Best Acting in the OT?

Going with Ford because he defined and owned that character, even when he didn't want to.

 

Carrie...to this day her character cracks me up. She could say so much with just one irritated facial expression.

 

James Earl Jones as Darth Vader

 

Harrison Ford as Han and James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader

 

Best Actor: Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Best Supporting Actor : Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin; Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Best Voice Actor : James Earl Jones as Darth Vader; Frank Oz as Yoda

I also think a very underrated performance was Kenneth Colley, who played Captain/Admiral Piett. Facial expressions and body language were awesome.
I think you could also make a good argument for Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine in VI.

yes, i cheated by naming too many people

 

Mark Hamill was the best actor in the Original Trilogy.

 

Frank Oz as the believable voice and puppeteer of Yoda. Groundbreaking stuff! Alec is a close 2nd.

 

Salacious Crumb .

 

No brainer here, the best acting job in all Star Wars movies is ...................... Darth Vader of course (forget the Hayden Christensen part).

But in the OT Harrison Ford (as Han Solo) and Ian McDiarmid (as Emperor Palpatine) were both spot on, with amazing acting performances.

I also vote for best supporting actors: Anthony Daniels (as C3PO), Billy Dee Williams (as Lando Calrissian) and of course Jabba the Hutt.

 

Without question Frank Oz, what he's able to pull off with foam rubber and glass eyes and transform that into a mythic, celestial hero is all in Frank's delivery of Yoda's lines and the subtle movement of the puppet.

What kills me is Oz makes better use of space and movement than every single time the awful Star Wars cartoons attempt to animate him (cartoons make him look like a frog who moves like he's made out of pudding and rubber).

Also huge shout out to James Earl Jones who takes some very difficult dialog at times and makes it resonate.

Harrison Ford's best acting was probably in Regarding Henry. Carrie's was probably in Hannah & Her Sisters and Mark's best acting comes from his voice acting, particularly the Jokes. They are all decent in the OT. Carrie is particularly strong in ROTJ I think, because she was written with a lot less cardboard and wood.

I'd like to call out Daisy's work in TFA. My understanding is she struggled at first and it led to some confrontations with JJ, but at some point, she delivers a very genuine performance, not easy to do in the surreal, hyperbolic fantasy of Star Wars.

 

please don't crucify me for this.. but i find a decent amount of acting in the OT to be lack luster. i've watched it repeatedly with many different people and most of them complain about luke skywalker being whiny and his acting to be.. subpar. my friend even said the same about harrison ford? i'm not sure why people are never on board with it, but i can understand where they come from. it bothers me that people won't ever criticize mark hamill's performance but will trash hayden christiansen in a heartbeat. in my honest opinion, i found luke whinier. nonetheless, i love both trilogies and i find both have their ups and downs. i guess being whiny is a skywalker trait. (anakin, luke, ben solo)

 

Why did you bring up Hayden Christensen in the first place? This is about the OT.


However, speaking of Christensen (and Hamill) . . . how is whining an example of bad acting? For me, it would be nothing more than a negative trait in a character. If Mark Hamill and Hayden Christensen whined a lot, then it was a reflection of their characters, not their performances.

 

I'm going to go with Frank Oz is Yoda.

 

I'm going with James Earl Jones, he does a great job with just his voice.
Although I do have to say that I think of all the actors Mark Hammil matures the most as an actor throughout the series. He's fine in ANH, but by RotJ I think he gives a really strong performance.

 

I'll take Mark Hamill, because I really could see the farm boy, the commander/padawan, and finally the jedi knight/redeemer. He owned that role, and while he wasn't just who he is, like Harrison, his character was very well portrayed.