MovieChat Forums > Hart of Dixie (2011) Discussion > Rachel Bilson is a lousy actress

Rachel Bilson is a lousy actress

posted 9 years ago by blinkysmom
13 replies | jump to latest

Her performance is either too stiff or too exaggerated. I wish someone else would play Zoe because I love the character. Now, Jaime King is superb as Lemon. I love her scenes. She lights up the screen.

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[–] dgniewek 9 years ago

I think she's great. Great comic timing.

[–] blinkysmom 9 years ago

I knew I'd get an opposing view. Many do love her as an actress. I'm not trolling - I truly believe a different actress would play Zoe better. I don't know that generation's actresses so I can't make recommendations. Ah well, to each their own.

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[–] Dphoadley 9 years ago

I knew I'd get an opposing view.

Well, then you weren't disappointed, were you! I too thought that Rachel was adorable on this show, in fact she was the whole reason that I watched it!!

I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; AND I WILL BE HEARD!

[–] sannorahcharm 8 years ago

WOW!! i wondered where you had been, Dphoadley!

i remember your posts from Castle!! lol

i like Rachel, i do believe she was miscast, but she held it ok. her comedic timing is GREAT, but not quite enough "chops" for some of the heavier scenes.

i LOVED her on "Chuck". she was really good.

HOW have you BEEN, DP?????

[–] amandaxo-95203 9 years ago

I hate how she talks sometimes she sounds like she has a speech impediment sometimes

[–] iplaygames2 9 years ago

Her emotional range is pretty narrow, to be sure. But, she's hot. So, I watched.

[–] kiya12309 9 years ago

As much as I love the show, I agree that Bilson is a terrible actress. She does okay when she's being happy or awkward, but when she's asked to do anything more emotionally complicated outside of that she just comes off as really exaggerated and uncomfortable. Her character on HOD is much like Summer on the OC, so I think she's kind of a one-note actress. I don't see a good future for her in acting.

[–] Snoopy1 9 years ago

I just started watching HOD on Netflix and I totally concur. The show is cute so far, but the weakest link is definitely Rachel Bilson. She was so miscast. I don't believe her has a doctor and I don't believe her as a New Yorker.

[–] bishop-69757 8 years ago

Rachel is a truly awful actress and her playing a doctor is beyond laughable.

[–] lindsay-kneece 8 years ago

It's like watching Summer Roberts pretend to be a doctor

[–] DebLovesBeccy 8 years ago

I disagree. I don't think she was that bad but Jaime King is definitely the better actress out of the two and I had seen a few of Jaime King's movies before I saw Heart of Dixie but the only time I had seen Rachel was on Chuck and it is not surprising Jaime already has 2 upcoming leading roles.

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[–] hyphens11 8 years ago

I only started watching this because I was browsing through Bilson's imdb page. I can understand where you're coming from though. She leans towards goofy and ditzy more than anything else.

Her performance is either too stiff or too exaggerated.

This. She exists in these extremes, and it strips her character of any depth, despite the things that happen to her. I've seen her in Chuck and in Jumper and she does a better job there, so I don't know what went wrong in this. Near everyone else outshines her in this, from Lemon, to her father, to Wade.

She's not bad though. In my opinion, at least. She's adorable and she can pull off some of the comedy. I can't imagine another actress playing Zoe -- it'd change the entire landscape of the show.

[–] allie106 8 years ago

I agree I can't image anyone else as Zoe. I watched HOD because I had seen Rachel on the OC and liked her. I didn't know much about the rest of the cast before this and since I don't really watch the CW I probably never would have tuned into HOD had Rachel not been staring in it.

I loved Rachel as Zoe Hart and I thought she fit the character pretty well. Zoe is a character of extremes, she's very smart, very driven professionally, but in social situations she often struggles and when she knows she's struggling she tends to make things worse with exaggerated behavior. She had a tough childhood from an emotional standpoint (obviously, economically she had a very privileged childhood), the father she idolized and wanted to be just like basically abandoned her at age 10 and she didn't know why. She spent the next 20 or so years trying to win his approval. When they were together, her parents fought all the time, including around her. Her mother is extremely critical of her and is mostly emotionally unavailable to her. She talks about it in 4x03, she's spent a lot of her life getting through things, figuring things out, on her own. It's not all that surprising that someone like that might have extremes in their personality or struggle in certain situations.

I don't think I saw her on Chuck(I only watched the first season or so, I think she was on after that?) and I've never seen Jumper but I did see her on HIMYM and I thought she was pretty good in that role as one of Ted's ex's and the roommate of The Mother. Is Jamie King a better actress, probably, although I think she has has a tendency to overact herself sometimes. I don't think either of them will be winning any Oscars but that's ok. One thing I like about Rachel is I don't think she takes herself too seriously which is the opposite of so many people in Hollywood.