Ifsixwuz9 said:

ah I think you're right. I got that DLR story on shaky authority just recently

He's a great actor!

Shhhhh, don't let him hear you talking about how horrible an actor he is or he will never make another movie again or even a home video. The acting may have been horrible but the movies were great.....well, except for "Grashitti Bridge".

vainandy said:

I loved his movies! I think he is a superb actor when he is performing on stage. Imo, it takes talent to perform like that, there has to be some acting involved with some of the stuff he does on stage, right?

babooshleeky said:

Yes... He's a great entertainer. He knows when to stop & do a one-liner, when to make the right face, when to wink, etc. He's got great timing & knows what the audience likes... but full scale acting is not a strong point. But I'd watch him in movies because I think he's got that strange humor like the stuff you see on The Riches or Desperate Housewives.. it's funny even when you know it's not supposed to be.

hes a good showman and is naturally witty and playful, so makes a pretty good comic actor. but his dramatic acting just blows

About 5-6

We've never really seen Prince "act" . . . he's been himself in all of his movies.

What he needs to do is branch out and play small parts, where he's not even listed on the poster/opening credits. He's got the charm and conveys emotion well enough to pull it off.

I would rate him above Madonna and Elvis, that's for sure!

shaedove99 said:

He does, indeed, have great timing. And that's one of those things that is instinctive -- you can't teach it. That's what makes comedy more difficult than tragedy for most actors.

I really believe Prince could be a good actor if he wanted to be. But the man is driven to do one thing -- make music -- and he would never devote the kind of time it takes to really hone another craft.

babooshleeky said:

I think this is Prince's main problem when he's "acting" in a movie. He's such an awesome stage performer and has honed the skill of projecting/conveying his moods and expressions physically to a large audience that when he tries to do the same thing in front of the camera it's way too much, overdone and over the top since it's a totally different, more intimate medium than live performance. He needs a good acting coach to harness all that charisma and electricity to channel it better.

I see the same thing in Beyonce. She overacts and overprojects as if she's in front of a large audience. Now that I think of it a lot singers who turn to acting roles kind of do the same thing. Michael in the Wiz, Aretha, JB, and Ray Charles in the Blues Brothers come to mind. They were great in the performance scenes but when they were delivering lines they were overwrought, almost yelling and definitely louder than the actors they were talking too as if they were singing to a live audience. Just a thought. . .

Another role I think he'd have been a natural for is Eddie Murphy's role in Dreamgirls because it's based on a lot of the performers that Prince idolized and emulated throughout his career.
[Edited 4/19/07 14:59pm]

babooshleeky said:

Of the performances I've seen, he always amazes me, regardless of which song he does. Before I dove in, I didn't care what he sang, he just had this certain stage presence that I've never seen before. In all of the scenes where he's onstage in the movie [Purple Rain], he does amazingly, capturing the mood of his character well. Especially the CB/DN "disaster", haha... and of course 'Purple Rain' was plain incredible... his acting brings me to tears just about every time.

But then he reverts back to himself in the last 10 minutes... I feel like almost the whole movie is an act, but he's being himself in the last 10 minutes... at least I believe that cuz it's what drew me to him in the first place.

theghostoftonym said:

the part in Purple Rain when he woke up in the basement was pretty damn good