Did any actors ever do a less than "stellar" job?

[Cepstrum]

Hello, all.

I have a question about the acting of the regular cast in the TNG-era shows. I thought every regular actor in all three shows always performed splendidly. But it could be my naïveté, so I'm seeking your help.

But first, I must issue a disclaimer: this thread is NOT about "bashing" or denigrating any actor or actress. I expressly do NOT want attacks on any of them.

This is my question: can you cite any scenes/episodes in which an actor or actress gave, shall we say, a less than "stellar" performance? Or could have done it better, or looked bored/tired/flat?

Because I haven't ever noticed any such thing, though I'm aware that people will complain about an actor or actress here or there.*

Perhaps it's because of my limited exposure to TV and film. I watch almost no TV, watch few videos, and only go to see a film about once every two years. (The last film I saw was Star Trek XI.)

There *are* some characters I liked less than others, but that was because of the character, not the actor or actress. For example, I'm not a big fan of Kira or Kes, but I think Visitor and Lien did a terrific job portraying their roles as written.

And certainly there were some bad/awkward moments, but I ascribe that to the stories, not the actors. (eg, when Patrick Stewart had to loudly explain some silly technobabble; it must have been embarrassing for him.)

As an example, I am not a very big fan of Jeri Ryan. I didn't like that she was brought on to titillate the audience and add sex appeal. But as it turned out, I thought Ryan did a superb job portraying a heavily-used, highly unusual character, and I ended up appreciating Seven because of Ryan's acting*talents.

Another example I'd cite is Robert Beltran. It wasn't until I looked online that I learned he was unhappy with his character and that many fans thought he was rather flat. He certainly fooled me, for I thought he did a fine job, even though he was not always written well.


So, can anyone cite examples of a scene or episode in which one of the regulars wasn't up to par or his/her usual standards? I always thought the cast was great in every scene I've seen.

And again, I do NOT want this to become a thread that attacks, in general, any actor. All I'm looking for is something such as:*

"in scene A of episode X, actor Z looked tired/bored."

NOT: "actor Z did a terrible job in episode X" or "actor Z was awful".


Disclaimer #2: again, I don't watch much TV or many movies, so it could be I'm just not used to discerning when an actor does a sub-par performance. The ONLY time I could tell something was wrong was while watching some of the actors in the SW prequels and in Return of the Jedi. Those movies had fine actors, but they looked rather bored/flat/tired.

Other than that, I can't recall noticing any actor doing a less than good job (or at least trying his/her best). And that includes TNG-era Trek.

I'd like to be able to discern such things better, so if you can cite a Trek example, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[DevilEyes]

Well of course there were lots of times when one or more of the actors did a less than stellar job! But that's not what you're asking here - you are asking us to list times when one of the regular actors did a bad job (or less than good/adequate, if you prefer).

Most TNG actors, apart from Stewart, weren't all that great during season 1 and got much better later on. One example that particularly struck me recently while re-watching it was Gates McFadden in "Conspiracy". When Crusher came into the room, I was convinced that she had been taken over by a parasite, since she was so wooden and robotic. It turned out that was supposed to be the normal Crusher! But as someone pointed out recently on this forum, this was towards the end of the season when she probably knew that they were letting her go, and was no doubt angry about it (she sure had reasons to, considering the backstory) so might not have been even trying.

On VOY, I thought that Beltran obviously lost interest in his role halfway through the show. Well, I guess you can't really blame him... but there was a scene in "Equinox", where he actually did get something to do - during an intense confrontation with Janeway, I thought he looked indifferent and wooden.

On DS9, while I didn't think Siddig was quite up to the level of some other actors on the show, over time he got very good at playing Bashir... However, whenever he was trying to play a different, more sinister character, it was painful: it was the case in season 1 "The Passenger" and I think it was also the case in Mirror episodes, where he badly overacted. Same goes for Terry Farrell in the Mirror episodes (and I must say that I otherwise never had problems with her performances as normal Jadzia, even though she wasn't one of the most talented actors on the show). Yes, the MU did turn into silliness and overacting was not out of place, but it still worked for some of the actors, like Brooks or Visitor (in her incredibly OTT role that got more and more ridiculously written). But others just bugged me.

Speaking of MU, while I love"In A Mirror, Darkly", I thought that Bakula's performance was its one flaw. But it wasn't the case of not taking the character seriously and thinking you had to overact ridiculously (as it seemed to be with Siddig and Farrell), he seemed to be doing his best, but he just wasn't convincing enough. It seemed like he was trying too hard to be tough and bad. I think that Bakula just doesn't have it in him to play a convincing villain.

 

[Deckerd]

I confess I never warmed to Denise Crosby and was quite pleased when she left.

 

[DevilEyes]

I confess I never warmed to Denise Crosby and was quite pleased when she left.

Yes, I also thought her acting was always lacking something... but I can't name any specific scenes or episodes, it was a general impression.

 

[Danny99]

I never enjoyed the acting of Jolene Blalock. Most of her time on screen she is wooden and when she has to do some serious acting, it sounds like she didn't take a deep enough breath and has to speed through her line before her breath runs out.

 

[Cepstrum]

Well of course there were lots of times when one or more of the actors did a less than stellar job! But that's not what you're asking here - you are asking us to list times when one of the regular actors did a bad job (or less than good/adequate, if you prefer).

Most TNG actors, apart from Stewart, weren't all that great during season 1 and got much better later on. One example that particularly struck me recently while re-watching it was Gates McFadden in "Conspiracy". When Crusher came into the room, I was convinced that she had been taken over by a parasite, since she was so wooden and robotic. It turned out that was supposed to be the normal Crusher! But as someone pointed out recently on this forum, this was towards the end of the season when she probably knew that they were letting her go, and was no doubt angry about it (she sure had reasons to, considering the backstory) so might not have been even trying.

On VOY, I thought that Beltran obviously lost interest in his role halfway through the show. Well, I guess you can't really blame him... but there was a scene in "Equinox", where he actually did get something to do - during an intense confrontation with Janeway, I thought he looked indifferent and wooden.

On DS9, while I didn't think Siddig was quite up to the level of some other actors on the show, over time he got very good at playing Bashir... However, whenever he was trying to play a different, more sinister character, it was painful: it was the case in season 1 "The Passenger" and I think it was also the case in Mirror episodes, where he badly overacted. Same goes for Terry Farrell in the Mirror episodes (and I must say that I otherwise never had problems with her performances as normal Jadzia, even though she wasn't one of the most talented actors on the show). Yes, the MU did turn into silliness and overacting was not out of place, but it still worked for some of the actors, like Brooks or Visitor (in her incredibly OTT role that got more and more ridiculously written). But others just bugged me.

Speaking of MU, while I love"In A Mirror, Darkly", I thought that Bakula's performance was its one flaw. But it wasn't the case of not taking the character seriously and thinking you had to overact ridiculously (as it seemed to be with Siddig and Farrell), he seemed to be doing his best, but he just wasn't convincing enough. It seemed like he was trying too hard to be tough and bad. I think that Bakula just doesn't have it in him to play a convincing villain.

Thank you for pointing out some specific examples. Now I plan to go watch those and see if I can notice! What's funny is that, aside from the MU episodes, I recently saw all those you cited. And I've watched the Equinox scene many times! Shows how bad I am at this.

And you're correct about discerning my true question was looking for examples of poor acting; I used the phrases "less than stellar" and "not up to par or his/her usual standards" as euphemisms. I did NOT want to mistakenly turn it into a thread for bashing actors!

As for the examples from Enterprise: thanks, but I didn't like the show much *because* of the characters. I don't know whether it's the fault of the actors or writers. For example, I especially did not like how Blalock portrayed T'Pol. It seemed very un-Vulcan. But then we later find out that the Vulcans were different back then (and there were rumors that in the fifth season she would be revealed to be half Romulan!). So she probably did as the writers and directors instructed. I don't know.


If anyone else can provide me with examples from the three TNG-era shows, I'd appreciate it very much. Thank you!

PS
and please be kind/considerate to the actors, just as DevilEyes was in his/her lengthy and helpful response.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Whenever Farrell had to emote she was abysmal. She sounded like a hiccuping old man without his oxygen.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I too was never fan of Blalock's T'Pol. Vulcans are hard to act, they are supposed to be logical, not stiff and wooden and she IMHO failed in this task, as her portrayal was everything but natural.

 

[Cepstrum]

Whenever Farrell had to emote she was abysmal. She sounded like a hiccuping old man without his oxygen.

^^^
Can you think of any particular episodes or scenes that would illustrate this? Or do you believe she was always poor in all episodes? I'm not sure what you mean by "emote". I know that means trying to portray certain emotions, but I'm not sure when she had to do such a thing and did it poorly. In my limited memory, she was mainly a cool-headed science officer who didn't easily become anxious. I chalked that up to her sense of immortality and 300+ year lifetime of handling things.

Compared to Sisko or Kira, whose characters were highly volatile/emotional, I thought she was just less "emotive". But I'd like to hear of any egregious missteps you could cite in which she was supposed to be emotional but instead came across as stiff or wooden.

It's not that I don't believe you. Rather, I don't trust my viewing intuition to be able to observe things like that. And for that reason, I ask for specific examples — NOT to challenge/question you. Thanks!

 

[Cepstrum]

I too was never fan of Blalock's T'Pol. Vulcans are hard to act, they are supposed to be logical, not stiff and wooden and she IMHO failed in this task, as her portrayal was everything but natural.

^^^
really? That's funny, for I disliked T'Pol for the opposite reason: I thought she behaved too emotionally and seemed always to be angry or irritated. Again, shows what I know!

Actually, it's a good illustration of why I'm posing these questions: I clearly am unable to discern much about acting.

 

[Sector 7]

I confess I never warmed to Denise Crosby and was quite pleased when she left.

Yes, I also thought her acting was always lacking something... but I can't name any specific scenes or episodes, it was a general impression.

Crosby is not a very good actress. I have seen her in other shows and movies, unfortunately none of them were played very well by her.

I too was never fan of Blalock's T'Pol. Vulcans are hard to act, they are supposed to be logical, not stiff and wooden and she IMHO failed in this task, as her portrayal was everything but natural.

^^^
really? That's funny, for I disliked T'Pol for the opposite reason: I thought she behaved too emotionally and seemed always to be angry or irritated. Again, shows what I know!

Actually, it's a good illustration of why I'm posing these questions: I clearly am unable to discern much about acting.

Perhaps it comes from the producers' choice of beauty over acting ability. She fit the illogically skin-tight suit, but did not have the acting chops. Blalock seemed to waver between overly emotional and deadpan acting. IMO, Enterprise missed the call on portrayal of Vulcans. Most came off sounding much more emotional than Spock or Sarek. Perhaps Nimoy and Lenard set the bar unattainably high, because they knew how to convey meaning and depth without emotional overkill.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

I quite enjoyed Jolene's portrayal of T'Pol.

I cringe whenever Garrett Wang is on-screen (he was equally bad in both Voyager and Of Gods and Men.) Wil Wheaton was horrible as Wesley (the character was also poorly written.) I also agree with the previous poster who commented that Robert Beltran often seemed disinterested on Voyager (however to be fair the writers seldom gave him anything interesting to do.)

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Whenever Farrell had to emote she was abysmal. She sounded like a hiccuping old man without his oxygen.

You know, I always loved Jadzia. Really, I did. I have watched DS9 a gazillion times, though I usually steered clear of most series 1 eps, because they were (and still are) a tad dull compared to the rest.

Then, I decided to watch the entire show from the beginning....and boy, was I apalled by Farrell's performance in the first few episodes. Bloody hell, it was as if she were reading her lines from a board.

She did get better though, imo.

Still, this is the best example of in-your-face bad acting in Trek I can think of right now.

 

[DS9forever]

Marina Sirtis in "Face of the Enemy". Enough said.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I thought she was great there

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I agree that Alexander Siddig took time to warm up to his role, but I think he got MUCH better. I also think that he did learn how to bring a "darker" side to his character in later seasons--understated, but effective.

I would also say that Scott Bakula was miscast. I think he is a very good actor, but he's a little too warm and sincere for a role requiring a strong command presence or requiring the appearance of being able to regulate/distance oneself from one's emotions at times. He works out better in things like Quantum Leap, or even in the voice-over he did for Cats Don't Dance: roles where that appearance of innocence and naivete are fitting.

So in a lot of ways I think the writers might not have known what to do with him, which of course exacerbated the problem.

Again, nothing personal...I just think it wasn't the right role for him. Doesn't mean he couldn't be on Trek, but I would've assigned him a different spot on the cast (he actually would've made a good doctor, I think).

 

[Eddie Roth]

One particular scene that comes to mind, from an otherwise great episode, an an actress whose performance I otherwise enjoyed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDaRul1gT8

Jeri Ryan as drunk Seven of Nine in "Timeless". Somehow, I felt her delivery towards the end of this scene was too restrained - as if she labored to find a way to bring the contradictory notions of Borg restraint and drunken inhibition together, but failed. A moment that always makes me cringe, sadly.

That said, I believe ultimately, every actor had at least one such moment. It's television where the shooting schedule doesn't allow for every shot to be endlessly repeated until it's perfect. Add to that the not-always Emmy-worthy scripts, and you have your hotbed for awkward moments.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I confess I never warmed to Denise Crosby and was quite pleased when she left.

Yes, I also thought her acting was always lacking something... but I can't name any specific scenes or episodes, it was a general impression.

The time out scene.

BTW, Blalock started off poorly, but I thought did quite well, especially in the third season. They did give her more to work with than irritated underneath while trying suppress outward emotions.

During her last episode, however, you could tell she hated the script and didn't give a shit (she did call the episode "fucking appalling"). Her acting was honestly the worst I've seen her in any episode.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

Marina Sirtis in "Face of the Enemy". Enough said.

Totally agree. She seemed to think that yelling was the only way to convey emotion in this episode (she did the same thing in Gambit when the crew thought Picard had been killed.) Her look of "surprise" when she sees herself in the mirror is also laughable.

 

[Cepstrum]

I've seen most of these and did not catch or notice anything! That's frustrating to me; I feel like I am partially colorblind (which, in fact I am) or tone deaf (which I'm not).

I'm going to have to revisit some of these scenes and look more closely.

But I don't get the reference to Yar's performance. What episode/scene was that?


And of course there are episodes and scenes in which I didn't particularly care for the way the character acted (such as Seven's multiple personality disorder in "Inifinite Regress"), but that was because of the writing, not because of a poor acting job (at least IMO).

Also: thanks for pointing out the acting in Enterprise, but I don't really need any more examples. I doggedly watched the first two seasons before I stopped. A principal reason was I didn't like a single character. After hearing about the terrific fourth season, I watched the Vulcan trilogy until 2/3 of the final episode before I couldn't watch anymore. My apologies to any ENT fans. The stopping point for me was when Trip threatened Shran of facing a war with both the Vulcans *and* Earth. Earth? With their two small ships (NX-01 and NX-02)? I had the impression that either the Vulcans or Andorians could wipe out Earth effortlessly at that time. So when he made that threat, I just couldn't take it seriously anymore. But I digress.



As for Marina Sirtis as a Tal Shiar in Face of the Enemy, I certainly liked it. And I know she and Jadzia/Terry Farrel are the most frequently cited examples of poor acting, but I just can't see it. Are people sure it was their *acting* and not poor *writing* for their characters? People complain (with good reason) that Troi frequently says little more than she sense (patently obvious) anger or some other obvious emotion from someone. But that was the writing, not the actress.

I'll still have to go back and examine, eg, Jadzia from early DS9, Face of the Enemy, and the others referenced.

Again, I'm looking for highly specific examples of actors dropping the ball — not general complaints that an actor or actress was bad, especially because I was fairly fond of the actors and characters of all the TNG-era shows, so clearly I don't think any of them were bad per se.


Thanks again for all your help. I'd appreciate any more you can offer me!