That baby is one hell of an actor

I think they should give more acting awards to babies. They can act much better than adults can act. When's the last time you ever saw a baby trying to cry in a movie with just its face scrunched up with no tears, and it looked more like it was laughing than crying? Never, that's when. When a baby actor cries, you believe it's crying. It puts its all into it. Can the same be said for adult actors? Never.

When an adult pretends to laugh, you can see several telltale signs that it's not a genuine laugh. The mouth and cheeks won't wrinkle in the same way they wrinkle during a genuine laugh. The "ha!"s are forced--blurted out, rather than allowed to build under their own volition. And most of all, the eyes remain still and impassive, rather than active and upturned, as they do during real laughter. Watch any adult actor "laugh" his way through a scene he's rehearsed a thousand times and you'll see all these things. But when a baby laughs? It's as if it's really truly laughing. The difference is as between night and day!

A baby always manages to command the attention of the viewer, but without chewing the scenery. Baby actors give it their all. When's the last time you turned to a companion during a scene with a baby and said something like, "that baby doesn't feel authentic," or, "that baby is trying too hard," or, "the writing is sharp but that baby is really dragging this movie down?" The answer is you haven't, because babies are preternaturally gifted actors.

I once saw a production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy "King Lear," as put on by a bunch of babies. When the baby Lear carried the baby dead Cordelia on stage (the one thing baby actors don't do well is die--baby Cordelia was still squirming and cooing--but this is a minor complaint that did not deter whatsoever from my enjoyment of the production), he shed no tears. He did not need to shed any tears. The sadness of the world was reflected in his glassy baby eyes, and the twin weights of fatherhood and regret lay heavy on his shoulders as he slowly, pensively sucked his thumb.