I haven't watched those episodes in a long time. I think I'm meshing the two together. The scene where he's sitting on Mary Stewart Masterson's couch is the episode or scene I'm specifically thinking about that I thought was good. But when you think about it- both of those episodes are focused on Elliot beating someone or something up and then forcing himself to cry. You can see him thinking too much about the cry, which is what I think you hate about the acting. And I have to agree that he could have done it better.

It's kind of interesting because I just went through a big thing breakthrough, having to cry in this play that I'm doing every night. It took me the entire rehearsal period to figure out how to believably cry every night. It's tough because you can do certain breathing techniques and mental excercises to get yourself there, but until you learn how to do it without thinking about it---it's not believable. But it's so so so subtle.

I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this. I guess my point is, that it's interesting how something so slight can make a performance amazing as opposed to good.

Again, thanks Scar for shedding some light on the Emmy process, not to mention the acting critique.

Breaking an actors performance down, based on what you described, is really interesting...and puts a lot of things into focus. It's kind of no wonder Chris hasn't won anything yet.

I agree with you on your breakdown of Mariska's performance in "Undercover."
Initially, I was thinking she (or the director) didn't do enough to show the 'junkie' side of her character early in the charade. But, as an someone untrained in acting (and also someone who knows little about junkies ), I was expecting her to do what I've always seen done in movies, t.v, where someone is going through withdrawal. The shakes. The sweating.
What she did do, was subtle, and maybe someone addicted to prescriptions behaves differently when they are going 'without.'

Her 'physical' acting spoke for itself. And as far as emotional connection...right on the money (and not just because she screamed and cried!)
There was a difference in the emotion she was able to convey during the attack. Initially, Olivia had the 'fight or flight' thing going...screaming with ferocity, with energy. After the punch in the face...you could hear in Mariska's voice when Olivia 'broke.' It was that next pitiful 'Nooooo' that really broke my heart!

The use of her words...I think she DID make some of her lines 'her own' (geez, now I'm sounding like Paula Abdul ) ...
"Did I strike a nerve?" was priceless....not to mention the strain in her voice when she realized Harris didn't have TB...'he tried to kill me.' Enough emotion to sense what she was feeling...but enough restraint for us to understand how Olivia was trying to keep it together.

At least, to the untrained ear...that's what I heard!

Chris...I don't know what to say. "Paternity" gave him NOTHING to even chew the fat on....I've said it before...I wonder if he really ticked off someone big last year, during contract negotiations or something. His character has just drifted off into blandness....

Scar...I'd love your Emmy acting analysis on the episode "Fault."
I actually think Chris did more in THAT episode than in anything in the last two years....

That is the decription I am looking for. Thank you!

And please feel free to share. I am learning so much!




Liv having the shakes while undercover is so cliche, and Liv as a druggy was not what the eppy was about. Besides, there was but so much to cover in the 42 minutes given (is it still 42 minutes because I could swear I get about 12 commercials each break). They also didn't show Liv having to go up against the biggest bad ass in the prison where she comes out on top, and I am not sure who to thank for that, but I will just put a big fat THANK YOU out there anyway. Those things are so predictable, and again, not what the story is telling us.

The punch in the face was possibly the best part to me because as you so brilliantly described it, that was the moment you could tell Liv had been broken. When she said "no" right after he hit her, I almost cried. It was simple but very powerful. It was very heartbreaking, but I loved that part! Thank you for putting words to my thoughts!

As for Chris, he didn't piss off anyone because he is still getting $6.5mil a year. I honestly believe TIIC feel the same as some of us when it comes to Chris. He does not deliver when he is given the meaty stuff. Rage should have been an Emmy winner - instead it was an unwatchable piece of junk. I had high hopes for him for that eppy, but they were quickly dashed when I began to watch the eppy. I only watch the last 15 minutes now because I truly cannot stand to watch the rest of it. In Fault, again, all that screaming just does not work for me (Chris does, however, pull you in with his eyes) Lou Diamond Phillips certainly did his share, and MH, well you already know. She did more with just a simple tear.ANDREA

Liv having the shakes while undercover is so cliche, and Liv as a druggy was not what the eppy was about. Besides, there was but so much to cover in the 42 minutes given (is it still 42 minutes because I could swear I get about 12 commercials each break).
ANDREA

I think Chris is the best actor on SVU. As Mariska has said in the past, he raises the bar for everyone on the show. And during the first season he acted circles around Mariska. Even she acknowledged that she was not that good the first year.

Chris is a wonderful character actor, but his character on SVU is written within a one dimentional box because most procedural characters are written that way for television. I will be glad when he leaves SVU and moves on to the big screen and stage where he's able to do his best character work. He's really limited on what he can do on SVU.

Okay this is a book....

You have some really great quesitons about how the Emmy's are judged. I too would like to know the details of these awards ceremonies, but I really can only give you heresay, as I know noone in the Television biz. Now if these were the SAG awards- bring it. I know how that crap works. Straight down to the little ballot and the free movies.

As far as I can tell- it's a popularity contest. And I'm not saying that in terms of -"What actor has the biggest fan base?" I'm talking about the judges. If you go to the Emmy page and read how they choose the judges and how they judge the award winners- It is pretty vague. http://www.nyemmys.org/en/cms/?31

The webstie says- they're being judged by their peers. I'm assuming that anyone involved in TV or anyone who had a sucessful Television career and wants to participate -directors, producers, actors, writers, etc- these people are the judges. And we the low life audience members are supposed to know what's amazing television and what isn't amazing television, after they are finished.

Now if Martin Scorsese voted for "Medium" and I knew about it- I'd probably watch it, cause that man has amazing taste. (but that would never happen. Cause I watched that once and I can't imagine Martin sitting through ten minutes of that show. OHHHH )

But people like Martin Scorsese aren't voting for the Emmy Awards. You've got people like Paula Abdoul, Paris Hilton, that annoying chick from Grey's Anatomy, Susan Summer's, and all of the actors on the WB ----voting for best actress in a TV drama! Who the hell knows what they like or how they vote!!!!!

As for script- a good actor will be able to tell when the script is just plain bad. They're not going to deduct points from her acting score because the "undercover" part of the episode was unrealistic. The problem is...the script as it's own thing is not that bad. It's the script compared to other SVU scripts and Olivia's character that makes it bad. But these people are only judging her on this episode, so she'll be fine. I'm sure that most of the people judging only see an SVU episode once a year when they're voting. The script isn't going to hurt Mariska at all in this.

I think die hard fans get mad when they change stuff just for the Emmy award. And they keep getting crazier and crazier ever year. But whatever.


When comes down to the judging- they base it on acting in this one episode only. And I'm not sure what the categories are but this is this is how I would judge it.

1.) Physical-----How well they used their body to portray a character or emotion. Cynthia Nixon uses her body brilliantly in the SVU eppy she did. Mariska in "Undercover", also brilliant. The one thing the writers did for her in this episode, is that they gave her an oppurtunity to change her mannerizims. When she's talking to the other prisoners- especially in the prision yard- she walks differently, hunches a bit, changes her speech. Beautiful! I give her a 10 in the category!

2.) Emotional connection------Did the actor truthfuly connect with the moment? Did they stay in the moment? Mariska was IMO emotionally connected to everything they gave her. The other thing that I liked about this eppy was the Voice Over. If you listen to Huang's voice over- he basically tells you what she's going to feel and go through- and you can pin point every note that he gives her,through her stay at the prison. Even in moments that you weren't expecting. Like you'd expect her to be humiliated as she stands naked in the dirty shower- but her biggest moment of humiliation is when the jerk guard pushes the basketballs over and makes her pick them up in front of Fin.

I'd give Mar a 10 for this too.

3.) True to the character or charactirization------How well did this person stay true to the life of the character? How well did they bring this character to life? And did the character change? Was there an arc?

This is super tricky, because the people judging have to ignore everything they know about SVU and only judge this episode. If they've never seen an eppy -then it's fine. And in that case- Mariska would get a ten. We see tough cop, undercover cop with one hell of a good prisoner persona, and then broke down "Out of her eliment" cop--finishign up with some ass kicking recovery and a heart breaking moment with Elliot.

If the judges are die hard SVU Olivia Benson fans they may not be so forth giving. There was a moment durign teh attack scene. Right after she's been hiding and he finds her that I would have LOVED to have seen some mental minipulation interrogation skills. Instead of losing her mind and giving up, using her logical detective brain to talk her wayout of it. OR at least- knock him out and steal the damn keys to get the hell out of there. She wasn't even trying to look for something to hit him with. She just sat there. ARG. Sorry- writing, writing writing! Not her fault.

So based only on the eppy- I give her a 10
Based on what I wanted to see---I give it a 5



Use of language-----How well did they use the words and their voice to portray moments and character.

Watch the prison yard scene. She totally changes the tone of her voice and a bit of her accent. It's sublte, it's nice, I love it.

As far as words- or doing anything outragiously different to make something funny or extra dramatic- AH- not sure you can really go that far or do anything brilliant on a TV show. But for a good example of this- Watch Judy Dench in "Notes on a Scandle". There is a scene with her in a cafe and the way she says some of the lines makes that scene hilarious. "They always let you down (pause) in the end."
On paper thats not very moving, but the way she says it and pauses......Chilling.

Mariska didn't really do anything like that in this episode. Although I don't know that she could have.

I give her an 8.

and Lastly!! Do DOOOO

Shutzpah!----- AKA-that magic something that makes you want to watch more. And this is what makes it a popularity contest. This is something that is subjective and different for every person. it's like- damn I love Obama- he'll be the best President IMO- But Hilary is my Beotch. I had to vote for her.

SO see, in the end it doesn't really matter. It doens't matter how good of an actress you are, certain people will always be drawn to certain things. She can just do the best with what she's given and hope that her judges aren't Krya fans.

Big TEN for me on this one.

Total= 44

And now you all should do the Scarlett Von Uttenburg Emmy ballot.

1.) Physical
2.)Emotional COnnection
3.)True to Character
4.)Use of Verbal/language skills
5.) Shutspah!

When he was nominated in 2006, he submitted the scene in Ripped where it's just him and Mary Stuart Masterson where Elliot had a roller coaster of emotions.

Okay....so the "Top Ten" lists for the acting categories in the Emmy race have now been made public.

I don't watch some of these shows...maybe some people here do. I'm wondering about Mariska's chances now...
(this is only the Top Ten...not the actual nominees. Last year they picked 6 from the 10 to be noms.)

THe list for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series includes:

Patricia Arquette for Medium
Glenn CLose for Damages
Minnie Driver for The Riches
Sally Field for Brothers and SIsters
Our MH!
Holly Hunter for Saving Grace
Elizabeth Moss for Mad Men
Mary McDonnell for Battlestar Galatica
Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer
Jeanne Tripplehorn for Big Love.

Anyone seen any of the others (I do watch "The Closer" and I know Kyra is great. I watched "Saving Grace" a few times last summer...it was just meh for me. Could just be the late time slot...too tired to really care.)
The rest, I have no idea...

All of last years nominees are in there, sans Edie Falco, now that the Sopranos are done.

Anyone got anything to say about the others?

By the same token, if Mariska didn't get "Undercover"...I think she could have 'pulled a Heigl' too

so did mariska get nominated for an emmy???

i cant seem to find the answer... anywhere.

Go Mariska! I'm glad she was nominated especially since alot of "critics" didn't include her in their top five predictions. IMO the nominees for best actress was very predictable, no surprises.


PS: Yay for Dexter.

I totally agree with that.

But I don't predict that Mariska will win. Which is fine. WHatever. We'll get to see her on the red carpet and she'll probably do Ellen again. WOOHOOO!

No big surprise that MH is nominated. Undercover was the talk of the season (not that this says much because S9 was lackluster), and MH put her heart and soul into that performance. It showed in every move she made.

Sally did nothing this season.

Don't know what Holly did, but I can't imagine anything from this season beat out MH's performance.

Kyra is a strong contender, and I believe they want her to have it. I don't see her as a power performer, but she does a wonderful job from the little I saw. I am going to start watching the Closer because I was pretty impressed with the show as a whole when I watched last week. Not sure I would be happy if Kyra beat out MH this year.

Glenn Close? Well, she's Glenn Close, and because she was robbed of her 1988 Oscar, I would not be destroyed if she were to take home this honour. She is just a magnificent actress, and from what I have seen from just the previews of Damages, she is worthy.

However, I WANT MARISKA TO HAVE IT, and I so hope she gets it.


ANDREA

I knew Mariska would get a nomination. She did a great job in Undercover, but I think the award will be given to Glenn or Holly. Their performances are a step above the competition in the best actress category in my opinion. I watched the season premier of Amazing Grace this week and I think Holly might even give Close a run for her money. And that is not easy to do.
Close is a phenominal actress, but the character she plays in Damages is evil and hard to like.

the only other person whose ep I watched is Kyra Sedwick. I love the Closer. I've seen Holly Hunter in her role briefly and I've watched the first season of Minnie Driver in the Riches, tho IMO she should be in the comedy category.

I love MH but like Scar said she's got some tough competition, all of those women are good actors. this might be the hardest category for the judges. I think MH will be nominated because she is amazing and her work in Undercover beats Florida where she was nominated last year. Good luck to her.

I knew Mariska would get a nomination. She did a great job in Undercover, but I think the award will be given to Glenn or Holly. Their performances are a step above the competition in the best actress category in my opinion. I watched the season premier of Amazing Grace this week and I think Holly might even give Close a run for her money. And that is not easy to do.
Close is a phenominal actress, but the character she plays in Damages is evil and hard to like.

ya, i finally picked up on it i think, is saving grace just about a red neck cop?? ive never really been interested so i havent watched it, her hair just drives me crazy!! it makes me want to brush it or something!

One reason I hear that Glenn Close wouldn't win is because her character isn't likeable (I'm going to start watching damages). A strike that MH has is playing a cop along with Kyra and Holly. MH and Kyra have the likeable, root for their character quality that's on reason why I think Kyra will win. I hear Sally Field wasn't great this season and it's a stretch for her to be in the lead actress category, but I don't watch that show save for a few eps in past seasons. I can't comment on Holly and her show. I do think its an honor for MH to be nominated with some real deal movie stars in a tough category, a definate credit to her acting.




As far as I know, she's a red neck cop with past issues who talks to an angel. I haven't had a desire to watch the show. I watch too many cop shows as it is plus her grungey look turns me off. I may watch an ep since it comes after the Closer to see if I like it.

One reason I hear that Glenn Close wouldn't win is because her character isn't likeable (I'm going to start watching damages). A strike that MH has is playing a cop along with Kyra and Holly. MH and Kyra have the likeable, root for their character quality that's on reason why I think Kyra will win. I hear Sally Field wasn't great this season and it's a stretch for her to be in the lead actress category, but I don't watch that show save for a few eps in past seasons. I can't comment on Holly and her show. I do think its an honor for MH to be nominated with some real deal movie stars in a tough category, a definate credit to her acting.




As far as I know, she's a red neck cop with past issues who talks to an angel. I haven't had a desire to watch the show. I watch too many cop shows as it is plus her grungey look turns me off. I may watch an ep since it comes after the Closer to see if I like it.

Congrats to Mariska! And that is quite a list to be included in.

I'm a regular watcher of the Closer. I like it, but I don't know that I feel Kyra deserves an emmy for it. I could explain the cookie thing, but it really isn't that important, just a quirk.

The rest of them...well, my tv watching is fairly limited other than SVU. I couldn't get past the whole angel thing to even attempt to watch Holly Hunter. Sally Field...eh. Glenn Close...I echo an earlier comment, shes just never done anything for me. Doesn't mean a thing about her acting ability.

Well, anyway. Go Mariska!

This crap really burns me. Instead of seeing what Glenn brings to the industry and rewarding her for it, she's dissed? Idiots! This is what happened with Fatal Attraction. That statue had "Glenn Close" written all over it, but Cher got it because the character in FA was not liked, and the thought of a man being "victimized", is inconceivable. Idiots!

The fact that the character is not liked shows Glenn's acting chops, and must these morons forget that it is just a character? Why should the audience learn to separate characters and actors if these imbucile's can't? Why the double standard?

ANDREA

LOL, didn't mean to get you riled up! what I said is just one opinion on a reason why she would not get a vote to win or they could just believe that someone else deserves it because it is believed by alot of people that the emmy is hers to lose. Keep in mind I have not seen Damages. I do believe character likeability plays some part in it, not sure how much. Anyway this is the reason why some people believe these award shows are bs.

LOL, didn't mean to get you riled up! what I said is just one opinion on a reason why she would not get a vote to win or they could just believe that someone else deserves it because it is believed by alot of people that the emmy is hers to lose. Keep in mind I have not seen Damages. I do believe character likeability plays some part in it, not sure how much. Anyway this is the reason why some people believe these award shows are bs.

They just made the nomination on E News. Mariska WAS nominated!!!!!!! Oh, God, I'm still shaking! Congratulations Mariska!

She's up against Glenn Close, Sally Field, Holly HUnter, and Kyra Sedgwick.

Robin Williams and Cynthia Nixon also made the cut. Way to go SVU!

Congrats to Mariska! And that is quite a list to be included in.

I'm a regular watcher of the Closer. I like it, but I don't know that I feel Kyra deserves an emmy for it. I could explain the cookie thing, but it really isn't that important, just a quirk.

The rest of them...well, my tv watching is fairly limited other than SVU. I couldn't get past the whole angel thing to even attempt to watch Holly Hunter. Sally Field...eh. Glenn Close...I echo an earlier comment, shes just never done anything for me. Doesn't mean a thing about her acting ability.

Well, anyway. Go Mariska!

I am really excited for Mariska, and I really hope she wins for 2 reasons.

One, her performance in Undercover was amazing. I'm sure it was a very difficult one for her to shoot because she has said before that she literally cannot sleep before shooting certain scenes. I would imagine shooting that basement scene for her was very difficult on an emotional level. Mariska is such a committed actress that she actually experiences those emotions. There are not even words to describe how grateful I am to her for putting herself in that place so that we can understand the violence and emotion behind a sexual assault.

Two, I think Mariska's first emmy win for 911 will always be clouded by the fact that her father went into the hospital for the last time on that evening. She is such a wonderful person who gives so much back to others. She deserves the chance to really experience what that feels like without having to feel that. She deserves to be able to stand up on the stage and accept an award for all of her hard work without having to feel torn between the culmination of her professional career and the physical need to be there to love and support her father and all of the uncertainty and emotion that is associated with that night. I would love for her to finally be able to have that, and there has never been a year where she deserves it more.

I'm kinda disappointed that Christopher Meloni wasn't recognized- he's a brillant actor who is due to have one of those statuettes. However I am fully aware that he didn't really do much in season 9, all his scenes were fairly on an equal amount as Fin, Munch, Lake, etc. while Mariska had Inconceivable, Signature, and Undercover with a great amount of screen time. I don't think his scenes for Paternity were not enough to be recognized for a nod to which I am kinda glad he wasn't nominated. Maybe that's why season 10 sounds 'Stabler-y' with troubles with one of his children, his mother coming around, being affected by a mental illness of someone he loves, and his shaky relationship with Fin. Season 10 could be very well Christopher's last season with SVU and I hope, pray that he would be recognized for his overdue work.

I'm kinda disappointed that Christopher Meloni wasn't recognized- he's a brillant actor who is due to have one of those statuettes. However I am fully aware that he didn't really do much in season 9, all his scenes were fairly on an equal amount as Fin, Munch, Lake, etc. while Mariska had Inconceivable, Signature, and Undercover with a great amount of screen time. I don't think his scenes for Paternity were not enough to be recognized for a nod to which I am kinda glad he wasn't nominated. Maybe that's why season 10 sounds 'Stabler-y' with troubles with one of his children, his mother coming around, being affected by a mental illness of someone he loves, and his shaky relationship with Fin. Season 10 could be very well Christopher's last season with SVU and I hope, pray that he would be recognized for his overdue work.

ya, even in BLINDED when the ep was all about him, they didnt show much HIM, so it obviously wasnt...but they did show alot of CM in the earlier seasons when MH used to just be the background, the wall paper if you will