Aside from crying on command which seems difficult, and remembering the lines to long monologues, couldn’t anyone be a good actor/actress with a little practice and some direction? How hard is it to read some lines with certain inflection that, in most cases, would be obvious to the performer, and if not, easily conveyed unto them by the director.
From an outsider’s perspective it seems like your appearance is 95% responsible for whether or not you’d be suitable for a specific role. Anyone with acting theory knowledge able to explain why I’m wrong? One example that made me think of this is Mark Margolis in Better Call Saul. All he did was ring a bell and make facial gestures, which anyone could do, but it’s his distinct appearance that sells the part.
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Having done basic commercials and training videos for my company, it’s incredible how bad at acting the average person is.
Many people can’t act naturally on film or even in audio. Listening back they are either too nervous or overdoing it and they often fail to recognize that they are doing that and don’t take direction particularly well.
And that’s just asking them to play themselves, let alone characters with personality traits, body language, and inflections are totally different than your own.
Good actors make it look really easy.
There’s also a reason that good actors take acting classes and have degrees in drama and acting. It’s a skill
But as others here have already said the best way to identify good acting is to watch bad acting. People being stiff, wooden, or out of place.
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