Most overrated actor?

[jgdst]

I've got to say, the post that started this thread took me by surprise It came across as strangely vitriolic for a "fan"... Maybe it's just how it comes across in text form tho.

Patrick Stewart I wouldn't say was over-rated, but I think he's beginning to believe his own hype. The last couple of years, I think he's come across as "Well, I would've been popular WITHOUT Star Trek, so I don't know why you keep mentioning Picard..." which, let's face it, isn't true... Anyone watch 11th Hour in 2006? Not good at all.

On the other hand, his acting is of a certain quality. Take Star Trek: Legacy for example, where "phoning it in" doesn't quite do Teh Shatner justice. His performance as Picard was quite believable. I think someone else on this board said that it's the marque of a good actor if you can bring utter conviction to a role with bad material.

The most over-rated actor I think Star Trek EVER had though has got to be Steven Berkoff in DS9's "Business As Usual". More ham than a butcher's shop window I can quite easily believe Quark is a real Ferengi, not a guy in make up, yet I was keenly aware this guy was delivering lines off a script. And he got Special Guest Star status? Hmph.

Steven Berkoff at his best: the Science episode of Brass Eye

[Completely off topic, I know, but Colm Meaney would've made a good Gene Hunt, but it looks like the American version has gutted Life On Mars. "Remove the mythological element"?! That's the whole premise of the show!]

 

[Captain Leslie]

Ive seen Patrick Stewart on stage in a few plays....He's pure Yorkshire ham!
I always though he was a weak point in TNG...

Parick Stewart may be a little overrated (but I still think he is a great actor, one of the best actors in ST), but a weak point in TNG?
You have Crosby, Wheaton, Frakes, Sirtis and McFadden, and Stewart is the weak point? No way.

Yes way....Crosby, Wheaton, Sirtis and McFadden were not supposed to be convincing command material as Stewart and Frakes were. Still I take your point there were some wonderfully flakey performances from all of the above during the seven series. Though often it was more due to the script than the actors. Dont get me wrong I loved the show! but "Make it so" used to "Make me cringe"

 

[JM1776]

Yes way....Crosby, Wheaton, Sirtis and McFadden were not supposed to be convincing command material as Stewart and Frakes were.

McFadden's character commanded on the "night shift." Sirtis' took the "commanders' test"—which we must assume Gates' had done years before. Wheaton's was promoted from acting to full ensign, and wore command red while in that capacity. Crosby's Yar was chief of security, which is no doubt a stop on the command track for some. Every one was required to be convincing as potential command material. Precisely none of them were.

Stewart, by any imagining or reimagining, is not a weak link on this particular list.

 

[Squiggy]

Patrick Stewart I wouldn't say was over-rated, but I think he's beginning to believe his own hype.

If that were true, I don't think he'd be doing American Dad.

 

[jgdst]

Patrick Stewart I wouldn't say was over-rated, but I think he's beginning to believe his own hype.

If that were true, I don't think he'd be doing American Dad.

That's more to do with Seth MacFarlane salivating all over him non-stop. Every day. For a decade. Some of the interviews he's done since coming back to England have just left me a little surprised with his responses is all...

 

[kissthestar]

Hands-down Patrick Stewart. He's exactly the same in every role he ever does. He has no range, other than switching from "normal mode" to "yelling mode" and vice versa. It bewilders me why he's often thought of as a "great actor".

Seen him in I Claudius?

 

[Flibble]

Robert Beltran was very much over rated as was Jolene Blalock.

 

[Sector 7]

Patrick Stewart
Brent Spiner
Colm Meaney
Robert Picardo
Connor Trineer:
The Guy Who Played Phlox:


The only Trek actors who deserve praise are: Levar Burton, Rene Auberjoinois, Armin Shimmerman, Jeri Ryan, Jeffrey Coombs and Andrew Robinson.

I disagree on all these actors, I think they are very good and not ovarrated. At least, they were very good in Star Trek, most of the time.
And I agree on actors you like, I like them too.

I'm casting my vote for Jolene Blalock. It's not that people are in awe of her acting... but I've heard people speak of her as if she could, you know, act.

I totally agree, she is the worst in all Star Trek.
How could anyone cast her?
Only because of her looks...

Blalock was not a good Vulcan even by Vulcan standards.. and not a good actress by any standards. Not to mention the stupid ROUND eyebrows. Didn't even LOOK Vulcan.

I overrate the Hell out of Shatner. But... Come on! He's Shatner! How can you resist him?

I can resist the Shat... anyone who appreciates good acting can...

I'm going to say Shatner and Blalock.

I was re-watching some TOS episodes the other day and couldn't stop laughing every time Shatner went into his overly dramatic narration style.

And Blalock, she was just a terrible Vulcan period.

Agreed!

Garrett Wang: If the whites were annoyed by him, but thought that he was "the savior" for Asian Americans in the media, they are clearly WRONG! Most Asian Americans either:

1.) Did not even know who he was because they did not watch Star Trek.
2.) "Garrett Who?"
3.) Discussions of Asians in the media revolved around Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Lucy Liu, Chow Yun-Fat, Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, John Cho, Margaret Cho, etc. but NONE of my Asian and Asian American friends ever brought him up. They just simply did not know who he was. He might as well have been Rocky "The Pussy" Red Ranger of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for all we care...

The character of Harry Kim was to Star Trek what Adam Powell was to "Charles in Charge," and more people know who Adam Powell is compared to Garrett Wang when they don't even know who Adam Powell is in the first place? So, don't go off thinking that Garrett Wang is like the "Kanye West" of Asian Americans, because he sure ain't...he was never a contender. Not even worthy of a trivia question on Trivial Pursuit.

He was a hired token...like one of those things you put in the slot machines to "bop the beaver" at Chuck E. Cheese!

Aside from Wesley... Ensign Kim is the sexiest looking actor in all of Trek, IMHO!
More on topic... the part Garrett Wang was given may not have been the best, but the actor certainly gave it all he had... and I think he did it well. Certainly he does not deserve the bashing he just received.

 

[Tan Ru]

Avery Brooks: Pretty bad acting for a lead role. Great speaking voice though.

Jeri Ryan: Rather wooden in many scenes.

Robert Beltran: Also rather wooden; very monotone delivery.

Anthony Montgomery: Poor guy, average actor in a really dull part.


The remaining Trek actors and actresses seem fine with me.

 

[pimp]

I am shocked at some of the comments on this post but o well everyone has an opinion. I only agree with one opinion of some people who say that Avery Brooks is a bad actor and well i absolutely agree with it. He is a terrible actor very wooden, when he gets angry his voice goes into different pitch and cant seem to breathe very well. Also his fighting skills are pretty bad along with Kernel Kira.

Me and my brother have always wondered if they cast someone else instead of Avery would the show have been better??? and what if they cast someone like Samuel L Jackson lol that would have been one hell of a show. "get me up to warp 9 Moth**f**ker" LOL

Personally i think the best person to have played Captain Sisko would have been Lawrence Fishburne (the guy who plays Morfeus in the Matrix) Now that would have been some Captain Sisko (just a thought)

But saying that Patrick Stewart is a bad actor, OMG that is sacrilege

 

[JustKate]

I would say Jonathan Frakes was the "most overrated," except that I don't think anybody (well, hardly anybody) ever rated his acting very highly. He makes me nuts, and not in a good way. I believe he did a lot of soap operas before Trek, and man, does it show -- again, not in a good way. He sets his jaw in that manly, steely way he has, or he does that supposedly sexy smile, and it makes me just want to smack him. And not in a good way.

But I think most of the other lead actors are actually pretty good, and some are very good, and some are excellent. Robert Beltrane, for example, is one of the better ones -- not the best, but very solid...when the VOY writers gave him something to work with. Lots of times they didn't, however. Alas, alas. It's hard not to be "wooden" when your most dramatically important line in an average episode is something along the lines of "Vessel approaching at Warp 7, Captain."

I don't understand how anybody can say Avery Brooks is "bad." I really don't -- his portrayal of a guy keeping himself in control only with an effort adds a LOT to DS9, particularly the early episodes.

And I've seen Patrick Stewart in other roles, and he's fantastic. Fantastic.

As for the "fact" that Trek actors don't always get a lot of parts post-Trek...well, that happens with lots of TV shows, doesn't it? It's really difficult, or so I've been told many times, for an actor who originated a beloved character to be accepted in other roles. So why should Trek roles be any different? Besides, the fact that the person who began this thread doesn't happen to notice them doesn't mean they aren't working. Didn't Kate Mulgrew just win an Obie?...googling, googling...Yes, she did, for her performance as Clytemnestra, of all things. Sounds like somebody thinks she can act, that's all I can say.

And like some of the other posters, I also have to wonder why the originator of this thread even bothered to watch any of the Trek shows at all. Jeez, if you hate it that much, turn the channel or go outside and get some fresh air. Life is short; don't waste any of it watching actors who repulse you.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I'm a big fan of DS9, particularly seasons 4-7, and there is some remarkably good acting on the show. One big exception: Avery Brooks. I know he has a lot of fans out there, but I find his style utterly jarring - he careens from hammy, halted-speech scenery chewing to a dry monotone that honestly made me wonder if he was just reading from cue cards for some scenes. A few years ago, when I was re-watching DS9 on DVD my wife found his performance so irritating that she refused to watch it with me.

That said, I know lots of people think he's a gifted actor, so obviously it's all subjective.

 

[Hyperspace05]

Brent Spiner would get my vote as the most overrated trek actor.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I've never been that impressed with Shatner...

 

[stj]

Most of the candidates in the thread either have received a great deal of criticism for a long time (Shatner and Brooks especially) which raises the question of whether they are highly rated at all, much less overrated. Or the outside Trek careers makes a prima facie case that they really are excellent actors (Stewart and Mulgrew especially,) and supposed overrating is just fan hyperbole meaning zip.

Robert Duncan McNiell's Tom Paris played a character with the Mary Sue (or Gary Stu) requisite exotic name, who was supposedly a bad ass (never shown on screen so it couldn't be disillusioning,) but in the clinch unfailingly noble, could do everything (pilot, engineer, medic, author,) got every girl but Seven of Nine, etc. That stuff was written in the script. Personally I don't think the actor did a lot to sell the character. And if he had been very good the Paris character would have been the Kirk avatar the producers wanted him to be. It seems obvious to me that Paris was supposed to a breakout starring role. But it wasn't. So, I think he would be Trek's most overrated writer.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Personally, I don't think any Star Trek actor is considered an outstanding actor other than by Star Trek fans.

That being said, I think that Patrick Stewart is probably Trek's most overrated actor. Sure enough, he has a great theatrical voice--and I think there are people who will pay just to hear him read a telephone book--but that's about it, IMO. That doesn't mean that Stewart isn't a good actor, but he's not the greatest thing since sliced bread either...