Wow, I never thought I'd say that. I've never liked Dev much as a character and I've never rated Jimmi Harkishin as much of an actor but I stand here today and admit I may have been wrong. While he's still rubbish at emotional scenes, he's been hitting the mark a lot lately as Dev deals with his and his children's grief and is now in crusade mode to prove Sunita's not guilty of murder and arson.
Most of the actors are very different from the character they play and logically, Jimmi is the same so his acting skill probably is better than I gave him credit for. I've had a bit more of a think and
blog about it over here.
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21 comments:
Viewers would have to be quite naïve to believe that a character's *personality* was the same as the actor's.
1) What is often very similar is the style of delivery. Sophie/Brooke is an example, and Chris Gascoyne, too, a wonderful actor, but when I saw him in the crowd at the Lass O'Gowrie, he was dragging on his fag just like Peter Barlow.
2) There are the actors who play the same role wherever they go, such as Nigel Havers - a good actor but limited in range. If you're looking for a roguish charmer, he's your man.
3) Then you get the sweeties, usually employed for their looks but can't act their way out of a paper bag: Tracy/Kate, Katie/Georgia amongst others.
4) The real professionals stand out because their range encompasses comedy and drama: Sally Dyvenor, Jane Danson, Chris Gascoyne (He has trouble switching off Peter Barlow but he's made him a very complex character because of his skills).
Jimmi Harkishan belongs in category 2. A quick look at IMDB gives a clue to what he can offer. He has become more interesting of late because his current *storyline* is strong. He's on a mission to uncover Karl and his acting skills aren't quite so important. The scenes with his children are a bit embarrassing because they haven't been written as well as those with Karl.
Many actors in soaps just play themselves. I personally find Jimmi Harkishan very wooden and almost comical when he doesnt mean to be. When asked if Sunita was murderer by his children he nodded his head, and said No. The strange noises and elongated vowls do not Larry Oliver make.
I normally find him wooden and not very natural either but he's been impressing me lately
I've always been a bit of a fan of Dev and don't consider him to be quite as bad as some people on this blog do, but I really think he has been great with this story line and I think it's down to storyline he can empathise with and good directing.
I agree with Dolly. Dev has never bothered me.
Dev doesn't bother me either. Although I've always wondered why he speaks like an Italian! :-) His hand gestures while talking, as well as his accent is very much like an Italian.
~JB in Canada
He doesn't bother me either and I think this particular storyline has been good for his character. I really hope they don't try to pair him up with Mary though..that would be pretty sad IMO...Sally is up for grabs..or Stella once she is saved from that Karl fella.
Yay Dev! Was it just me or did Dev give a 'look' in regard to Carl this evening??? And is Craig going to end up being involved with this? A surprise witness of sorts? Interesting........
P.S. Love that Dev has friends like Steve and Lloyd. :-) This is good ole Corrie for sure!
Newfy Pearl, no it wasn't just you, I noticed that look too! And also thought it looked like Craig knew something.
I'm just waiting to see if the tiny fireman suddenly remembers that he could smell smoke on Karl right after he'd done the deed.
Wasn't it Dr. Carter that gave Karl a strange look? I saw the look on Craig's face too..I'll bet he saw Sunita follow Karl into the Rovers that night...going to be good!!
Ohhhh, remember a few days back when Craig was "out of sorts" and didn't want to talk about it? Maybe he saw something that night. Maybe he was out playing when he shouldn't have been, when his mother was at the fundraising thing at the Bistro? Maybe he saw Karl going into the pub before the fire? And like most kids, he's afraid to tell in case he gets into trouble?
~JB in Canada
JB in Canada - his mother is Italian. That might explain it.
Oh I'm loving Corrie at the moment and wow a whole episode without St. Ella in it!! If it's true - kudos to the writers for involving Craig in Dev's quest to prove Sunita's innocence - even more surprising because Craig was not on screen for ages!
I like Jimmy's Dev, but I think the man who plays Roy of Roy's Cafe is the best of the bunch.
Chris Gascoyne is rubbish and about as wooden as they come; his maximum sentence string is about six words. Together with the woman who plays Carla, I couldn't think of a worse actor pairing. It's hard to tell who's worse.
Yep its pretty obvious that Craig saw something that night and is now brooding about his. His brash insensitive mother is far too wrapped in herself and Karkay to pick up on anything. How ridiculous was that scene when Dev knocked on Paul and Eileen's door, it was supposed to be around 6.30 in the morning and yet Karl turned up behind him right at that moment - dah!
Craig started looking nervous when Norris was talking to Karl about capital punishment. He might have seen something the night of the fire, but he also seems to have his own guilty conscience. If he broke a law too that night, I suppose he'll be reluctant to come forward...
As for the 6:30 a.m. start time, I liked how it got everyone in motion early, which meant more scenes in the Kabin and Roy's Rolls. By the time the episode ended, Roy's was just closing, the Rovers was relatively empty, and, aside from the confrontation between Carla and Rob, we were spared dinner hour at the Bistro -
Dev is my favourite character and has been for many years.
I find Jimmi's delivery of his lines very irritating. I don't know why he speaks with punctuations and full stops in all the wrong places, and stretches out every sentence. I wonder if he thinks it makes him seem more natural or if he's just a really bad actor like Mrs Overall off Acorn Antiques..
I love Dev and I don't think Jimmi is wooden at all. He has an unusual method of delivering his lines which makes him stand out and seem a bit strange, but we all know people in real life who come off as a bit strange and unusual. That doesn't mean he's a bad actor. I like that his scenes are generally quite memorable.
Similarly with Tracy, I don't think Kate Ford is a bad actress, I think that the CHARACTER is a bad actress. She comes off as insincere and transparent because the character is insincere and transparent. Tracy is a ridiculous character (which is not a bad thing in my opinion), it wouldn't make sense to play her as anything other than a pantomime villain.
Maybe Dr Carter saw Karl slip out of the Bistro during The Full Monty?
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