Roddy Piper's acting in this was terrible. It totally kills the movie.
Why did they cast him? Were they smoking crack or something?
The material doesn't lend itself to great dramatic acting. Roddy Piper was perfectly cast for a role that needs to be hammed up.
shareI actually thought he was brilliant. :-) I've never been a wrestling fan, and hadn't heard or seen of him before They Live, so I didn't come into it with any expectations. I always felt he played the part with a quiet, contemplative dignity. A humble guy who's lived a hard life, but somehow stayed positive. Who keeps to himself, and watches the world from afar. Roddy portrayed so much of that with simple expressions and mannerisms. But when the classic lines are delivered (and there are so many of them!), he delivers them with style. :-) When the part requires him to be soft spoken and philosophical, he delivers with equal style.
Many a seasoned actor couldn't have delivered his lines as naturally or with such a feeling of genuine emotion. Roddy's acting wasn't terrible. Quite the opposite. It's just a shame he didn't get many other great parts after this. I honestly think that if he'd been given more dramatic roles after They Live, he would have surprised a LOT of people.
Many a seasoned actor couldn't have delivered his lines as naturally
if he'd been given more dramatic roles after They Live, he would have surprised a LOT of people.
We'll have to agree to disagree. ;-) Everyone has different tastes and opinions. I'm sure there are some actors I would consider rather poor, that you think are great, and vice versa.
shareHis character unintentionally comes across as a crazy psycho killer in those scenes
Probably the most obvious example of this is when he in the car, and then the apartment, of the woman who he kidnapped. His acting in those scenes is cringe-worthy bad. His character unintentionally comes across as a crazy psycho killer in those scenes because Piper's utter inability to act forces him to seem like a spaced-out weirdo.
That's quite a sound rebuttal, weirdozmedia. Respect.
shareI found him generally charismatic and sympathetic personally. Is he a "good" actor? No. Is he a little wooden and rough around the edges? Sure. For a non-actor I thought he put down a decent enough performance.
You've been around long enough to have seen many a worse actor surely.
UNCOMPROMISING UNDERGROUND FILTHshare
... and I thought he's one of the biggest reasons this movie is considered an 80's classic.
This might not be saying much, but his performance in my book is one of the, if not the most, impressive given by a WWF/WWE wrestler. He's effortlessly funny, reacts to everything that's going on convincingly, and he fits the role overall. Suppose a gifted thespian could have brought some nuances and "legitimacy" to the role, but why bother? Roddy in my view was great in his own right.
You want something corny? You got it!