I liked his interpretation of the Joker, or rather Gemini, in the Partyman video and think he could´ve played the Joker if he could´ve kept his ego and vanity under control. He had tremendous discipline and if he had really put his heart into it he could´ve played some interesting roles.

Though I didn´t like Graffiti Bridge I do like UTCM and Purple Rain, including the acting, to this day.

UTCM was a vanity project and Prince´s ego was massive in 1985/86 but like I said, with some good advice he could´ve pursued acting much longer than he did.

I also liked him in New Girl a lot , even though he was basically playing himself and not a different character.

There are musicians who became actors who are far, far worse than Prince when it comes to acting.

I can't speak to his technique or talent but he had a magnetism that kept my eye on him.

Prince would've been an amazing silent movie actor. The guy had facial expressions and body movement down to an art.

Too bad modern movies require nuance and exceptional storytelling. Those were his biggest flaws.


I've always wondered what would've happened if Prince took the role in The Fifth Element that was written for him. I'd guess he would use the leverage to make another studio movie instead of becoming a character actor.

[Edited 12/7/19 11:06am]

humour

Strive said:

Prince would've been an amazing silent movie actor. The guy had facial expressions and body movement down to an art.

Too bad modern movies require nuance and exceptional storytelling. Those were his biggest flaws.


I've always wondered what would've happened if Prince took the role in The Fifth Element that was written for him. I'd guess he would use the leverage to make another studio movie instead of becoming a character actor.

[Edited 12/7/19 11:06am]

Yes, facial expressions; eye rolling, eye-widening, lip-pursing, tongue-in-cheek etc. I think it was Miles Davis who said he was part Charlie Chaplin.

jfenster said:

humour

Under The Cherry Moon would've been good if done as just a light comedy (even the death scene was unintentionally hilarious).

[Edited 12/7/19 16:30pm]

I think his acting was good in Purple Rain.It's the other movies that showed his limitations as an actor.

I thought he was a decent actor.

I think he could have been a good character actor if he'd have been willing to defer authority to the director.

I wish he saw the acting as a "break" from having to be in control all the time... just chill and let someone else take control of the project... and just do the acting.

Prince was NOT a good actor. Not even accidentally.

None. He couldn't act. He was always just himself.

Honestly, I think that he showed a glimmer of promise in Purple Rain. Yes, he was essentially being himself, but considering that he had little more than a crash course in acting he wasn’t as bad as he might have been, and he had a certain magnetism on screen. To have improved he would’ve had to relinquish himself fully to the direction of others, and approach the whole thing with more modesty, nuance and seriousness. He was never going to join Ingmar Bergman’s troupe, but things might have been different. Most of the stuff that he directed himself was seriously cringe worthy.

Bowie wasn't necessarily great in The Man Who Fell To Earth, but it worked because he had the modesty to respect the talent of Roeg and genuinely collaborate.

[Edited 12/8/19 11:43am]

Acting was not his gift, just let me put it that way.

fen said:

fen said:

Honestly, I think that he showed a glimmer of promise in Purple Rain. Yes, he was essentially being himself, but considering that he had little more than a crash course in acting he wasn’t as bad as he might have been, and he had a certain magnetism on screen. To have improved he would’ve had to relinquish himself fully to the direction of others, and approach the whole thing with more modesty, nuance and seriousness. He was never going to join Ingmar Bergman’s troupe, but things might have been different. Most of the stuff that he directed himself was seriously cringe worthy.

Bowie wasn't necessarily great in The Man Who Fell To Earth, but it worked because he had the modesty to respect the talent of Roeg and genuinely collaborate.

[Edited 12/8/19 11:43am]

Bowie was fantastic in The Hunger!

He has his moments and has a bit of screen presence. I could see him playing an offbeat Batman villain or something.

Always thought have beena good Willy Wonka

herb4 said:

With the right director Prince would have been pretty good.

homesquid said:

homesquid said:

None. He couldn't act. He was always just himself.

You don't know anything about acting, do you?

There was something pure and honest in Purple Rain. He was just kid literally then.

UCTM showed a few sparks of his funny side.

GB was a mess and he phoned it in.

Yeah, he was good. Just needed more experience and some guidance/training. I feel he delivered genuine performances in by PR and UTCM. Especially the latter.

.

The petulance of The Kid is vividly conveyed in PR, as is the preening of Christopher Tracy. Probably with the right director, and a greater level of dedication to the craft, Prince could've achieved at least the level of say, Madonna (i.e. working with A-list and/or respected directors; stretching a bit to play non-musicians/non-extensions of his own personality).

.

In GB, he exhibited what appeared to be an odd kind of non-acting -- it almost feels like he deliberately avoided creating anything resembling a character. Probably from taking on too many tasks he was distracted from delivering any kind of performance (some nice onstage moments, but that's not exactly a challenge for him).

The Enigma and the Jaimie Starr acting. Wasnt a fan of the elder statesmen, the guitar heroics acting, the teacher acting. I like the enigma performance and the 180 of the street Jaimie Star act(ing).

EmmaMcG said:

fen said:

Honestly, I think that he showed a glimmer of promise in Purple Rain. Yes, he was essentially being himself, but considering that he had little more than a crash course in acting he wasn’t as bad as he might have been, and he had a certain magnetism on screen. To have improved he would’ve had to relinquish himself fully to the direction of others, and approach the whole thing with more modesty, nuance and seriousness. He was never going to join Ingmar Bergman’s troupe, but things might have been different. Most of the stuff that he directed himself was seriously cringe worthy.

Bowie wasn't necessarily great in The Man Who Fell To Earth, but it worked because he had the modesty to respect the talent of Roeg and genuinely collaborate.

[Edited 12/8/19 11:43am]

Bowie was great in Labyrinth though.

kingricefan said:

fen said:

Honestly, I think that he showed a glimmer of promise in Purple Rain. Yes, he was essentially being himself, but considering that he had little more than a crash course in acting he wasn’t as bad as he might have been, and he had a certain magnetism on screen. To have improved he would’ve had to relinquish himself fully to the direction of others, and approach the whole thing with more modesty, nuance and seriousness. He was never going to join Ingmar Bergman’s troupe, but things might have been different. Most of the stuff that he directed himself was seriously cringe worthy.

Bowie wasn't necessarily great in The Man Who Fell To Earth, but it worked because he had the modesty to respect the talent of Roeg and genuinely collaborate.

[Edited 12/8/19 11:43am]

Bowie was fantastic in The Hunger!

I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen that - I'll check it out.

fen said:

EmmaMcG said:

fen said: Bowie was great in Labyrinth though.

"You remind me of the babe (what babe?)
The babe with the power (what power?)
The power of voodoo (who do?)
You do (do what?)
Remind me of the babe"

Stolen from The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer (1947).

One of his biggest drawbacks on screen is that he seems too self conscious/self aware and always seems to be posing or preening no matter what he's doing. Even the little segues in the SoTT movie feel stilted and forced and the audience I watche it with were giggling during those parts. He was somewhat like this in real life so it's really just Prince being himself but that's not really acting.

He also comes off as if everything he says or does is supposed to be overly poignant and Very Important And Deep which comes off as unrealistic.

As musicians go, I've seen worse (Mick Jagger, Madonna) but also much better (Bowie, Tom Waits, Sinatra, Henry Rollins). Prince's very presence is so overpowering and his manner so flamboyant though that you can never really suspend disbelief that you're watching an actual character and not Prince with a capital "P".

If you cast him in something like Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera (or Phantom of the Paradise), Dreamgirls, a Little Richard biopic or some sort of fantasy/alternate world setting it could work.

He actually gave one of the better performances in PR I felt, for what's that worth, minus a few wobbly line deliveries.

fen said:

kingricefan said:

Bowie was fantastic in The Hunger!

I'm ashamed to say that I've never seen that - I'll check it out.

For a movie that was made way back in 1983 it holds up very well. The soundtrack isn't dated (Tangerine Dream did it) and it stars a quite young Susan Sarandon. Bowie doesn't have much screen time and he's hidden behind alot of makeup effects after his initial scenes but he's good when he's there. I may have to pull out the dvd and do a re-watch!!