[dominion_ruler]

I've been watching a lot of DS9 lately, and I've noticed something with Avery Brooks' acting. I love it when he gets all worked up with the drama (such as "Far Beyond the Star" and "In the Pale Moonlight"), yet everytime he does, he's almost like William Shatner, with this pausing and a lot of breathing in between short phrases. It's somewhat anoying when I focused on it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's still far from bad enough to ruin the effect of the character, but I was wondering what anyone else thought? Good actor? Bad? Could have been better?

[Apocalypse]

Could have been better, I think. He is by no means a bad actor, and he sure did a hell of a lot better than I'd ever do, and is damn good in a handful of episodes, but he does have a few cringe-worthy scenes.

[maneth]

He's far from bad, but he's not the best actor on Trek either. Sisko's such a deadpan character that it's hard to say where the acting comes in most of the time. The MU episodes are an exception though.

[JulesLuvsShinzon]

Even though DS9 is by far my favourite Trek, I will have to admit that I thought Sisko was the least impressive commander the first time I saw DS9. I found his acting to be somewhat mannered, although I wouldn't say that I thought he was like Shatner, but there was something almost pompous in his bearing that seemed to be overreaching his need to be a commanding presence.

On the other hand, when I watched all 7 seasons back-to-back, I found Sisko somewhat more impressive and began to like him as a leader more. I agree that one of Brooks' finest moments was indeed In The Pale Moonlight, I felt that Sisko as a character came of age in that epsiode, in the same way that I thought Kirk did in TWOK - at the point at which both captains had to realise that regardless of how straight down the line one has to be, life will bite you on the arse 'cos you made a big mistake that you didn't see coming and make you mad-crazy. Kirk lost it when he yelled "KHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN!" having earlier been caught out by Khan, and Sisko lost it when he socked it to Garak when he realised that his best laid plan had an almighty flaw and that was his failure to understand that Garak was always a law unto himself. Brilliant.

[Breen2099]

I think he is an amazing actor, of course when the show started the character was new and so it needed to be broken in, which I think he did a great job at. I think if you compare season 1 and 2 with 6 and 7 you can notice a big change.

[Apocalypse]

As with all Star Trek, the acting gets better with time. Even Patrick Stewart wasn't so great in the first season or two of TNG.

[Dahdtoudi]

Apocalypse, on 14 January 2010 - 04:18 PM, said:

As with all Star Trek, the acting gets better with time. Even Patrick Stewart wasn't so great in the first season or two of TNG.

very true... maybe avery just needed more practice when is came to drama.. other forms i felt he did very well

[Baconnaise]

I keep waiting for Avery to say "what's that supposed to mean?" to all the white cast members. Seriously though Avery isn't bad and it was a welcome change especially then that we had an actual captain or commander for a bit that wasn't a cookie cutter white guy that went to yale or oxford.

[Beast Boy]

Im say,what Avery Brooks good actor. Me like,how he play in series "DS9". He play good commander,who commanding big space stantion around planet Bajor.Sometimes his hero lier,but he make excellent work for safe stantion and federation planets. If you watch season 7,that will be see, how good Brooks play captain starship "Defiant".

This post has been edited by Martok: 03 July 2010 - 08:08 AM

[Chief Cottingham]

I think he is a good actor.

[poko]

Those pauses are expected from those with very traditional Shakespearean theatrical training. Just watch Sir Laurence Olivier ham it up. To sleep.... PERCHANCE TO DREAM!

Even Derek Jacobi puts in those accelerations and pauses... though with much more success.


Both Brooks and Shatner came from traditional theatrical schools.

[Chief Cottingham]

Agreed.

[Commander Brock]

He can be a little bit over the top sometimes. In the episodes where he is "Benny Russel" he goes crazy!! Like when he had a mental breakdown yelling "IT IS REAL!!" and slowly falling onto the ground like a baby....btw here is a funny video over that episode...

[Greystone]

At the start of DS9 I have to admit I wasn't the biggest fan of the show or Brooks, both came of age with 'Past Tense' and went on to be my favourite arm of Trek.

Brooks from series 4 onwards is awesome.