What main cast members if any do you think were bad actors?

I know some can argue some of the scripts and certain characters weren't developed as well as others but let's face it some actors on all of the shows could run circles around some of their supporting crew.

Which ones do you think underperformed and why?

What did you find annoying about them?

This can be looked at in a good natured way as well since some unintentionally funny Trek has its place too for entertainment.

I'll chime in on ones I think left a lot to be desired in a second.

 

I'll be honest and say that I thought most Trek actors were good at their jobs. Both Shatner and Brooks had moments that seemed awkward and forced, but both also delivered some of the best performances of the entire Star Trek continuity as well. Robert Beltran seemed as though he didn't care, but his character wasn't used much considering his role on Voyager.

In most cases where actors or actresses were criticized, I tend to think the character wasn't written well. A lot of people, for example, didn't like Terry Farrell's portrayal of Jadzia, but Dax was always at her best when she was a sidekick or foil for another character (Sisko, Kira or Worf, for instance).

I don't know. I guess I can appreciate that acting isn't easy, especially in a series as heavily scrutinized as Star Trek.

--Sran

 

Everyone who is about to come onto this thread and say "Shatner" is mistaken. No backsies.

Actually the series had remarkably strong acting talent overall. Even Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, whose work I did not necessarily like, wasn't bad so much as just annoying. Where performances were less than convincing the problem seemed more to be with under-written characters than with the acting chops of the cast.

The only two examples that stand out to me are actually from DS9:

I wanted to like Avery Brooks' performance more than I did (having a brutha in the command chair was a Big Deal), but the peaks of emotion the character called for seemed to reveal the limits of his range, he often seemed to struggle to deliver them convincingly. So there were times when he made me wince. (In fairness, as Sran points out, he had some great moments, too.)

And Terry Farrell was pretty, but underwhelming. A shame because the Dax character concept was really interesting, but I never felt that she sold it.

 

Marina Sirtis

She got better when she got the Uniform, but she was the weak link in an otherwise great cast for TNG.

 

I almost entirely agree with Sean. Almost all the regulars were good, even if it only meant perfecting their characters, and I can't blame some for losing interest when good stories and consistent development were not given to them. Only Farrell seemed lost, really only excelling when the story called for romantic comedy.

 

I think it's a very good thing Jolene Blalock played a Vulcan. Her acting style, IMHO, is very wooden, but, it served playing a Vulcan well. If it hadn't been for me seeing her play her SG1 character, basically the same, I'd have thought T'Pol was pretty good acting. I don't believe the SG1 character worked with the same portrayal (And I don't recall seeing her in any other roles), so my opinion based upon limited exposure to her acting, is while she served the character well, I didn't see much else from her.

Gates McFadden didn't really impress me often, but, that may have been writing.

Robert Beltran never seemed to give much effort (And I didn't see much different performance from him in Night of the Comet, which is all I remember seeing him in, aside from Voyager)

 

Anthony Montgomery was pretty bad in the few episodes of ENT I've seen.

Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis were pretty dreadful in first season TNG. I gave Sirtis the benefit of the doubt because she was trying to do that absurd accent, but she only improved marginally after dropping it. (Frakes, however, improved markedly after season one.)

Gates McFadden was not so much bad as just consistently underwhelming.

 

I don't think bad is the right term, some were just less equal than others.

 

I mentioned in another thread from the future of trek forum that the direction most of prime universe / Berman trek was being taken in regards to production quality, the way how the emphasis was based on story progression and conclusion, and then the stylistic tastes of the 14-30 year old toy collecting male target audience removed the need for considerate casting and because of this, you have a huge list of questionable choice of actors/actresses who spend their screen time coming across as unengaging and devoid of natural charisma and personality.

I'm sorry, but Data singing in Nemesis is not charisma more like cringeworthy.

They got it right in TOS and TMP, and the casting in JJ Abrams Trek is a master stroke.

 

It's weirdly hard to admit for me, as I'm pretty sure I had a slight crush on her when DS9 aired originally (hey, I was but a wee teenager ), but I'd agree that she's not the greatest actress to sell that very unique and quite literally multi-layered concept of a character.

 

The one who immediately springs to mind is Scott Bakula. He was definitely not Captain material.

 

Majel Barrett Roddenberry in the role of Nurse Chapel. She's a two-dimensional damsel in distress.

Marina Sirtis has all but admitted she is a soap-opera actress. Between "The Child" and "The Loss," she proved that to be true. I can't stand Gates McFadden's huffing and puffing as she asks the Captain, one more time, to break the prime directive and treat a patient. And of course, there's Wil Wheaton. No more needs to be said.

As someone else said, I wanted to like Avery Brooks' performance. He had some moments that he shined and he was much better towards the end of the run of the show. But in seasons 3-5, he was a set-up for a commercial break. Dramatic line, punch up the music, fade to commercial. It really plays badly in today's binges on Netflix. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Alexander Sidding. He looks disinterested most of the time. They would give him a dramatic line, and it's like he'd make fun of it. He's the one who couldn't carry the Section 31 episodes, everyone else was great.

People talk about Terry Farrell. I think she brought a confidence to the character that would come from total acceptance of yourself after having the knowledge of 7 lifetimes. I thought she was playful, not a comedian. She just had a sense of humor and smiled a lot. I like her performance in "Rejoined." The direction needed some work, especially the setup to the last scene. But her performance was fine.

Voyager. I like Kes, I like The Doctor. Everyone else couldn't act their way out of a wet paper bag.

Nothing was really wrong with the performances on Enterprise. They had a solid cast, just didn't do a whole lot with them.

 

I really don't think anyone was BAD, per se. I think a few people(Beltran, McFadden, Blalock, Montgomery and Wang spring to mind) just showed up and said their lines, but even some of them gave pretty good performances when they were given decent material (I'm thinking of McFadden in "Remember Me").

 

Much as I like ENT, I think it features the most underwhelming performances of the entire franchise, namely Blalock and Montgomery. I wasn't completely convinced by Bakula either, but Archer at least got some character development. He went from eager explorer to seasoned warrior.

 

garret wang-fairly wooden
Jolene blalock-couldnt play "stoic" so she played "snotty"

 

I think the guy who played Rom made him a little to bumbly-cartoony.

In Voyager I never found Roxann Dawson's performance that interesting. In the first season she did a good job when her character was all about raging out, but when that went away she became as vanilla as Chakotay or Kim.

 

Someone touched upon this earlier in thread, and whilst not always the case sometimes an Actor is only as good as the material/direction s/he is given.

 

All the Voyager cast save for Bob Picardo.

 

For me, the franchise is lucky in the sense that most of its performers are atleast solid and quite a few are excellent.

There are ofcourse, some weak links. The three that spring to mind are:

Denise Crosby: Just a very limited actress. She popped up in Lois and Clark and was just as bland. She does nothing for me on screen...she always FEELS like she is acting.

Jennifer Lien: I always scoff when I hear people mourning her departure in favour of Jeri Ryan. Jeri was simply a far better actress. If it wasn't for Lien's almost bizarre voice she would have faded into the background for me completely. I just cant engage with her at all.

Anthony Montgomery: Just...weak. He seemed like he was trying but I just dont blame them for limiting him. He is too green, to bland. Its like watching someone trying to learn how to act. Perfectly pleasant but meh.

 

The Shat and Avery Brooks are tied with me for the title of "worst." They're like brothers from different mothers, talent wise. After that, it gets pretty hard for me to pick out anyone who's actually "bad."