This clip from 'Star Wars: Andor' is dark and ominous

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Originally published at: This clip from 'Star Wars: Andor' is dark and ominous | Boing Boing

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I never think of Star Wars as having top shelf acting. Beloved characters and lines yes, but the acting is way down the list of achievements for the franchise. I can never figure out what it is but I think it may be the timing.

I don’t want to be all negative… How about your favorite acting moments in SW? I think of Alec Guinness slowly winding his way through the “I knew your father” scene, he isn’t rushed and appears to be thoughtful… He is in the character’s head.
Another great performance is Darth Maul and his anger.

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There is so much melodrama in Star Wars I think acting has a hard time shining through. This franchise made Natalie Portman and Christopher Lee wooden.

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yes, for sure that. but also everything Ewan McGregor has been doing with the character lately. he’s so clearly been studying Guinness’s performance… he has every tic, every little mannerism and speech pattern down – and THEN, he’s so nuanced. he says so much with just his eyes. he’s a character deeply haunted. i love it. that being said, i’m also loving the looks of Andor very, very much.

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They’d better deliver on the promise from that scene. I was to see Andor literally spit in the Empire’s food. And maybe piss in their punchbowl.

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I often wonder how much “bad acting” can be blamed on the actor, or on the director.
Much as I love ep. 4, Lucas does not seem to be a good director, especially in recent years.

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The franchise has had incredibly talented actors from the start (as you note Sir Alec-freaking-Guinness was one of the main characters in the original movie) but most of the time they’ve been stuck with cheesy-as-all-get-out dialogue. Harrison Ford famously berated Lucas by declaring “You can type this shit, but you sure can’t say it!”

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Maybe it helps if you have a role where you can lean into that. Peter Cushing for instance was exactly as he should be.

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I bet it’s more fun to play a villain with cheesy dialogue than a hero with cheesy dialogue.

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I think it’s also fair to say that their dialogue wasn’t equally cheesy.

Carrie Fisher had a bit to say about that scene specifically:

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I recently rewatched the 70’s miniseries of Tinker Tailor, and it’s the same self-possessed calm. He makes the characters his in some way.

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McGregor really has been fantastic recently! Alongside Blair, the pair far outpaced the rest of the cast IMO.

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Absolutely! Also include green screens and the score and the dialogue… Etc etc.

But George… His directing and casting set a baseline tone for how star wars characters act that permeates the canon even today.

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That is some of the best telly ever made.

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