Just gonna throw this out there:
Resist the urge to give unsolicited “constructive criticism” to an actor on their performance, unless you are their director/teacher/mentor or they actually ask for your feedback. An actor’s job is to give the director—-
Resist the urge to give unsolicited “constructive criticism” to an actor on their performance, unless you are their director/teacher/mentor or they actually ask for your feedback. An actor’s job is to give the director—-
—and client what they are asking for, not necessarily to please fans on the internet. I’ve seen people saying “just give constructive criticism” but that is generally unhelpful for a project that has long since been recorded, esp. if you are not an actor yourself.
Can you (respectfully) share your opinion on a casting choice or performance? Sure. But if it’s negative, don’t tag or otherwise involve the actor in it. If you are not the one hiring or directing them, how they perform their role is not up to you.
If an actor wants feedback on their performance, they will solicit it from industry peers & mentors. Even if you mean well giving someone “tips” on how to do their job, it can come off as insulting not only to the actor, but to the director responsible for overseeing their work.
This is not to say that you need to constantly tell people they are wonderful or that actors are afraid of criticism. You are certainly welcome to have an opinion or to dislike something, but maybe just...keep it to yourself? Or if you must say it publicly, don’t @ them about it
To add, since it was brought up in the replies: Many of us genuinely do care about doing a good job and we of course want people to like our work! But once the product is finished, it’s out of our hands. And we can’t control how audiences react to it.
This goes for other creative professions as well, by the way! For example, if an artist posts a piece, maybe resist the urge to give unsolicited critique on it unless they specifically say “CC welcome” or ask for feedback. And editing/“fixing” their art is so disrespectful.
There’s a lot of misunderstanding so I hope this helps for clarity: I do agree that feedback can be very helpful when putting out WIPs etc as a new actor/artist/etc. It’s just kinda inappropriate to tell a pro how to do their job that they were already hired & paid for...
Of course there will always be people who leave rude comments to strangers and that’s never going away. But I’ve seen some people genuinely think they are doing something helpful by giving professionals unsolicited “critique” on work they were hired for so this is my perspective
Anyone is free to comment / share opinions on anything. I’ve just seen a lot of misconceptions particularly with dub actors where people tag them saying things like “Try to put more emotion in your voice next time.” And they genuinely don’t realize it can be considered rude.
This thread was long. I’m sorry. I will still try to clarify my stance in the replies if that helps. (FYI, the directors who were “hard on me” are the ones I learned the most from, so believe me actors do seek out critique from reputable sources!)
For now, here’s a cat.
For now, here’s a cat.
One more thing, sorry!
Think of it this way. If you hear a song you don’t like on the radio, you might tell your friends you can’t stand the song, or even post about it. But would you go to the band members’ Twitter accounts & tell them how to play/write music to suit your taste?
Think of it this way. If you hear a song you don’t like on the radio, you might tell your friends you can’t stand the song, or even post about it. But would you go to the band members’ Twitter accounts & tell them how to play/write music to suit your taste?
FYI, when I wrote this thread it was kind of a stream of consciousness, so I do understand how this may come off as "professional actors don't ever want criticism", which is not my intent. I've written up an essay on my FB page which is more thought-out. https://www.facebook.com/kiravoices/posts/1412661895591471?__tn__=K-R