Why does it seem most actors don't read reviews?

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 7:50pm

Curious, here.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 7:52pm

They don't want to let potentially bad notices get them down.

Of course, when the good reviews happen (and all of their friends tell them to pick it up), they sure as hell read.

And then factor in that actors are professional liars. They all read reviews, good and bad. We could bet that there are some loud shrieks and sobs in Astoria when a bad review is published.

[kelzama]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 7:58pm

Some of the Broadway actors that I know personally do not read reviews. As one friend put it, if you believe the great reviews are true, then necessarily you have to believe the awful are too.

[BobPopa]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:00pm

The reason that many actors (I would not say most because in my experience that is not tru) is that they do not want the review affect the performance in anyway whether the review is good or bad.

They don't want to change what they do because of the review

[beyondblessed]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:17pm

Because they are distracting.

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 9:43pm

many actors, at least the ones i've talked to are afraid of reading negitive reviews about themselves of their show or their colleagues who have all been working very hard to produce something. it may affect their own mindset and in turn their performance in a negitive way, and no one wants that.

and also, actors don't do what they do to get reviews. they do it because it's their passion and they love their craft. reviews are unecessary for them, so why bother reading something that may not be beneficial.

and often times, even if the reviews are good ones, they choose not to read because again, they don't want to be affected. no one wants to see an actor who's too overconfident and too comfortable with their performance, we want fresh and alive.

anyway, at least that's what it is in my experience.. i'm the same way.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 3/26/07 at 11:25pm

At a theatre I worked at, no one was allowed to post any reviews in the hallway - even if they were fantastic. It's a preference, really. Obviously a good review is always a plus to the ego, while a truly terrible one can devastate a person. Personally, I always enjoy what a critic has to say - positive or negative.

Updated On: 3/26/07 at 11:25 PM

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 12:44am

I know of one who reads every little thing I post on here...well, it's not really that actor, more like the actor's relative...I'm not allowed to mention their names on here or I get the "go to hell" look evertime I see the actors relative...but I've been getting it everytime I see that person so I would just like to say hey to them right now...HI!!!!!

Okay, to answer your question, usually they don't read them because it affects their performance in a way. I mean, how would you feel if you were in a show working your butt off and then you read a review that says you're terrible?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 12:49am

Why should they bother reading print reviews when they can just read the message boards...and respond on line! Anonymously!

Hi Bernadette and Nathan! Love you both!

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 1:01am

I agree that they don't want their performances to alter or be affected just because they read a review.

Some don't even want their show discussed by anyone nearby them.

Others readily ask for feedback. All of them want you to see their show. One told me though he asked for feedback, he didn't really mean it, not to say anything negative, which I thought was kind of sweet--it was because he'd worked so hard on it, I'm sure. He is a most devoted, and now acclaimed, actor.

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 1:06am

Raul Esparza told a story of how he once read a review while he was playing Che in Evita that mentioned his use of his cigar...how he was particularly expressive or something...the next night he was focused on his cigar because of it, and he set the coffin on fire during the funeral scene...

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 1:18am

^ That's an example of what happens when you read your own reviews! I know Nathan Lane reads his reviews (he says so in a lot of interviews) but he never lets it get to him.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 2:27am

I have to admit that I do read reviews of the shows I'm in. I can't help it. If it weren't for the internet, I probably wouldn't (not as often anyway), but now that all newspapers are available online, and all you have to do is click your mouse a couple times, it's impossible for me not to.

It has its benefits. For example, I had been feeling very insecure about a particular performance of mine, and when Hedy Weiss of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote how much she liked my portrayal, it made me a lot more confident. Then again, had she not liked it, I probably would have been really hurt and that would have negatively affected my performance. So it can go both ways.

[Lizzya9]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 10:09am

they don't want to read something bad about themselves that will then lower their self-confidence or esteem. even if there are good things, most will only pay close attention to the bad reviews.

[BobPopa]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 10:18am

A lot of theatre's have policies that ban the posting of reviews in the theatre, my current theater included.

If the theatre has no particular policy then the SM goes with their personal policy

[sidjones09]

Posted: 3/27/07 at 10:29am

I think it also depends on the actor's confidence in each role. For me at least, the more comfortable I feel in a role and a production, the more likely I am to read the reviews because I don't think they will effect me one way or the other. But if I am feeling less confident or unsure about my performance in a particular production, then I don't want to read the reviews, not because I'm sure they'll be negative, but because I am more vulnerable to becoming even more self conscious and unintentionally taking direction from critics.