Which actor/actress did the best job of..

1) Wayne Alexendar as Sebastian. Probably the best done role in the series.

2) Wortham Krimmer as Emperor Cartagia. Talk about a guy who just NAILED the role. I dont think he could have portrayed the role any more perfect than he did. I liken his character to Jaquin Phoenix's role as Emperor in Gladiator (which was, of course, filmed many years later).

3) William Forward as Lord Refa. Another character that was extremely believable. You always just KNEW where this character was coming from and could completely relate and expect how he was going to think.

I guess it's quite a tough question in a way... plenty of good actors but to me, it looks as if it's easier for a good actor to make a human character feel "real" than to make an alien character feel real. So the answer is going to have to be skewered a bit because of that.

Still, I don't think there can be any doubt as for my first choice. JMS did a hell of a job writing the character of G'Kar but Andreas Katsulas brought him to life, making him seem, sound and feel more real than most human characters in the great majority of shows.

For the same reason - making an alien character feel real - Peter Jurasik, who even had the added obstacle of the ridiculous hair to overcome in making Londo such a marvellous tragic hero.

Julie Caitlin Brown made a very believable and "real" Na'Toth, IMHO - just a pity the character didn't last the whole series.

As for humans - of course I have a soft spot for Sinclair, so I'd have to say Michael O'Hare did an excellent job (I guess this is something a lot of people disagree with). And Jerry Doyle *was* Garibaldi.

It's a bit hard for me to judge guest appearances simply because we didn't see enough character development... but most if not all of the recurring guests were excellent in the roles they were given.

I would have to say Mira Furlan or Jerry Doyle .

Peter Jurasik,Jerry Doyle,Jason Carter and Mira Furlan

All of them did a great job, so it's really hard to choose, but I'd go for Claudia Christian and Peter Jurasik, as they played my favourite characters.

By the looks of things, the entire main cast did good at one point or another, enough to win some fans. I'm beginning to think that Bruce Boxlietner was the weakest link, acting-wise.

But we have forgotten a few minor ones, I think. Turhan Bey, who played Emperor Turhan and at least one other role, and Louis Turrenne (sp?) who played Draal in A Voice in the Wilderness and Brother Theo.

In addition to the obvious ones, I think John Vickery did an awesome job as Neroon (and Mr. Welles, for that matter)...

...and Jeffrey Willerth / Ardwight Chamberlain did a great job as a tag-team for Kosh!

-Tim

If we are getting into guest-stars I'd have to agree that many of them were excellent, IMHO. Remember the one nice emperor? I can't remember his hame, was it Turan? I think he also played the Minbari in that episode where the trainee had been attacked.

I do like the slightly over-the-top characters (its one of my weaknesses ) but I had to admire this actor's subtlety.

Subtle is harder to get across than over-the-top. Trust me, I always auditioned for the over-the-top rolls in the plays we put on at my college.

For the main cast i have no doubt, Andreas Katsulas, followed by Jerry Doyle and Peter Jurasik. For the less believable character i would say Claudia Christian.

mmm... as a recurring character i would say Walter Koening. Wasser made a great job too.

Oh, and dont forget the "interrogator" from the s4 Episode.

Do my eyes deceive me? Can it be that the best of the best was not mentioned? I will rectify that immediately.

The 2 best actors on the show - the guys who played Zathros and the Regent. But i do think the Regent wins by a hair. Look over the episodes in which he appears and you will see great acting.

I focused on naming guest stars because IMO they can, and usually do, make a bigger impact on a shows believability than the stars you see every day. I also figured that everyone in the run of this topic would name all the main stars anyway, so what was the point?

Guest stars are often overlooked, and they do deliver some of the best performances. Another reason I left out the regular stars, is because you see them almost every episode. They had lots of time to make their characters believable. I dont think many of them were believable when you first saw them per say. I dont think Jerry Doyle settled into Garibaldi until mid season 1. I dont think GKar was very believable until mid season 1 as well (and the actor didnt REALLY shine until Season 3 and beyond when things took a different diretion). Londo was also very roughly done at first as well.

Guest stars dont have time to ramp up their characters to an auidence. They have 1 shot and thats it. So when I see performances like Wayne Alexander, Kimmer, and some of the rest (I also do think John Vickery did an excellent job as the Director of Nightwatch and think he sold that character more perfectly than he did Neroon at first) where they capture us with an amazing performance in 1 shot, to me that is even more impressive --- and rare.

This is such a wide open question that I could name almost every actor or actress in the series. However, taken over the long haul, I would have to choose two of those who played aliens, and made them believable.

Andreas Katsulas made the rather ridiculous G'Kar come alive and eventually turn into almost a Saint.
Mira was able to make Delenn beautiful in the first year when she was bald, and then change into a different person when she became half human.
Both of these were tour de force characterizations and I think they outstripped everyone else.

IMO most of the actors and actresses were almost perfectly chosen for their parts, for which JMS can take credit. If you want to list all the names it would add up to almost everyone on the show.

We all have our favorites but I'm trying to be objective, so among the guest stars I would have just two or three, Wayne Alexander as Lorien and Sebastian, Wortham Krimmer as Cartagia would lead my list.

Excellent points, Recoil.

If were talking guest stars now this is hard one for me Walter Koenig,Ed Wasser or Fabiana Udenio are all my top choices .

Gues stars... Hmm.... My favourite was probably Michael Ansara as Elric... and the guy who played Naroon (he was mentioned earlier, but I can't remember his name).

Guest stars would have to be: Walter Koenig, Ed Wassner, and John Vickery. Not necessarily in that order.

I'd have to agree that whoever played Zathras did a great job of playing that role. It's hard to be insane!

Tim Choate was awesome as Zath-"ras" and Zath-"rass". hehehehe... "slight difference in way you pronounce..."

-Tim

Agree. Tim Choate did an excellent job of portraying Zathras & Zathrass. Do disagree with "the_exile's" contention Zathras was insane. He came across to me as highly intelligent with a very narrow but absolutely certain idea of his role in the world.

He simply existed in a different context than we humans do. Hence his oddities.