Is Avery Brooks a good actor?

[Plomeek Broth]

I have seen DS9 in it's entirety but wanted to get a feel of what other Niners think.

Good actors abound on this show with Shimmerman, Robinson, Alaimo, Aberjunois (I know I misspelled it), etc. Kai Winn too.

It's my favorite show but not my favorite captain.

It always seemed to me like he delivered his lines in a very heavy handed, hammed up, over the top way. You get used to it after awhile but it can be jarring if you haven't seen it in awhile.

Do you find Brooks hit it out of the park with his acting chops or left something to be desired?

Just wanted to see if I'm in the minority on this one or there are others who felt the same way.

 

[Takeru]

I don't think he was a good actor. He was tolerable in relatively calm scenes but when Sisko became emotional Brooks' overacted, I usually giggled when he was angry or sad, it just didn't feel real, like I wasn't watching a character being angry but an actor doing the best he can to play angry.

He also had a weird way of delivering his lines, even when he was talking about unimportant stuff, who speaks like that?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

All the captains acted their most hammy, Brooks was no different. It seems to me that Sisko was given more reaction cues. Perhaps this was because his stories involved elements that were less substantial, more metaphysical and more intimate. Not only was Sisko unique as a family man and a religious icon, he drove the overall narrative like none of the other captains did. Given how different he was, it seems reasonable that Brooks might appear to overactive more than others.

 

[JD5000]

I think Avery Brooks is insane. That opinion stated, I think he is a pretty decent actor because the insanity only shows in scenes that would be highly emotional for Captain Sisko and Avery Brooks. The first time I saw an interview with him, I was just like "Holy ****! You areREALLY acting!"

Unlike Patrick Stewart, for which Picard was essentially an extension of himself. In space.

 

[Relayer1]

Yes.

Next ?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

He was a good actor for the character.

 

[Lucky]

I think he was a good actor. Perhaps he wasn't the best on the cast, which has some amazing talent, but he had more than enough talent to sit in the captain's chair.

 

[JD5000]

Well, he made the character. I think Samuel L. Jackson or Denzel Washington's Sisko would have been pretty different.

 

[sonak]

overly hammy when the scene called for him to get angry or sad. The breakdown scene in FBTS is painful to watch.

 

[Dale Sams]

My problem was the pilot is all over the place.

Flashback: Fine. Though "We cannnn't jussst LEAVE her!" is odd, it's consistent with him.

He's good with Jake.

He's whimsical on the station

He's mad at Picard

He does that weeeeeirrrrrd "Whooo-eeeeee!" thing in the flashback to Jennifer.

I'd have liked to see all that tie together to the same guy somehow. But over time he made the role his own and was certainly the most badass Captain after Kirk.

It's refreshing to see our hero face off against Klingons and Jem'Hadar and know that he, his ship and his station are going to be able to hold their own for at least a little while without a starboard coupling crippling them before they can even get off a shot.

And his relationship with Jake was fantastic, and everything that Wesley and Beverly (who appeared to be complete strangers) should have been. "The Visitor" still chokes me up.

 

[JD5000]

I avoid "The Visitor" most of the time because it is super-emotional. I think the credit in that episode goes to the two actors that played Old Jake and the Aspiring Author though.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I avoid "The Visitor" most of the time because it is super-emotional. I think the credit in that episode goes to the two actors that played Old Jake and the Aspiring Author though.

Hmm. Tony Todd did a great job, but I think that the episode cashes in on the relationship that Brooks and Lofton had developed on screen. I could see the same plot working for Beverly and Wesley, and though I might be interested in an episode in which Nog could not stop mourning the loss of his father, it would have a different poignancy.

 

[JD5000]

I might be interested in an episode in which Nog could not stop mourning the loss of his father, it would have a different poignancy.

I'm not sure I could take it. Nog is pretty whiny when he wants to be.

 

[Pingfah]

Yes. To echo what was being said upthread, Brooks is a highly eccentric person, and although the emotional scenes are often overwrought, for the most part he plays the character as extremely level headed, considered and commanding of respect, and he does a great job of it.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I might be interested in an episode in which Nog could not stop mourning the loss of his father, it would have a different poignancy.

I'm not sure I could take it. Nog is pretty whiny when he wants to be.

Nog-centric stories often involve self-pity, though to be fair, The Visitor has its share as well. And I would not suggest that such an episode would be on par with The Visitor: it would more likely resemble It's Only A Paper Moon. Nonetheless, I think that it would succeed better than a Wesley-centered The Visitor, even if a better actor were cast as the grown-up Wesley. DS9 invested in family relationships, and it paid off in The Visitor, even if the primary actors, Sisko and Lofton, did not appear as much in the episode as other characters. Indeed, I wasn't nearly as touched by Beverly's disappointed that Wesley was dropping out as I was by Sisko being disappointed that Jake gave up writing. I didn't care about the former relationship.

 

[Dale Sams]

I might be interested in an episode in which Nog could not stop mourning the loss of his father, it would have a different poignancy.

I'm not sure I could take it. Nog is pretty whiny when he wants to be.

Nog-centric stories often involve self-pity, though to be fair, The Visitor has its share as well. And I would not suggest that such an episode would be on par with The Visitor: it would more likely resemble It's Only A Paper Moon. Nonetheless, I think that it would succeed better than a Wesley-centered The Visitor, even if a better actor were cast as the grown-up Wesley. DS9 invested in family relationships, and it paid off in The Visitor, even if the primary actors, Sisko and Lofton, did not appear as much in the episode as other characters. Indeed, I wasn't nearly as touched by Beverly's disappointed that Wesley was dropping out as I was by Sisko being disappointed that Jake gave up writing. I didn't care about the former relationship.

Poor Wesley was doomed from day one. Instead of being cowed by Picard in the first ep, they should have had him say "Don't have a cow man"....or...the equivalent . Without being bratty, but just letting Picard know that he's overreacting.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I always thought that Avery was a good actor. He gave my third favorite performance as Trek Captain. I always ranked the Trek Captain actors's performance as the following (from best to worst): Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, William Shatner, Scott Bakula.

 

[Yanks]

I have seen DS9 in it's entirety but wanted to get a feel of what other Niners think.

Good actors abound on this show with Shimmerman, Robinson, Alaimo, Aberjunois (I know I misspelled it), etc. Kai Winn too.

It's my favorite show but not my favorite captain.

It always seemed to me like he delivered his lines in a very heavy handed, hammed up, over the top way. You get used to it after awhile but it can be jarring if you haven't seen it in awhile.

Do you find Brooks hit it out of the park with his acting chops or left something to be desired?

Just wanted to see if I'm in the minority on this one or there are others who felt the same way.

Avery suffered from not being able to show emotion/feelings very well.

He's not the greatest actor.

Had he been the Captain of a ship, where most all the stories centered around him, that series wouldn't have lasted.

Plays a good bad ass though.

 

[M'Sharak]

Is Avery Brooks a good actor?

Yes.

 

[TheMasterOfOrion]

He's good, he's solid but there are many actors who are just better, Susanna Thompson LeVar Burton, Meaney, Nichols, Christopher Lloyd, Gary Graham, Rick Worthy, Jeffrey Combs, Patrick Stewart.....Brooks is good but there are others who have been GREAT