Best Acting in the OT?

Ian mcdiarmid gets my vote. I loved him ever since ROTJ.

 

Sir Alec had the best acting.
Harrison was my favorite but he was kind of just doing the Harrison Ford thing...sort of like how Chris Pratt right now just sort of does the Chris Pratt thing in all his movies now.

 

I think the best acting goes to the Sarlacc!

You have to have INCREDIBLE talent to pull off the illusion that you're an unmovable mouth in the desert! Who else could have munched Boba Fett while looking so awesome?

 

Great, we have a creature waiting to be fed & a escape plan in motion, some of my friends call it ''the dinner and the show'' scene.

 

Have to say it has to be Sir Alec Guiness - have rewatched Episode IV in preparation for going to see Rogue One, and he is absolutely brilliant.

 

I said Alec, and I stand by that- but I think Billy Dee Williams deserves a shoutout, too.

 

Ford for his corky, badass space cowbow Solo... Definitely.

 

Harrison Ford as Han and Sir Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan are in my opinion equally great. Sir Alec was even nominated for a supporting Oscar for that role!

 

While Sir Alec Guiness is the finest actor in the OT, I think that Frank Oz turned in a performance where the challenge to suspend disbelief was met and exceeded in every scene.

 

I would have to say Peter Cushing. He brought a much needed severity to Tarkin that was really needed to set the pace for how the commanding forces of the Empire felt about the Rebellion and the Jedi. Really made you believe that the Empire had a mission that they were dead set on accomplishing.

 

Another part of that Sir Alec Guinness "Parkinson" interview, he reveals that he warned James Dean a week before his death, not to get into the car that ultimately killed him exactly one week later....

 

Been thinking a bit more...I think if I divide the OT into its individual films, I'd go with this:

ANH: Alec Guinness, without doubt

TESB: David Prowse/James Earl Jones (Harrison Ford gave his best performance in this one, too, but Darth Vader makes Ep. 5 what it is to me.)

ROTJ: Mark Hamill and Ian McDiarmid (I realized the last time I watched it - which was the first time in a while - that Hamill really gives his best, most mature performance in this one. At the risk of causing a stir, Ford and Fisher seemed to kinda be on autopilot for most of the movie.)

 

I've got to give it to Frank Oz. Yoda was such a huge risk and easily could have been completely ruined by the wrong voice or VO performance. Oz imbued so much character into rubber puppet that Yoda is believable and doesn't ruin your immersion whilst watching the film.

A close second for me would be Hamill. Just because we get to see his acting develop throughout the OT. He's naff in ANH (which suits his character - a desert hillbilly without much knowledge of the universe) in TESB there's a push to show more dramatic range - "That's not true, that's impossible!" "NOOoaahahhaOOoo NOOoooohhooooo" good stuff. And finally, in ROTJ he completely sells me on the character of Luke with his acting (he did in TESB, but there's no story's of multiple takes like with the "nooo") he fits into the role very comfortably and delivers lines and emotions very naturally. Great to see Hamill's development, but forget that jazz! YODA baby! Frank Oz nailed it first time!

 

Grand Moff Tarkin, yo.

 

Carrie Fisher in TESB. I just... fall in love with her every time I watch that movie.

 

Not sure if anyone has seen the youtube video, 'Obi-Wan Remembers', but it really highlights the immense subtly in Alec Guinesses' acting when telling Luke about his father, whilst giving him the light saber. Brilliant.

 

Rogue One gave me a renewed appreciation for Peter Cushing. I wish Tarkin had lived to fight another day for TESB.

Mark Hamill really is quite good in ROTJ. How he went from the impulsive Luke of The Empire Strikes Back to the wise and careful Luke of Return of the Jedi, I don't know, but the progression is flawless and he really sells it.