yes, even Patrick Stewart. But I think their acting will hold up.

 

[Joeman]

Stewart, and I don't buy that opinion that I've seen around here that his accent makes him just seem like a better actor either. I really don't think I'm that ignorant of what constitutes good acting.

Mulgrew and Shatner can get on my nerves from time to time.

Oddly, Bakula was one of the main reasons I stayed away from Enterprise for so long, but after watching the entire series, I not only accepted him, but felt he did a fine job with it. No major complaints from me.

Brooks was good, but drove me nuts when he went into those bouts of over-acting (or it at least that's how I perceived it). It didn't happen all that often, but there was a major occurrence of it in Far Beyond The Stars. You know, when he gets all trembly and breathing very shallow. Maybe some would consider it great acting, but for me it's over-the-top to the point of distraction.

Overall, I like them all most of the time.

 

[RyuRoots]

Actually, I think the whole point was that space exploration for Earth was so new that NOBODY was fully prepared for it, and had to really gain their space legs on the job.

And THAT I'm fine with. But he didn't come off as a leader at all. To me, anyway, which is what I meant.

 

[SFRabid]

I think the writing hurt Bakula more than any other captain. There was some really stupid writing in the first couple of years, and most of it dealt with Archer.