Ten Inch Hero: Review of Jensen's performance
Since a couple people have asked and this got a bit long for a comment, here's a review of Jensen Ackles' performance in Ten Inch Hero, and his acting in general, I guess.
Mildly thematically spoilery for Ten Inch Hero
Jensen Ackles was amazing in Ten Inch Hero. His character, is completely different from any other character I've seen him play. Yes, Priestly is a snarky and funny character, and might seem a little like Dean by that, but it's quite obvious right from the start that with Priestly the snark is coming from a different source than similar behaviour comes from with Dean.
At the same time, when the serious scenes come around with Priestly, the dichotomy of his character (which to that point has been kind of the comic sidekick) suddenly showing this deeper side is really effective in bringing the film's theme of not judging based on surface behaviour home. It's truly fantastic, what he brings out of the character in those scenes because that's when you realize that's been something he's had in that character all along, below the surface of the snark.
It's something very subtle and very real that he does, sort of character-layering. When he's playing a character he becomes the character; you can see the thoughts running through the character's mind, and you don't see the actor saying lines. It makes the characters he plays very real, and very human. I really admire Jensen's ability to turn characters into people, and he's really done it well with the character of Priestly. Like I said in a comment on the previous post, a few minutes in and I didn't see Jensen anymore, I just saw the character, as a person. And it was awesome.
I also admire that he is... I think the term is generous? as an actor. This movie has an ensemble cast. All the characters have their interwoven plots and storylines, but there is no single central character, per se. With a character dynamic like that, it's important that the actors work together well and no one tries to upstage the others deliberately or by accident. I think it's kind of like singing in a choir. When you sing in a choir, no individual voice can be above the others if it's going to work.
All the actors did really well at this. Especially Jensen, I'd venture to say, because seriously, he manages at several points - as a 6'1" tall not-small guy with a many-colored mohawk, invariably loud t-shirts and occasionally a kilt - blend into the background and be inobtrusive during scenes where his character is not the forefront. All the while, still in character in the background, fiddling around, doing stuff the character would be doing.
I really wish it was available on DVD to go back and re-watch it from the start again, because it really needs a repeat watching to catch all the subtle awesomenesses. *nods*
Anyway, I hope that answers the questions?
Mildly thematically spoilery for Ten Inch Hero
Jensen Ackles was amazing in Ten Inch Hero. His character, is completely different from any other character I've seen him play. Yes, Priestly is a snarky and funny character, and might seem a little like Dean by that, but it's quite obvious right from the start that with Priestly the snark is coming from a different source than similar behaviour comes from with Dean.
At the same time, when the serious scenes come around with Priestly, the dichotomy of his character (which to that point has been kind of the comic sidekick) suddenly showing this deeper side is really effective in bringing the film's theme of not judging based on surface behaviour home. It's truly fantastic, what he brings out of the character in those scenes because that's when you realize that's been something he's had in that character all along, below the surface of the snark.
It's something very subtle and very real that he does, sort of character-layering. When he's playing a character he becomes the character; you can see the thoughts running through the character's mind, and you don't see the actor saying lines. It makes the characters he plays very real, and very human. I really admire Jensen's ability to turn characters into people, and he's really done it well with the character of Priestly. Like I said in a comment on the previous post, a few minutes in and I didn't see Jensen anymore, I just saw the character, as a person. And it was awesome.
I also admire that he is... I think the term is generous? as an actor. This movie has an ensemble cast. All the characters have their interwoven plots and storylines, but there is no single central character, per se. With a character dynamic like that, it's important that the actors work together well and no one tries to upstage the others deliberately or by accident. I think it's kind of like singing in a choir. When you sing in a choir, no individual voice can be above the others if it's going to work.
All the actors did really well at this. Especially Jensen, I'd venture to say, because seriously, he manages at several points - as a 6'1" tall not-small guy with a many-colored mohawk, invariably loud t-shirts and occasionally a kilt - blend into the background and be inobtrusive during scenes where his character is not the forefront. All the while, still in character in the background, fiddling around, doing stuff the character would be doing.
I really wish it was available on DVD to go back and re-watch it from the start again, because it really needs a repeat watching to catch all the subtle awesomenesses. *nods*
Anyway, I hope that answers the questions?