caffienekitty | Ten Inch Hero: Review of Jensen's performance

Since a couple people have asked and this got a bit long for a comment, here's a review of Jensen Ackles' performance in Ten Inch Hero, and his acting in general, I guess.

Mildly thematically spoilery for Ten Inch Hero

Jensen Ackles was amazing in Ten Inch Hero. His character, is completely different from any other character I've seen him play. Yes, Priestly is a snarky and funny character, and might seem a little like Dean by that, but it's quite obvious right from the start that with Priestly the snark is coming from a different source than similar behaviour comes from with Dean.

At the same time, when the serious scenes come around with Priestly, the dichotomy of his character (which to that point has been kind of the comic sidekick) suddenly showing this deeper side is really effective in bringing the film's theme of not judging based on surface behaviour home. It's truly fantastic, what he brings out of the character in those scenes because that's when you realize that's been something he's had in that character all along, below the surface of the snark.

It's something very subtle and very real that he does, sort of character-layering. When he's playing a character he becomes the character; you can see the thoughts running through the character's mind, and you don't see the actor saying lines. It makes the characters he plays very real, and very human. I really admire Jensen's ability to turn characters into people, and he's really done it well with the character of Priestly. Like I said in a comment on the previous post, a few minutes in and I didn't see Jensen anymore, I just saw the character, as a person. And it was awesome.

I also admire that he is... I think the term is generous? as an actor. This movie has an ensemble cast. All the characters have their interwoven plots and storylines, but there is no single central character, per se. With a character dynamic like that, it's important that the actors work together well and no one tries to upstage the others deliberately or by accident. I think it's kind of like singing in a choir. When you sing in a choir, no individual voice can be above the others if it's going to work.

All the actors did really well at this. Especially Jensen, I'd venture to say, because seriously, he manages at several points - as a 6'1" tall not-small guy with a many-colored mohawk, invariably loud t-shirts and occasionally a kilt - blend into the background and be inobtrusive during scenes where his character is not the forefront. All the while, still in character in the background, fiddling around, doing stuff the character would be doing.

I really wish it was available on DVD to go back and re-watch it from the start again, because it really needs a repeat watching to catch all the subtle awesomenesses. *nods*

Anyway, I hope that answers the questions?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Now I'm even more excited to watch it! (Whenever I get the chance. *hopeful thoughts*)

Thank you so much for writing up this more detailed review of Jensen's acting in the movie. I think he is so very talented. Oh it's frustrating not being able to see this movie. :)

I know! And having watched it just makes me that much more eager to watch it again! I feel like writing a letter to distribution companies all over the world and going "Are you all idiots? Why are you not signing this movie up??"

He is just an amazing actor, and it shows in everything he does. *nods* Keep thinking good thoughts for it getting a distribution deal *crosses fingers*

I really wish it was available on DVD to go back and re-watch it from the start again, because it really needs a repeat watching to catch all the subtle awesomenesses. *nods*

YESYESYES!!!!! SQUEE!!!! I'm so glad you liked it!!! I was fully prepared to enjoy him in the role, but I was actually impressed with how well he did with it for all the reasons you detailed. And it's kind of the way I felt about his portrayal in Blonde. The movie sucked, but he became that character so much that he took me with him regardless of the quality (or lack thereof) of the rest of the movie.

*grin* I haven't braved Blonde yet, but I think I may have to at some point. :-D

He's also the reason I've re-watched Devour more than twice, because even though they changed the character and script several times in mid-stream, the direction is horrid, the plot makes no sense and all the other actors have blatantly given up trying, there he is, still doing his damnedest to make that turkey work in spite of itself. It's almost heart-breaking to watch, actually.

I've never actually watched all of Blonde, but I did watch the Patrick Dempsey parts as well as the JA parts the first time through. Now I just watch the JA parts and I will freely admit (though I'm sure many people would totally roll their eyes at me and say I'm simply blinded by my fangirliness), but I really did get sucked into the sweet, sad, twisted, tragic character he created for that part. And I love how he was able to just exude the 'Old Hollywood' vibe... **shrug** at least to me. ;-)

a few minutes in and I didn't see Jensen anymore, I just saw the
character, as a person

The mark of a truly great actor. Jensen is extremely special &
we're so lucky to have him, aren't we.

And yup, you answered any questions I might've had. Thank you
for sharing!

And I love how he was able to just exude the 'Old Hollywood' vibe... **shrug** at least to me.

I'll definitely have to see at least parts of it then *nods*

I'd love to see him do... well anything actually, but I'd love to see him do a real noir kind of Maltese Falcon thing. Or a western! Or space opera! Or cartoon voice work! Or, yeah. Anything. I hope he has a long and varied career is kind of what I'm saying here I think. :-D

And I don't think it's fangirly, really, to appreciate and admire real talent, even if other people are blind to it.

The mark of a truly great actor. Jensen is extremely special & we're so lucky to have him, aren't we.

Oh, absolutely! Absolutely! He's amazingly talented and astounds me in everything I've seen that he's done.

Thank you for sharing!

Happy to have an experience to share! :-D

Thanks for posting this. I really want to see that movie and it's really hard to find detailed reviews of it instead of just "wow it was amazing and you should all see it" comments. I think it's interesting that you point out that for a big guy with startling clothes he could blend in to the scenes. I haven't seen that pointed out for his performance before and I've never seen it pointed out as a positive in any thing before but I think you make an excellent point that it's an achievement when he doesn't overwhelm the scenes when they're not about his character.

If you have the time and inclination I'd love to see your take on his acting in Blond and Devour.

If you have the time and inclination I'd love to see your take on his acting in Blond and Devour.

I always have the inclination to rattle on about how awesome Jensen's acting is, but time is a definite issue. I'll see what I can do though.

Oh, I did finally see it. He was awesome.

It was very interesting to see him in a role like that. It sort of showed a lot about his method of acting and the work he puts into character development, even on a short project like that.

After you get the DVD, will you do a more in-depth analysis? *hopeful eyes*

I might. Have to see if any big thinkiness hits me when I re-watch it.

Ten Inch Hero: Review of Jensen's performance

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