The art of acting for me is very much on a stage in front of a living audience that you have to engage for two hours. I do not hold film acting up as the pinnacle of acting or even as very good acting. There are film actors ( a few) I can see would be brilliant on a stage but most of them would fail.
The problem is most performances in films are made on the cutting room floor and filming can be very ‘bitty’ with little continuity or flow. Which is why those actors who do well on celluloid are those who are on message every time the camera starts. But of course the finest performances in this situation are often those where the actors are doing little more than play themsleves.
True acting is where a small man takes a stage and makes everyone think he is tall. It is inhabiting another’s body so well people believe in you; it is part chameleon and part voice. Another problem I have with film acting, so few excellent voices. With microphones voice training seems to have lost its relevance, but actually it is twice as important.
But filming is where the largest salaries are and so, of course, has become the standard. Real standards have nothing to do with money.