Science fiction writing has traditionally dealt with ideas; often subordinating characterisation (or creating what are commonly called ‘flat’ characterisations) to a more overarching premise. As Alexandra Aldridge puts it: ‘Whilst individual experience in a fragment of historically familiar world constitutes the principle subject matter of the traditional novel, in SF individual experience recedes into the background.’

Similarly, the kind of characterisation found in film genres more readily associated with cinematic realism (as adopted and adapted from the novel) is not the central concern of the science fiction film genre. Although a film narrative might revolve around a relatively small number of central protagonists, they are often understood as generic archetypes or one-dimensional characters representing particular views, beliefs or principles. Consequently, performances given by actors working within the genre are not taken seriously and receive little critical attention. Indeed, it is generally assumed that the genre does not require what is considered to be ‘proper’ acting and performances are commonly denigrated or completely disregarded.

Richard de Cordova, in an article addressing the lack of performance analysis in Film Studies as a whole, states that: ‘The examination of the ways that different genres circumscribe the form and position of performance in film is an important and underdeveloped area of genre studies.’ He goes on to argue that a variety of genres actually foreground performance and that these, in particular, cry out for a level of reading and analysis that takes performance strategies into consideration.