What is happening to Tara Lipinski???

chuckm said:

Hmm. "Goal oriented about acting"--what the heck does that mean? In figure skating, you progress through juvenile, intermediate, junior, senior, or make your way up the ladder to the top of the podium.

The only goal for an actor is to keep getting roles, and hope for a big break. But getting that big break requires two things: luck and TALENT. Tara was an extremely talented skater, but IMHO, she is a dismal actress.

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Well she's probably going to auditions, getting feedback and taking acting lessons. She can't skate at a high level anymore so she probably wants to do something else where she can compete (and acting is competitive). In Brennan's book, Bezic said that Tara really loved the lifestyle of a skater. The lifestyle of an aspiring actress is probably similar: acting classes, fitness training, going from audition to audition and getting feedback, and hanging out with other hopefuls. The difference between Tara and others is that Tara doesn't need to wait tables to make a living.

That said, I think Tara is a pretty decent actress. She has always had a polished speaking voice and manner on the camera. At the very least, she can probably fall back on being a commentator. She might not make it now, but as the years go by, she might age a little more and then get plum roles. She might even change her name and then in 10 years she might make it. I bet no one could have foreseen Hilary Swank getting an Oscar after her roles in 90210, the The Next Karate Kid etc. Hilary struggled a lot with getting work and she's not exactly a physical ideal. She's not bad looking but she's no raving beauty.

I've spent many years in theater, and seen all the many levels of talent and lack of talent. Tara simply does not have acting talent. Period. The one thing that speech and acting lessons did for her was to get her to stop "cluttering" (running words together) and speaking too fast. But from what I have seen, she hasn't the faintest idea of what acting is. Every role I have seen her in, all she did was recite her lines. She was always Tara, never the character she was supposed to be playing.

It's ludicrous to compare Tara to Hilary Swank. While I agree they are about the same in the looks department, Hilary Swank happens to be an exceptionally fine actress, and that's why she was able to move from small parts in forgettable series to the big parts where she could make use of her considerable range and ability to inhabit the character, and win an Oscar. Hilary has as much talent as an actress as Tara had as a skater, and conversely, Tara has as much talent as an actress as Hilary Swank would have as a skater.

Mathman said:

Do you know who did the skating for Michelle Trachenberg?

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According to imdb, Jennifer Robinson is the only credited skating double.

soogar said:

That said, I think Tara is a pretty decent actress. She has always had a polished speaking voice and manner on the camera. At the very least, she can probably fall back on being a commentator.

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I think Tara would make an interesting commentator if she allowed her personality to come through. In the past, she has been outspoken and opinionated and I think that would be refreshing.

Spot the future star

Now, really, who would have been able to spot the future star?
- Hillary Swank - 90210
- Johnny Depp - 21 Jump Street
- John Travolta - Welcome Back Kotter

I also don't think that Tara will have to change her name, either. Aside from Figure Skating fans (and, sadly, we are in the minority compared to the public at large), in a few years most people won't remember who she was in her former career.

Linny

Well considering her credit is still after that of a dog..............................

Linny said:

Now, really, who would have been able to spot the future star?
- Hillary Swank - 90210
- Johnny Depp - 21 Jump Street
- John Travolta - Welcome Back Kotter

I also don't think that Tara will have to change her name, either. Aside from Figure Skating fans (and, sadly, we are in the minority compared to the public at large), in a few years most people won't remember who she was in her former career.

Linny

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I think that everyone will remember Tara as the Olympic Champion like they remember all the other Olympics champions. The champion that beat MichelleKwan at the Olympics. That's how us Canadians will remember her. I think that she will always be a star, no matter what she does, as long as she does her best and is happy with what she is doing.

millie said:

I think that everyone will remember Tara as the Olympic Champion like they remember all the other Olympics champions. The champion that beat Michelle Kwan at the Olympics. That's how us Canadians will remember her.

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I think that shows the true dominance that Michelle Kwan has over the sport of figure skating. The only thing other skaters are remembered for is how they did against Kwan.

I am sure that Tara would rather be known as a good skater in her own right, never mind Michelle Kwan.

Mathman

Mathman said:

I think that shows the true dominance that Michelle Kwan has over the sport of figure skating. The only thing other skaters are remembered for is how they did against Kwan.

I am sure that Tara would rather be known as a good skater in her own right, never mind Michelle Kwan.

Mathman

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:yes:

Mathman said:

I think that shows the true dominance that Michelle Kwan has over the sport of figure skating. The only thing other skaters are remembered for is how they did against Kwan.

I am sure that Tara would rather be known as a good skater in her own right, never mind Michelle Kwan.

Mathman

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Tara is remembered as an excellent Gold medalist at theOlympics.
Sarah is remembered as an excellent Gold medalist at the Olympics.
Sasha will be remembered as an excellent Gold medalist at the Olympics
Michelle may show true dominance over the sport of figure skating but the other skaters has the Gold medal at the Olympics to show their dominance.(Tara and Sarah). That's what they will be remembered for, they beat the most dominant figure skater in the World. With all the chit chat that's something that can't be taken away from them.

millie said:

That's what they will be remembered for, they beat the most dominant figure skater in the World.

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How sad for them. If you are right, they will never be mentioned again, except when Michelle Kwan is being discussed.

millie said:

I think that everyone will remember Tara as the Olympic Champion like they remember all the other Olympics champions. The champion that beat MichelleKwan at the Olympics. That's how us Canadians will remember her. I think that she will always be a star, no matter what she does, as long as she does her best and is happy with what she is doing.

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You tell em, millie. Michelle shouled be bannished.

Joe

Acting talent can be developed over time. For those who say Tara is a bad actress, how much worse was she than her costars? She was on the Y&R and she wasn't bad compared to the rest of the cast. It's not as though she was so horrible on 7th Heaven. Most of the actors on 7th Heaven weren't that great: except for Barry (Matt?) and Jessica Biel.

Look at Keanu Reeves...I can't believe the film career this guy has had and he's like a block of wood. As for Johnny Depp, there's no way that anyone could have predicted from 21 Jump Street than Johnny would have gone on to become the consummate actor. An actor is limited by the material he/she gets.

I also think that it's hard for Tara to break free from her skating. Would you have noticed how "bad" her acting is from the rest of the cast if you didn't know that she was an Olympic skater? If she was anonymous, she wouldn't have gotten singled out for bad acting.

As for bad, MK's voice and diction on the Simpsons was horrible. Extremely wooden and flat. At least Tara has a great speaking voice and isn't wooden in her delivery. In fact, that was the first thing I noticed about Tara when she was giving interviews as a young girl. She was extremely polished and poised. Much more so than the average 14 year old. There weren't too many "ummms" and other fillers in her answers. Contrast her to MK who always has lots of fillers in her sentences and doesn't have the poise that Tara had in her interviews and MK has been in the spotlight for over a decade. It's not a criticism of MK b/c not everyone can excel at public speaking and interviews (I'm not one of those people) but Tara was exceptional. She has more poise than most of those actresses who give interviews on Leno.

I think that if she sticks with it she might make it. But I don't even think she's out there to make it per se. I think she likes to act and she likes the challenge of finding jobs. She might even relish the fact that she's not "actress looking" and she's competing for jobs against good looking bimbos. I bet she feels really good about herself for every little job she gets b/c it's an uphill battle for her. She's into the competition and the harder the task is, the more she relishes the glory.

Soogar - I can go along with your last paragraph but what is quoted in the article is that she is goal oriented toward acting. She wants that recognition, and there is nothing wrong with people having goals. But I don't think it is to satisfy a challenge without a goal. Acting is not a sport. It is a profession.

Joe

Mathman said:

How sad for them. If you are right, they will never be mentioned again, except when Michelle Kwan is being discussed.

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Or ironies of ironies, the constant references I hear from many in the general public that believe that Michelle is already an OGM! I hear this all the time whenever I bring up that I enjoy skating.

I don't think Kwan is any more talented in the acting department than Tara. Oksana Baiul tried her hand at it, and she was none too good, but she was light years better than Tara. At least she tried to BE the person she was portraying.

Sorry, but I don't think Tara will ever "make it" as an actress. When a person has basic acting talent, it can be developed, but if there is no native talent there, you can only improve the window dressing. You can't develop what isn't there to begin with.

Mathman said:

How sad for them. If you are right, they will never be mentioned again, except when Michelle Kwan is being discussed.

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Mathman, my point is that they won the Gold. They will be remembered for that! Yes they beat Michelle,why should that make them sad! Michelle will be remembered as the skater who should have, would have, could have won the Gold at Olympics, but didn't At least they have the Olympic Gold. That's what they will be remembered for. Yes Michelle's name may come up in a conservation of the skater who didn't!! The OGM is what all skater strive for, until you win that, you are not the best. You can say their the best, but their not.

Well, I think Joannie Rochette will win in 2006.:yes:

Mathman said:

Well, I think Joannie Rochette will win in 2006.:yes:

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Well Mathman, you sure got me on that one. You were sure reading my mind.

millie said:

The OGM is what all skater strive for, until you win that, you are not the best. You can say their the best, but their not.

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OT, but have you ever noticed that the most popular sports in the US have their biggest competition every year. Don't you think skating has shot itself in the foot by emphasizing a once every four years event? I just wonder if skating had stopped obsessing so much about that one damn event, would it have had the capability to maintain the popularity achieved after the Harding/Kerrigan incident?

The one statement I hate more than any other is "I'm a FS fan, I watch it every Olympics" (we seriously need a vomit icon)

OTOH, skating continues to shoot itself in the foot by allowing bad judges to continue year after year. Their very attempts to hide from scandal just increase the risk of more. When will the ISU get a brain?