sunday256 said:
Lastly, I disagree about Hayden's acting ability. He was hired primarily for his role in "Life As A House" which I thought he did quite well in.
Before you burn him at the stake at leat check that film out if you haven't and then come back and say he's a terrible actor. And for that matter, we all know Natalie Portman is a better actress than what people say she was in Star Wars. The Professional comes to mind.
Hayden is an average actor at best in Hollywood. He is the reason why there are so many bad movies these days, because he's gotten this far because of his looks. As Seinfeld said, "He is a Mimbo!"
Hayden is terrible in Episode II, and terrible in Episode III. Now I put aside the cheesy stuff because no actor can say that and look good, but what I do is look at his dramatic scenes and they are awful.
-The part where he is holding Shmi when she is dying is cringeworthy, as that scene is terrible. "Stay with me mom..." Ouch!
-The part where he confesses to Padme is laughable, "And the women, the children...." Yikes! He actually had some good lines in that, and because he is a sub-par actor, couldn't pull it off.
-When he is at Shmi's grave is another terrible scene.
-The whole turn scene in Episode III is awful, as he just does these stupid facial moves as he gives in to Palpatine. "I-I-I will dooo anything....you ask." How about quitting so Lucas can hire a new actor!
-The ObiWan/Anakin meeting on Mustafar, when he says, "You will not take her from me!!!" Ughh!!! That whole scene could have been great...could have....
Hayden is OK in Life as a house, and he is actually pretty good in Shattered Glass, but that still doesn't make him a great actor. In fairness to Hayden, there aren't that many great actors out there in Hollywood, and this role demanded a great actor because the part is tragic, and if the actor can't pull the drama off, it comes off as cheesy and laughable.
As for Portman, she is SO overrated too. Yeah, she was good in the Professional, but she was 13 years old, as her latter works have been OK. I am not saying she is bad, but she isn't some great actor, cause I don't see any range on her from role to role. Although she wasn't bad as a stripper in Closer:)
I know it sounds like I am coming down hard on Hayden/Natalie, but young actors usually don't pull off dramatic roles well in Hollywood. They are both great looking people who made it big time mostly because of their looks. 20-30 years ago, Hollywood wasn't dominated by just 'good' looking people like Brad Pitts and George Clooney's dominate it now. In the 70's you had actors like Gene Hackman, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, and Meryl Streep dominating Hollywood, and I wouldn't say any of them have looks like Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt.