I'll admit, watching a lot of b-movies has numbed my concerns and sensibilities over the quality of acting I watch. Then again, it also gives you a great perspective on what acting should and shouldn't be.

There are some renowned actors that people love, and I just don't get it. People like Denzel, whose characters are all exactly the same. That's because Denzel can only play Denzel. Sure, he may know how to play the game, but it doesn't necessarily make him interesting. He's good at acting the part, but he's got such a dry personality.

So rant aside, it shouldn't be hard to act. Just don't look at the cameras, and try to drown out the rest of the world around you, and convey a scene. As long as you can do that, you're an actor.

Take a movie like Blood Feast, or any other HG Lewis movie for the matter, and think about the acting. There are good actors AND bad actors in those, and perhaps it's the good acting needed to contrast the ultra bad acting. Bill Kerwin (one of HG's regulars) wasn't necessarily a bad actor. Just a boring actor.

Then, you gotta wonder about Troma movies... everyone in the Lloyd Kaufman movies are probably playing characters where the bad-acting is intentional, so all of their acting is bad, regardless. If they're good enough at acting, then are they doing a good job at being bad actors?

Some people focus in on the acting too much. Like the others have said, it only gets to me if it's really really bad. Like... freeze-up and look directly at the camera kind of bad. Which, of course, can be hilarious if done intentionally (as in with really stupid characters). Sometimes, it's also hilarious if a movie with awful acting will have one really good actor, like that gunman in "The Room".

A pianist needs a lot of training. Acting needs common sense.

Sure, you need a bit of insight to your character's motives, but acting is also about reacting. It's all about how you react to the plot devices around you. If you're being chased by a killer, you can act freaked out and try to get a weapon to defend yourself... or you can flail about and scream and say, "Don't kill me!"

In other words, some people get it, some people don't. I guess a lot of it can depend on how well a director directs.

If I had to act in front of anybody, I'd shit my pants. It ain't the easiest thing in the world, but some people just do it so badly, you know you could do it better. Some people think acting means over-acting, when you can get away with being subtle about it.

Say what you want about the difficulty of acting, but it's definitely not something you should pay millions of dollars for. Most high paid actors don't deserve that type of coin.