Why do you think Sam gets so little recognition for his asking. People are always saying he can't act. (This was deleted from my previous post)
Thanks for your question Anon!
Acting, like any art form is subject to people's tastes. So of course, some people are going to be drawn to different acting styles/ choices than others. That said, I do think that some Outlander fans who are angry or disappointed with Sam for various reasons allow their perceptions of his acting to be affected by their negative feelings towards him.
Sam Heughan’s Portrayal of Jamie Fraser
Personally, I think that Sam has been a fabulous Jamie Fraser and he completely blew me away with his performance in the Wentworth episodes in season 1.
Yes, like many actors, Sam’s performances can sometimes be uneven, but when he is at his best, IMHO he can be brilliant. To make a statement (like some of the haters have made) that “Sam can’t act,” one would have to completely ignore some of his more nuanced work. Unfortunately, I think that many of the Sam haters focus on his weakest performances and ignore his strongest ones.
One may not always agree with Sam’s acting choices as Jamie but as far as I can tell they are true acting choices and not evidence (like some haters claim) that he is “phoning it in.” For instance, some folks didn’t think Sam as Jamie appeared to be upset enough when Claire was captured at the end of season 5. But I thought that Sam as Jamie was compartmentalizing his feelings, like leaders do during emergencies.
I also think that Sam’s choice to portray Jamie as being emotionally reserved after Claire was rescued (and by that I mean for the rest of episode 512) possibly had to do with Sam’s interpreting Jamie as being emotionally “short-circuited” from the conflicting feelings he was experiencing.
In addition to all the anguish Jamie must have felt about what Claire had endured, and his probable (irrational) guilt that he had somehow not “protected” her from what happened to her, he was also most likely having to work hard not to have flashbacks to his own trauma with BJR.
Furthermore, Jamie may have experienced some conflict about his order to kill everyone in the camp, regardless of whether they had sexually assaulted Claire. Although Jamie thought it was the right thing to do at the time, he usually feels some guilt after he acts on murderous feelings.
Given all of the above, Sam may have felt that Jamie was so torn up inside that Jamie would believe it was better that he not express his anguish outwardly for fear that it would add to Claire’s distress. It’s also possible Sam felt that Jamie’s unconscious had taken over and he had gone to a numb place.
Again, one does not have to agree with Sam’s choices, but I believe he made deliberate acting decisions based on his knowledge of the character.
Sam Usually Transforms Himself When He Acts
Some Sam critics also claim that Sam is always just playing himself in his roles but I don't think that is true at all. Sam’s persona changes almost completely when he plays Jamie.
JIMMY DALTON. Sam as the villain Jimmy Dalton in Bloodshot had a completely different vibe than Jamie Fraser. Although Sam is charismatic and sexy as Jamie, he was creepy and unlikeable as Jimmy Dalton.
SEBASTIAN HENSHAW. In The Spy Who Dumped Me, Sam played the spy Sebastian Henshaw, whose persona was the polar opposite of Jimmy Dalton’s. Jimmy is resentful and arrogant; Sebastian is reserved and a little insecure. Jimmy is selfish; Sebastian selflessly puts himself in danger to protect Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon).
Although some folks thought Sam as Sebastian lacked charisma, I thought he was just being a good straight man, especially since he often had to serve as the brunt of Kate McKinnon’s improvised risqué jokes. (I honestly don’t know how he didn’t burst out laughing--although maybe they had to do a number of takes before they got to a laugh free one. 😁)
Even when Sam has an uneven performance, his acting choices are interesting
JACOB SILVER. Granted, Sam’s performance as Jacob Silver in When the Twilight Ends, was uneven. Still, much of that could be attributed to the fact that the producers took an unfinished film away from the writer/ director and released it prematurely, without proper editing and sufficient post-production reshoots and ADR (which is often used to correct accents in films).
In fact, Sam said as much in a comment on Adam Sigal’s IG:
“The sound edit and various scenes were unfinished. It should have never been seen like this. The accent would have been easily fixed and was supposed to be a rough guide track, not a final product.”
This explains a lot about Sam’s performance in the film, including his slightly off target American accent that came and went throughout the movie.
I also think that when Sam played a version of his next door neighbor Ralph, his physical mannerisms were too broad for the screen as opposed to a theater.
However, Sam’s physicality may have actually been a legitimate acting choice. Sam was probably trained in the Lecoq technique at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. I understand the technique focuses on how body movement can inform an actor’s portrayal of a character. It also emphasizes playfulness.
In the gif above, it is clear that Sam is using his body in a playful manner when he portrays Ralph. This style of acting can be fun for an audience, especially in live theater, but in a film, it can seem to be too overblown and hammy unless it is reeled in.
Still, there were other points in the movie where Sam fully embodied Jacob Silver, the protagonist of the film, during which we saw the fine actor that Sam can be when he is at his best.
Yes, there are times when Sam’s performances are uneven but when he hits the mark, he can excel as an actor.
Sam went to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD), which changed its name in 2011 to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). The RCS is currently ranked third in the world for higher education performing arts institutions by QS World University Rankings. I have no idea what the school’s ranking was back when it was the RSAMD and Sam studied drama there, but I suspect it was always an elite performing arts institution. So Sam must have had some talent to get into their drama program and to graduate with his BA in acting in 2003.
I assume that the drama program at the RSAMD was similar to the current one at the RCS, which provides an extensive foundation in acting, movement, voice, Shakespearean acting, acting for film and TV, etc.
IMHO Sam certainly knows how to act and has given some impressive performances over the past few years. I might not always agree with his acting choices but they seem to be well informed and if nothing else, they are (at least to me) always interesting.
Gif/image sources: 01, 02, 03, 04*, 05*, 06*, 07**, 08**, 09**, 10, 11*
*Gifs that were modified from the original gifs; **my own gifs from Bloodshot and The Spy Who Dumped Me
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