new actors

I know what you mean. The pool is very small and I sometimes find myself thinking "not her again" - it's usually a female.

Talking about gestures, I watched an interview with Russell Crowe a while ago, where he spoke about an actor's "tell" - the actor's own gestures and mannerisms that cannot be easily hidden. His is that he spreads his fingers across his forehead and rubs his forehead. I can picture him doing it now.

I hope it's a long time before Olivia Coleman turns up in anything. I seem to be the only person on the planet who doesn't think she's a great actress.

Nicola Walker's (Last Tango in Halifax) stammering at the beginning of every sentence when she's protesting about something is also tedious and predictable.

I could not agree less!
There are some brilliant actors out there -stage and tv also probably film, but I don't go very often - but because they are not necessarily yet well know names, perhaps they don't register with us viewers
Jennifer Kirby, Josette Simon, Joanne Froggett, Robert James-Collier, Joshua McGuire, Alex Waldmann among them.

So mawbroon that is the question - why do we see the same ones all the time then?

Or to put it another way, why are the same people cast all the time, and how will e.g. the ones you name become well-known if they're not cast in popular shows or series?

Speaking as someone whose DD has been training as an actress, I do agree with the OP. It is very difficult for new actresses to break into the industry because it is 'safer' to cast someone who is a known quantity.

..see the same faces..constantly on magazine covers too i.e GH and W&H...?

FARVIEW its magazines that are my bugbear,I asked my OH to pick me up a few as I'm stuck at home sick ,,he brought me four ...they all had versions of the same stories about the same people ,Kate,Colleen Nolan,Pippa Middleton, Denise Walsh and Harry's new bidey in.Total waste of money.What did magazines publish before all this celebrity worship ?

Tales of fiction, serials, and features about interesting, REAL people!

Because well known actors attract audiences grannyknot
People will watch Happy Valley because of Sarah Lancashire not A.N Other. Downtown Abbey for Maggie Smith, Last Tango for Anne Reid or Derek Jacobi etc
Butbthey have not all been around for decades. Jennifer Kirby is a relative newcomer (the new midwife in CTM) and has only been out of Drama school for 4 or 5 years but has already acted for the RSC and Regents Park open air Shakespeare.

I read an account of a lecture that Derek Jacobi gave recently where he decried the recent trend in London theatres to cast non thespian 'celebs' in leading roles regardless of their talent or abilities, instead of seasoned actors, but he acknowledged the need to 'get bums on seats'. That's what it is all about, both on TV and in the theatre. We recently went to see a Pinter play on stage. I find Pinter hard going and but for the additional hook of seeing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen perform it I might have thought twice about going. That may seem shallow to some, but it's probably a lot of people's attitude also.

It seems to be the same with presenters. We go through spells of seeing a presenter virtually every day on different channels. All very good I hasten to add ! But there must be more than Ben Shepherd, Bradley Walsh, and Holly Willoughby . They seem to hop between serious shows and game shows

It's because casting is done by the accountants.

I get fed up with actors who seem to get the leads in a LOT of shows, or close to a lead, and then...

We see them in adverts! What, they don't get enough for their series?

James Nesbitt is one who comes to mind... good grief, he has been in dozens of productions.

Disgruntled Sat 20-May-17 10:09:27 You are so right, especially for the current market, they will be around as long as the sales come in. But some of them have descended into mediocrity and we STILL see them. Where's the opportunities for new talent?

As for actors agreeing to do ads, I think it probably comes from the mindset of the fragility of employment - you never know when your next job might be or if there will be one, so you take what you can get.

Angelab I agree. It's also a case of if we put him/her in it it's bound to get viewers. Perhaps they should read this forum.

As long as they keep making series as good as Line of Duty I don't care who acts in them but TBH I like most of the actors/ actresses (I still prefer that word) in these series.I'll watch anything with Maxine Peake, Sarah lancashire or Olivia Coleman etc.in as I know I am going to enjoy it.
I think we are very lucky to have such good series made in this country even if some of them are hard to watch- Three Girls broke my heart but being factual it is important we know these things go on.

I get fed up seeing Fiona bruce everywhere. Watch the news? She does that. antiques roadshow, she's there. new art programme? She does that too. The BBC always do that & say this person is fantastic etc. etc as they did with Attenborough, when really lots of people could have done it just as well and it would be nice to see new faces

They are such great actresses. When you think Maxine peake started out in dinner ladies, look where she has got too.
Loved line of duty, happy valley another great actress, last tango in Halifax I could go on.
Have to add hinterland BBC wales, watched that on my iPad.

I think the same about sows whete the same people are in them like Holly Willouby, and Philip Schofield, they are everywhere i love them both, but it does make you wonder how much time they get to spend with their families
Its getting the same with Eammon Holmes and Ruth Langsford now as well
Cant bear to watch Keith Lemon, Holly is in thatt too, and the others have appeared in it
I used to like Noel Edmonds deal or no Deal, and always liked him,but i know someone who was a contestant and she says hes horrible
I liked Last Tango in Halifax and love Sarah Lncashire,
Also liked it because it was my home town and i recognised some places

I'm so glad I don't know 3/4 of the people you lovely people are talking about. I decided I didn't want a telly when I moved into my own home 4 years ago because, I was a 'TV addict'...
Thankfully, I have other things to do with my time. However, I do sympathise with your point of view. Actors are like fashion items. Some are just for the times and others are timeless classics.
The 'new fashion' is just around the corner; 'Primark doesn't last My sisters keep threatening to buy me a TV. I really hope they don't.

I'd watch Maxine Peake reading the telephone book!
She was absolutely the right person to play the sexual health worker in '3 Girls', totally believable.

i tend not to watch a great deal of drama on the tele these days - can't concentrate enough on it.
but i do like midsomer murders, lewis and inspector morse/endeavour.
and i like it when established stars appear on these - haven't a clue why but you seem to see them cropping up on all these.
sometimes when you watch a film or maybe another programme [i do watch dramas sometime] you'll see a familiar face and it takes quite a while to find out where you've seen them before - thanks to wikipedia i usually find out!