It is said that acting is reacting. It is also said that the camera can read every twitch, every eye movement, every tiny quirk to convey to the audience what a character is thinking. It is the actor's job to imbue their performance with these subtleties to create a layered, nuanced performance.
But what happens when a character can't do this? What if they are inanimate in a sense? Can there still be good acting?
Now, for this, we're going to exclude animation, both traditional cel animation and computer animation. So, gone are the objects from THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER and WALL-E. They were animated, and the animators gave them the abilities to emote visually. This also excludes the hero masks in SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY and DEADPOOL, for example, as their eyes were changed in post-production to alter the expressions. I'm talking about instances where the look of the character does not change, yet good acting happens due to the actor inside.
A couple of examples from one of my favorite movie trilogies, the original STAR WARS trilogy:
1. R2-D2. Now, I can go on and on about how Artoo is the greatest hero in all of Star Wars...but that's not the point of this post. If you watch the Star Wars saga (especially Episodes IV through VI), you can very clearly tell the little astromech's emotions at any time. Granted, the tones of the beeps and whistles help, but even those moments when they are either not present or are vague, his emotional journey is clear. Take the moment in A NEW HOPE when he and C-3PO have landed on Tatooine and go their separate ways. Artoo's conflict (should he go with Threepio or continue on the path he wants to go on?) is evident, and a huge part of that is due to the performance of Kenny Baker, the man inside the droid in close-up shots. (Yes, I'm aware that not a lot of people know there was a person inside him during these shots, so surprise!) Baker's performance was instrumental in giving Artoo these emotions, which is one reason why the little astromech is so beloved.
2. Darth Vader. James Earl Jones gets a lion's share (pun intended) of praise for providing the voice of the Sith Lord in the trilogy, but I'm going to take this moment to highlight the performance of the man in the suit, David Prowse. Prowse, who was also the man who helped Christopher Reeve bulk up for SUPERMAN, carried Vader menacingly throughout the trilogy. This was not a character to be trifled with. But, there is one instance I want to mention specifically which showed real acting: In RETURN OF THE JEDI, when Palpatine is throwing the mother of all lightning storms at Luke, Vader watches wordlessly (I am specifically ignoring Lucas' most recent tinkering, wherein he gave Vader the eloquent dialogue of "No...no...NooOOOooOOOooo" during that scene). As he looked back and forth from his son to his master and back, you can actually read the conflict on his expressionless face mask. And, that is in no small part due to Prowse's physical performance. You can feel the dilemma he faces.
Bonus: THE MANDALORIAN. And, for this, I am highlighting Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, the two men who embody the armor throughout most of the series (there are, in fact, whole episodes where Pedro Pascal wasn't even on set). The way these two men acted, you can feel Din Djarin's exasperation, desperation, and rumination even though not one ounce of expression can be seen in the iconic helmet.
Obviously, these types of performances are not unique to the Star Wars universe. There are other instances where the acting is evident in similar ways. What are some of the performances and performers you'd like to praise for their work in similar ways?
