No, no, there's nothing you could tell me about Tom Welling that'd convince me he had half a wit. But I do wonder about the other two -- one of whom I've never seen in interview, and one of whom seems very erratic.

Kate Beckinsale is not entirely without talent, I think. I liked her quite a bit in "Cold Comfort Farm" and "Last Days of Disco". In her pre-"Pearl Harbor" flicks at least, she comes across as reasonably intelligent. As for Orlando, well, the boy does have charm, if not the smarts. The actress who played Victoria didn't ping me as in possession of much of either, but that could be because the role was so poorly-written, I suppose. I stopped watching Smallville around then, so I don't remember her too well.

ITA with ita on Tom Welling. So much with the pretty. So little wit.

I think I liked her in Cold Comfort Farm, but that might have been me liking the movie and her being the bathwater that didn't get thrown out.

As for Orlando, he seems so different in LotR interviews from ones where he's not talking about the experience that I wonder. Is he more invested in talking about LotR? More prepared? But I read the GQ interview and thought "I'd like to hang out with this guy, and not just to hack and shoot things."

I don't think dimness comes across in written celebrity pieces as well as it does simply seeing or hearing someone speak, unedited.

I get more of an "annoying stage school luvvie" vibe from Orlando than a "thick as two short planks" vibe. Drama kids always come across as over-eager and less than bright, in my experience.

I don't think dimness comes across in written celebrity pieces as well as it does simply seeing or hearing someone speak, unedited.

But I don't think he appears dim on all topics. Just when people ask him about himself. Most of the articles I'd read on him were very "Orlando likes carrots!" "He's so pretty!" so I figured there weren't any quotes of his worth using. The GQ article was the first time I'd read him saying anything about himself that looked interesting.

Exemplary work on GQ's part? Perhaps.

Out of print, he sounds eloquent fielding questions on LotR -- could mean he's well rehearsed, or less reluctant, or millions of things.

So I was wondering what the, uhh, understanding was of him closer to home.

an "annoying stage school luvvie" vibe from Orlando

Bwah!

At least in the stuff I've seen her in, Beckinsale seems to be cast as a Look, more than as an actress. I don't feel like I can say anything one way or the other about her ability.

Kate Beckinsale is fairly highly regarded, I think. That may be because her father was a very popular British tv actor in the 60's and 70's, and died quite young. Any article I've ever read about her tends to mention it.

Well, I liked Beckinsale's A&E version of Emma better than Gwenyth Paltrow's. I don't think one can be dumb and still do decent Austen (ditto Shakespeare), although the reverse is certainly not the case, e.g. Jack Lemmon in Branagh's Hamlet.

This makes me wonder, have there been any actors/actresses who are not known to be the brightest bulbs on the shelf yet can consistently do "intelligent" convincingly on screen? I can't think of any, off the top of my head.