What is good acting?

Excellent! One of his points is that overacting doesn’t automatically equal good acting and it’s true that sometimes those who are lauded are big scenery-chewers. I think it’s good to keep in mind that his examples are all film performances and there are differences between acting for the stage vs. the screen. I sat in the third row for M Butterfly and was covered in spit from John Lithgow. He’s definitely known as someone who acts larger-than-life in many roles, but the emoting in that show was definitely helpful for the people sitting in the balcony to get the same feel for the actors that the people sitting in the orchestra had.