AIBU to think that the ability to move your face is quite crucial part of acting

@Butterflyoncaffeine I voted YABU because you said Steven Seagal was 5*. He never was 🤣

Yes, if you're going to have Insta-face you will just look wrong in period drama.

I am getting quote old. The Merchant Ivory stuff in the 90s just blew me away. Beautiful people doing beautiful acting mainly involving a slight raise of an eyebrow etc. Different times. What I find really bloody annoying is that characters in lots of dramas set in the 50s/60s etc have turkey teeth, botox and pumped up lips. Really ruins it.

We just call them super plastic Barbie & Ken faces. I can't watch certain things anymore unless we (as a family) take the piss out of all the stoic expressions.

I hope it's a trend that will die down eventually...

Assumed this was going to be about Charlize Theron as Calypso in The Odyssey

I’ve noticed that instead of moving the eyebrows up in surprise (‘cos frozen), they do this weird, exaggerated open mouth, as they can still open their mouth.

I've watched some interesting videos on YouTube about this celeb face thing with women that comments about botox lack of expressiveness. And also how that standard Insta face (no lines, bit puffy lips, hollow cheeks) is a face that aims to look good in a still on a phone screen where the exaggerated features 'pop'. But it's a 'surface not a presence', which I think is a really good way of putting it - the face doesn't have animation and personality like, say, Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly. And it's not great for acting.

But I watch lots of TV..I have spent over 2 weeks of my life with no sleep watching NCIS and never had to repeat a line over and over like I recently did with an film with Tom Hardy

You are right. But I suppose if everyone gets needles, then it would become the norm not to move a face, so would no longer seem weird?
My friend, who is autistic and struggles to read facial expressions, was making this point the other day-it's always been the norm for most humans to communicate with expressions, and discussing how it could change humanity if we can no longer do that.
He made the point that when you get a text, because there's no tone, though you can read the words, you might not get the meaning/sarcasm behind it. Might become like that with expressions, because we won't be able to read faces any more!

Not really. Nicole Kidman will always be captivating. She pretty much plays the same character in everything, but it works.

I agree. When the facial muscles don't move, they seem like people reading lines and it really detracts from the show. The prevalence of major plastic surgery and the sameness of the faces is also a bit uncanny valley now. People used to look so distinctive and that's going away in a lot of film and TV.

This is the case for men and women generally. Men are hot when grey and wrinkled, women might as well crawl into a grave.

I find it hard to watch as well - there’s something very dehumanising about a frozen forehead or over sculpted cheekbones, and it takes me out of the story. I wish older actresses didn’t feel they had to do it - it so rarely looks better than their natural face.

I agree. I spend all my time asking myself what they have done to themselves instead of watching the film. Nicole Kidman, I am looking at you

Yeah, it's getting bad.

I actually really noticed the other day when an older, and very beautiful, and talented, actress had forehead wrinkles. It was not a bad thing. She had a normal, and beautiful, face, that emoted.

Can't watch anything with actors who have messed with their faces. I just can't take the character seriously, especially if it's a gritty role where that character would absolutely not have had any cosmetic procedures! Makes the character unbelievable.

I've stopped watching things where the actors have had a lot of work done, I find it too distracting. I understand why they feel pressured to do so but it's so off putting to me.

I always feel sorry for lip readers when people have lip fillers. Filled lips don’t move and the speaker can’t enunciate properly. Their mouth just flaps open and shut like a muppet with no movement in the lips.

Agree, we have to have the subtitles on all the time.

Christa Miller is a good example of this. Her face is so constricted, even her enunciation is impeded.

It's not just actors either.

Where I live in London, it makes me wonder how some kids manage to read their parents/teachers expressions at all, as they only seem to have one!

Personally I think an ability to speak and not mumble is equally as important. I have turned off so many films/tv series over the last few years because actors don't actually speak loud enough (and no I'm not deaf)

Nicole kidman?