Riley's acting - disconnected or wooden?

She's just bad, but it works okay.

I don't know how else or how better to portray a character who who has a lot on her mind but keeps it to herself. She had to keep her secret life from her family and coworkers and her private life from her clients. So she never said more than she had to say. Yet, thru her tone of voice, body language and especially her very expressive eyes, Riley Keough was able to make the character very believable with minimal dialog or scenes to explain her actions. Whether confident, embarrassed, happy, angry, frightened, nervous or bored, she was able to convincingly portray her feelings for a character who wasn't very talkative unless she was lying. I thought she was terrific in the role.

The character of Christine is intended to be reserved and distant. A bad actor with no range would not be able to pull it off. Bad acting tends to be over-stated, rather than understated.

I think the character was meant to feel disconnected and cold. She was called cynical and selfish by many people. She even asked herself if she could be a sociopath (or psychopath?). She wasn't meant to be likeable in the traditional sense of a main character.

She is the opposite of this in Mad Max: Fury Road. Her performance there was anything but disconnected and wooden (the scene where Angharad falls from the Rig is an example). In fact, I didn't even realize they were the same actresses at first, because her character in this is so different.

So, to me, her performance fits the character and her other acting jobs shows that she does have range, and that this isn't just how she is but how she was portraying the character.

What a lovely day!

shes a stick figure if she was willing to act then there would be something to care about .the issue with shows likes this that approach this source material is that if its too deadpan then its unrealistic .Hollywood libtards are trying to draw a line between whoring in real life and whoring in hollywood when the reality is they are one in the same .this chick is just another hollywood whore willing surpress her values and morals to make a buck.It just reenforces the story type that women are gold digging whore s

I love having some mystery to the character without having to question who he is "

I recommend rewatching Episode 4 to see that her acting is not wooden unless the scene calls for it. That episode gave Riley Keough the chance to portray a variety of emotions. She deftly handles a very awkward conversation with Kevin when he tells her he can’t afford her and asks if she can lower her rate because he’s in love with her. She is uncomfortable but remains sweet and smiling and says she’ll figure something out for him. As so often happens in this show, you can see the wheels turning in her mind as she is thinking more than she is saying. Later she coldly tells Kevin that she won’t make any exceptions in her rates.

She has a very realistic sounding conversation with her sister, laughingly making fun of her sister’s comments about a group therapy experience. But she takes on a serious (wooden?) tone when telling her sister she doesn’t like spending time with anyone unless something is being accomplished and uncomfortably telling her sister she’s too busy when her sister wants to spend a few days with her.

With client Michael, she’s sitting in his lap, laughing and sweetly flirting with him.

At David Tellis’ office party, she initially looks uncomfortable, which would be natural for a new intern at her boss’s party. But she loosens up and laughs when David talks with her.

Walking and talking with client Ryan, she chats about her lack of interactions with other people. It’s very similar to what she told her sister and might be the only time she was ever honest with a client when talking about herself. She laughs at his joke but her face conveys an immediate mood change when he says, “I’m F’ing with you. Hey, I’m F’ing you. That’s even better.” Without words, she convincingly looks both annoyed and embarrassed when reminded that these men may act interested in what she has to say but ultimately want her primarily for sex.

Back with Michael, we see her exerting control over their sex encounter and then laughing when his conversation is reduced to telling her about his foot fungus.

Having a drink with Davis Tellis, she is bright and witty.

While saying very little during the call in which Ryan’s wife offers her money to stay away, she is able to use her face, especially her eyes, to show nervousness, followed by defiance (“What if I don’t want your money?”) to opportunism (when offered as much as $20,000). Meeting with the wife to collect her money, she appears cool and collected but afterward shakes so badly she can’t hold her drink.

So while some of the scripts required her to be cold and unemotional, that is not because of the actress. Episode 4 gives Riley Keough a variety of behaviors and emotions to portray. She always makes the scene appear realistic with the right tone or look or mannerisms, often just using her very expressive eyes to give us a clue as to what the character is thinking but not saying.

She's deliberately playing disconnected, and incredibly well, too. There's a lot going on beneath the surface that you can only see in subtleties like her eyes or vocal delivery or body language. The show itself also has a sometimes detached and cold way of direction that can distance itself from the audience.

If you want to see wooden, try Sasha Grey's take in the show's inspiration, Soderberg's The Girlfriend Experience.

There's something I know when I'm with you that I forget when I'm away

Wooden.