Best "Actors" on ice | Golden Skate

Best "Actors" on ice

lyverbird1

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
I was wondering who everyone thought exhibited the best acting skills on ice? I am making the subtle distinction here from overall artistic interpretation and am talking more about who really communicates the character or emotion outwardly the best, particularly in character driven programmes. I know that a lot of skaters are now working with acting coaches as well as choreographers and regular skating and fitness coaches and maybe that is paying off for some of them. As a starter, I'll make a couple of nominations and then throw the question out there for others to nominate:

Ladies: Ashley Wagner
Men: Javier Fernandez
Pairs: I'll take a man and a lady from different pairs: Aljona Savchenko and Alexander Smirnov
Dance: Papadakis and Cizeron (especially him, but both are wonderful, I prefer their acting skills to the overselling/overacting of e.g. Elena Ilynkh)
 

andromache

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Agree with everyone in the OP, but also want to add my own who are tied with or close to the ones OP stated.

Ladies: Evgenia Medvedeva - Very expressive eyes, which is an important part of acting. As she branches out into other genres, she can become more well-rounded as an on-ice actress.

Men: Adam Rippon - He really does communicate the emotion/expression of the music and theme he portrays 110%, and not only that, doesn't really come off at OTT or fake.

Pairs: OP's Smirnov pick was such a good one that I can't think of any current pairs men who even come close. Sorry pairs men, y'all need to step up your acting game. Aliona is also the class of the pairs ladies, but I think Sui is also pretty good, as is Tatiana Volosozhar.

Dance: Virtue/Moir are a little more OTT than P/C, but not in a bad way. Two different acting styles, both excellent. I like the Elena and Madison OTT diva acting, but their partners are so understated that it sometimes feels off. Elena's acting looked best next to OTT diva Nikita because together they looked brilliant rather than OTT. But when you're skating next to someone subdued, the OTTness becomes apparent and not necessarily in the most positive of ways. Varies from performance to performance, really. V/M and P/C, on the other hand, have acting styles in which the partners match extremely well.
 

Ares

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 22, 2016
Country
Poland
Acting: Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte, inherent for them. Noteworthy element of their performances both in competition & during exhibition (just watch the one from Boston, great comedy :D ).
 

Rossig

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
I understand you are asking about current skaters? Then definitely Anna and Luca and Javier Fernandez. I wouldn't put P&C in this category. They are excellent skaters, but I don't think they have already shown acting skills.
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Somehow french and italian skaters often seem to have a knack for on-ice acting: Papadakis/Cizeron, Florent Amodio, Péchalat/Bourzat, Philippe Candeloro, Anissina/Pezerat, Cappellini/Lanotte and Valentina Marchei are/were all great at character driven interpretation.

The Canadians as well! Kurt, of course. Shae-Lynn Bourne, Virtue/Moir, Gilles/Poirier.

Alexei Yagudin and Ashley Wagner also come to mind.


Daisuke Takahashi :love:
Yes to that! Especially after the pizza-routine with Shae-Lynn. I didn't think that in addition to everything else he can do, he'd also have comedic talent. (Even though there were hints of it in "La Strada".) He's even going to do some Kabuki-style acting next year. :eek:




Some excel at comedic stuff first and foremost, like Javier Fernandez, Tomasz Verner, Debi Thomas, Yamato Tamura, Misha Ge, Dylan Moskovitch, Scott Hamilton and Laurent Tobel.


There are so many in this list already and I'm sure, I still forgot a whole bunch of people!
 
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apgold

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Country
United-States
Tessa & Scott come to mind for me. Look at Carmen and most of their current work. Tessa gives great face, although Scott is a bit over the top sometimes. They've been able to play the passionate couple on the ice where everyone who sees them thinks they're a couple off the ice.

As mentioned earlier, Ashley is the current queen of acting. I would also say the Elena Radionova could be a great little actress on the ice, too. She is very expressive.

I always felt that Josh Farris, despite his shyness, was good at portraying a character particularly his last two competitive programs before he retired.
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Pairs: Volosozhar/Trankov, Alexei Rogonov, Savchenko/Massot, Kavaguti/Smirnov. And it might be a little soon, but Peng/Jin really impress me with their acting skills so far.

Ice dance: currently, Papadakis/Cizeron, Cappellini/Lanotte, and Gilles/Poirier.

Men: Misha Ge, Javier, Dmitri Aliev, Daniel Samohin! If we include retired skaters, then I'd add Tomas Verner, Florent Amodio, Daisuke, Stephane, Kurt Browning...and the not-quite-retired Plushenko

I don't think Ashley has much range as an actress at all...it's the same expressions in every program. I guess the bar is low for singles ladies, though. For me, Serafima is #1. (edit - forgot Alena Leonova, she definitely deserves a mention!) Elena and Evgenia are also talented, but I would like to see more range. Maybe Kaetlyn Osmond...
 
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skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
Great idea for a thread! I'm confining my nominees to current competitive skaters.

Ladies: Diva Ashley Wagner,:love: no contest or comparison anywhere!

Men: Javier Fernandez is leagues ahead of anyone else. Sinatra or Elvis, he's IT. Mikael Kolyada also has this talent, especially in the quirky pieces that remind me of Tim Burton movies, or has he made programs to music from one or more of the Burton soundtracks?

Adam Rippon has a different style of becoming the music so completely that he becomes poetry on ice. So different from Javi he's almost in a different category. Adam's acting style is like Meryl Streep's style in that he disappears into the character.

Pairs: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov; Alexander Smirnov;
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier, esp. in their Somewhere in Time LP. John Coughlin noted that they have an intuitive understanding of the characters born partly of their long partnership.
Cheng Peng and Yang Jin, especially in If It Takes Forever.

Dance: Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, because they portray their characters in such harmony with each other and with such subtlety that I'm hardly aware of it. I'm lost in the work of art I'm experiencing.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates, in their Les Mis program and No Business Like Show Business SP. They both hit the drama and the entertainment perfectly.
 
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el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
Number one: Jason Brown. Becomes one with whatever the music is, and importantly, communicates it to the audience. :clap:I think it is a gift, not learned, and I am glad he shares it with us.

So many number twos: Adam (funny, so many different views, I llike Adam and love some of his programs, but I find this year's programs too showy and OTT., not subtle at all), Deniss, Misha, Julian Yee .... all my faves:cheer:
 

Tolstoj

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Ladies: Alena Leonova. [1], [2]

Men: Misha Ge [1]

Pairs: Tatiana Volosozhar, Alexander Smirnov

Dance: Elena Ilinhk, Luca Lanotte.
 
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chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Some different names:
Jean Luc Baker, So Youn Park, Danny O'Shea, Morgan Cipres, Sui / Han
 
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