Tree trunk acting

From:The Courier Mail
Date:08,jan,2004
By:Mike O'Connor

They must easily be the most overworked eyebrows on television, given that between them they are required to support 60 minutes of drama.

The eyebrows in question belong to The Guardian's Nick Fallin (Simon Baker), an actor who so closely resembles a human statue that it amazes me that pigeons do not flutter on to the set and perch on his head in mid-scene.

Perhaps he has suffered some rare complaint which has atrophied his face, for Fallin is incapable of using facial muscles to express emotion, a definite handicap for one who has chosen acting as a profession.

His performance in next week's episode is especially wooden and those who admire the tree trunk school of acting could not fail to be smitten by his style.

His girlfriend moves in with him at his suggestion, a development he greets with a grunt.

Each further evolution of the plot, threadbare and unimaginative though it may be, is greeted with either grunts or the raising and lowering of his eyebrows – up for surprise or to indicate a question, down to signal displeasure or disagreement.

If you can manage to stay awake during next week's episode of The Guardian titled Let's Spend The Night Together, then I would suggest you are suffering from hyperactivity and in need of medication.