posterity

I think Hilarie has some acting issues as well. She got better over the seasons (some of her season 1 scenes are truly cringeworthy), but she is still nothing to write home about. I agree that Bethany Joy was easily the best actress among the younger people, though I preferred Paul as Dan the best. I think because Joy was pretty good in comparison to the others, it made Haley rather popular in season 1, so NH really exploded. Ironically James is the worst actor, and some of his scenes in season 1 make me laugh because they are so badly acted, and yet those scenes were meant to be serious moments.

I get what you mean about BJ being a little bit bland in his portrayal but honestly I think in comparison to the other quirks people incorporated into their acting, which ruined scenes at times, he was much better. I think that because he was a superior actor for me, he made up for some of Hilarie's poorer performances in her scenes. I just feel that Chad and Sophia's chemistry naturally flowed better. I think Chad was more attracted to Sophia and because that attraction was not an act he had to put on, his physical chemistry with her just spilled onto the screen. Unfortunately, I did not think he had that much chemistry with Hilarie, lol. I think he had a lot with Joy, due to their great off-screen friendship.

Slayerette89

Yeah. For example, Hilarie totally and randomly destroyed the “why are guys such jerks” line in the pilot. Though it’s a good line and I was actually feeling her performance in that scene apart from that particular delivery. Joy just has some subtlety and naturalness to her acting. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out in a show with a stronger cast. But on oth it does. I like Paul too. James is super wooden. 2.01 is the first episode I ever watched and to this day I remember laughing at that NH scene where Nathan’s telling Haley their teen marriage is totally going to work. The tone of the scene is so serious, all with the music playing over it, James delivers his lines super monotonously and the fact that Joy is actually convincing as an upset Haley just cannot rescue the scene. But the scene did also make me wanna watch more of the show to see how bad it can get. In that regard, the show never disappointed. It kept getting worse and worse.

CS never did anything positive for me on screen, so I was surprised to eventually learn they were together in real life because they seemed very forced in most of their scenes. CH for me had some intensity, despite neither of them not being particularly good at acting, which made me curious about LP. Even though I originally thought the show’s otp was BL because s2 was the first season I ever saw. I like CJ scenes too and am curious if I would have liked them romantically if LH romance had ever happened or if Chad had portrayed Nathan, as Mark originally wanted, if I remember correctly. But I’m also kinda glad the latter didn’t happen. Because Chad would have probably overdone that smug smirk + irritating voice thing he does in his bad boy roles and I would really dislike Nathan. I can’t dislike James’s Nathan because he’s a brick wall.

gwennylou

Sorry, but I totally disagree. Joy tended to overact in a lot of scenes which was really offputting and distracting to watch. Anytime she had to go for big emotional responses she came off as shrill and as if she was overreacting. I'd rather watch a somewhat wooden performance than her campy acting. I don't think any of the "younger" actors were great when they got cast. And I don't think Hilarie was the worst actor of that bunch.

Slayerette89

No need to apologize, different strokes for different folks. And how you see Joy is exactly how I see Sophia, so I get the feeling.

posterity

I did not feel Hilarie was the worst performer of season 1. I thought James was the worst, and he remained the worst throughout the series. However, she was certainly far from the strongest actress, IMO.

I think it is a good thing that Chad did not play Nathan. For some reason he exudes this smarmy attitude in the "bad boy" characters he portrays that comes across as obnoxious. I don't think he would have made Nathan very likable because he would come ass like a dick. However, I did not know that Mark was considering Chad for the role of Nathan. Why did Chad want to play Lucas instead? I also wonder who he had in mind for Lucas if not CMM.
I had this same reaction to laugh in a scene they had in season 1, when Nathan took pills and he is telling Haley in his room that he figured if he could get up and walk to her, he would tell her how much he needs her. There is a point where he hitches his breath and it is so atrocious that I laugh without fail every time. However, the scene is meant to be serious.

Slayerette89

One thing that personally really puts me off James, Hilarie and Sophia as actors is that they seem to think it’s appropriate to bring the exact same mannerism (or a lack thereof, in James’s case) no matter what character they play. I may not like what Chad does either with his pseudo-sensitive guys or with his bad boys, but at least he knows he should try to bring a different type of physicality to different types of characters. On the other hand, James’s regular Nathan and his Lucas-esque Nathan from 2.20 AU ep are practically indistinguishable. Hilarie’s extroverted doctor from Gray’s Anatomy displays emotions exactly the same way her introverted Peyton does. Sophia’s pacifist vegan hippie from John Tucker Must Die has the exact same facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice that her preppy cheerleader Brooke does. But my exposure to their acting has been limited, so I might have judged them too quickly. And I’m not an actress or an acting expert or any sort, so this is just a subjective, laywoman opinion.


As for Mark, Chad and Lucas/Nathan thing, Chad himself wanted to play Lucas because he connected with the character more. They talk about it at around 2:30 minute of this clip. And lol about that Nathan scene. But, to James’s credit, at least he seems self-aware about his poor acting.

posterity

I definitely agree that many of them could use some acting classes. I thought Lauren had good chemistry with Arizona, but I agree that her mannerisms were the same as Peyton's. I haven't really seen Sophia in much other than John Tucker and while I agree there were similarities to Brooke, I think in general the character was meant to have a lot of spirit so I can understand why the mannerisms are the same.

What did Chad relate to? The cheating part? LOL.

Slayerette89

That would require some self-awareness about who he is and who Lucas is and somehow I don’t think he has that, lol. His mother left him like Dan left Lucas so that part resonated with him. I think he mentioned in some other interviews that he admired how noble and intelligent Lucas seemed, so that made him like the character too. Or something like that.

DylanLovesKelly

I think Chad did a great job portraying Lucas at his best and his worst. He's very believable as a jerk

BlondieLeigh

He could be

Alexa

guys i think you need to watch the "___ is not a good actor/actress" comments. Actor bashing isnt allowed.

And personally I highly disagree but hey, to each their own.

Forwood4Bamon

I loved Julian this season.

BlondieLeigh

I was never overly bothered by him either way

stlavin95

Julian was an good guy, but the writers never really developed him outside of Brooke imo.

BlondieLeigh

They didn't. I just found it difficult to care about him.