Re: Tom Baker


"Kestra" <kestra@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:dn140d$829$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>>
>> Thanx, watched the scene. It was quite interesting to see him act in
>> something other than Who.
>>
>
>
> I saw him on Remington Steele once, a long time ago. It *was* interesting
> to
> see him in something other than Who, but IIRC his character was the
> criminal and I found it a bit hard to grasp that concept.

I remember being underwhelmed... but thinking back and knowing what I now
know, it was one of those throw away episodes that pops up from time to time
in a tv series. TB seemed not to know what to do with the part; mostly just
pulling faces at Doris Roberts (I remember feeling embarrassed for him
because during the scene with TB and Doris, Doris, this great actress, must
have been thinking, "so this is the great Tom Baker, huhh...") but everyone
else seemed to be phoning it in, as well - a throw away episode. An even
more extreme example of Tom Baker, who anyone would have thought was
perfectly fit of the part, looking like he had no idea how to play the part,
was when he did "Hound of the Baskervilles" which I remember the BBC
actually apologizing for! I once heard an interview with William Shatner
where he talked about tv actors are basically playing themselves and that's
why it looks so natural and that they simply couldn't "act" because it would
be way too exhausting to do that constantly the way you must for a tv gig.
I've noticed, too, that all the greats are basically "playing it as
themselves". Jack Nicholson once stated that this is why he doesn't do talk
shows - if people got to know him, it would take away from his performance.
I think Tom Baker, perhaps, isn't so aware of this, or his directors
weren't, and he made the mistake of "acting" rather than playing it as
himself (part of me suspects the TB just doesn't care as long as he gets
paid - he was desperate when he got drwho, but when he was no longer "short
of a shilling" drwho became "the Tom Baker show" -- at first he was this
intense alien wizard, then he turned into a middle aged British actor
strolling onto the stage in no particular hurry). His Rasputin seemed to
come from "Tom Baker". Drwho came from "Tom Baker". His Sherlock Holmes was
TB attempting to act, and so it was self conscious and looked like a guy who
wasn't an actor was doing it. Tom Baker is one of those actors that end up
looking bad when they get directors that either don't care or don't
understand who actors are and how the whole thing works - while other
directors have a knack for knowing when they have to direct around someone's
weaknesses as an actor (James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger, for
example).

Still in all -- it's better to have natural charisma then to have an
actor try to ape charisma. If you're going to do the latter then you better
have a show that is lowest common denominator enough (sultry, glitzy,
emotional, etc.) for people not to care.


.

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