"No, really, they're better than you think!"

[quartermainefan]

It's often part of it. He shows up and makes an effort to play a character that is completely unlike himself in every regard. Not sure Daniel Cosgrove is up to that challenge.

[dragonflies]

I think DC is great on AMC, he was AWFUL on ATWT, it's like he didn't bother trying on ATWT.

[SFK]

I get what quartermainefan is saying, BA is certainly doing character work which we don't see too often these days but then again I find that character utterly grating and one-note. The thing is, character work is almost frowned upon these days as the trend in TV casting is bringing oneself to the role. "I wanna see YOU!" is something you'll hear a lot of CDs saying. It's a good thing but also a very bad thing because is discourages actors to stretch and any decent actor is going to bring personal elements to a role regardless because as human beings we have point of view. You'll hear acting teahers say it all the time particularly about Shakespeare, "Don't bring the role down to you but bring yourself up to the role." This is why we have a lot of soap actors who've developed bad habits and quirk their way through scenes because they're under the false impression that their idiosyncrasies (which have probably been encouraged at some point by fans and/or employees) are more important than the narrative.

It's obvious that great acting is not one of the soaps' first priorities so I guess there's no point in judging them on something they fundamentally could care less about but I guess I'm still a little stuck on the idea that every episode has the potential to be like a good little off-Broadway play.

[SFK]

But that's what's called upon for Spinelli. The larger problem than the actors is TPTB and the writers who churn out these generic characters. A trained actor may look at a script and find ways to make "Edgy Player Whose Just Hurting Inside #4172" new and interesting without betraying what's on the page but most models taking on their first acting gig are gonna fall hard if they try to get creative. And whether it was on the page or DC's choices I know a lot of us were thinking he was trying way too hard to make Scott *pop* when he first started.

[Mr. Vixen]

+1 one to this SFK. As an actor, I know I get frustrated at this. I always want to say "But I'm not playing myself!" Obviously, you bring your own experiences and touches to the role, but I think part of acting is truly learning who the character is.

[P.J.]

He admitted in an interview that GL's cancellation affected him during his ATWT stint. No doubt knowing ATWT was canceled before he started filming didn't help. I don't blame him for the lack of chemistry with Columbino however. And the writing for Chris was 99.99% atrocious.

[Soapsuds]

Cosgrove looked like his was bored as hell on ATWT. He showed no emotion in his acting. He sucked big time.

[SFK]

Exactly. David Mamet says that there IS no "character" just words on the page that should be delivered with minimal inflection and oh my God if this hasn't become the mantra of primetime procedurals. Of course a lot of acting teachers disagree with Mamet. In an article I read one teacher said that of course there is such a thing as character and it can be as simple as the actress playing Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof who makes the bad choice of balling up her nice dress and tossing it in the corner or the proper choice of carefully folding and hanging it up. She never had nice things growing up. It's in all the little clues the script gives you.

[Khan]

I think I need to clarify my earlier statements. By no means do I suggest that Cosgrove - or any actor, for that matter - just stop attempting to stretch his abilities as an actor. What I'm saying is, a good actor investigates his or her part until they find something about it - their disposition, a physical attribute, a piece of biographical detail, something - that connects with them on a personal level. Then, they use that in order to expand their understanding of the character until you, the audience, notice only the character him- or herself and not the effort going into making them "work."

Now, either Cosgrove is always stuck playing characters w/ no sense of humor (which I think most writers would want to exploit - just ask Doug Marland), or he simply isn't doing his homework. Either way, there's a disconnect; and it's resulting in Cosgrove's coming across as a very wooden performer.

[Khan]

Oh, God, I just defended Daniel Cosgrove. I can't even.

[edgeofnik]

I'm so glad to see all the love for the ATWT "alleged" hair models. Here are two things I found during 30 years of watching the show: 1) with the exception of the Ewa Cruz, the "good looking people" looked real. (She is beautiful beyond belief.) Not a slam on Ewa because I thought she earned her keep, which lead to my second point. Many of the actors DeeDee and others have mentioned may have started weak, got better because they worked with seasoned vets -- they were forced/helped to learn their craft. It was rare for them to pair two newbies together and when they did, it was pretty bad. One final point, I remember at first I liked Yvonne Perry as Rosanna, but then MW came to town and I'm like YP can't act. It wasn't until later that I realized that MW was SO good that she just blew everyone away. YP did pick it but left.

[Soapsuds]

I didn't like MW as first. I thought her acting was lacking but she sure changed my opinion of her during her run on the show.

[DRW50]

The problem with Yvonne Perry was she played a wretched character. She inherited Lily's old character background - emphasis on old. And they took the whole boo hoo I have money what a burden thing even further than they did with Lily. The only time Yvonne had a chance to show some fire was when the feud with Carly began.

[P.J.]

Oh, no...Yvonne Perry was never a good actress. Parker Posey acted rings around her. I still burst into giggles hearing PP sing out "Just Rosanna!" (because Ro wasn't using her last name...) The great thing about Maura is that she grew in and with the role. I would say most young "bitches" simply spin their wheels over the years.

But I'll agree---for most of ATWT's run, they were smart at seasoning newbies by integrating them with a group of vets.

[RomeAt50]

Not necessarily imho. In many cases it isn't really necessary for actors to have significantly different mannerisms than themselves when playing a character. Besides, playing youself isn't as easy as it sounds because a lot of actors can't even do that convincingly.