Oscar Worthy?

I have to admit, I did not watch the Oscars last night - and I think I am one of the few that didn't (if Twitter is any judge of what people were doing last night anyway lol) However, I was thinking that acting *is* art, and worthy of a blog post on here =)

So what makes an individual a good actor/acctress in your opinion? What makes your favorite actor/actress excel in certain roles in a movie or in the theatre?

I did find all sorts of interesting info in regards to acting below for y'all's Monday reading pleasure lol

• Richard Backus has been nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards for both acting and screenwriting?
• Irish playwright George Farquhar (pictured) originally planned on an acting career, but gave it up after accidentally wounding a fellow actor severely on stage with a sword?
• in 1895, the husband of English actress Amy Roselle shot her dead and then killed himself, leaving behind a suicide note censuring the acting profession?
• Joy Page is the only actress from the fourteen credited performers in Casablanca to still be alive?
• Dennis Letts, who began acting at the age of fifty, made his Broadway theater debut in December 2007 in August: Osage County, which was written by his son, Tracy Letts?
• actor Jeff Bridges credits his mother, Dorothy Bridges, with passing down lessons she learned from acclaimed acting teacher Michael Chekhov to her children?
• actor and acting teacher Bryan O\'Byrne is credited with launching the acting career of Nick Nolte, whom he discovered while coaching Nolte\'s college roommate?
• actor and amateur racing-car driver Skipp Sudduth performed almost all the high-speed driving done by his character in the movie Ronin?