Actor

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For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation).
Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming
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Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming

An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. The term commonly refers to someone working in movies, television, live theatre, or radio, and can occasionally denote a street entertainer. Besides playing dramatic roles, actors may also sing or dance or work only on radio or as a voice artist.

An actor usually plays a fictional character. In the case of a true story (or a fictional story that portrays real people) an actor may play a real person (or a fictional version of the same). Occasionally, actors appear as themselves, as in John Malkovich's performance in the film Being John Malkovich.

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[edit] Etymology

"Actor" is directly from the masculine Latin noun actor (feminine, actrix) from the verb agere "to do, to drive, to pass time" + the suffix -or "so./st. who performs the action indicated by the stem". Alternatively from Greek ἂκτωρ (aktor), leader,[1] from the verb ἂγω (agō), to lead or carry, to convey, to bring. [2], [3], [4]

Two actors performing.
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Two actors performing.

[edit] History

The first recorded case of an actor performing took place in 534 BC (probably on 23 November, though the changes in calendar over the years make it hard to determine exactly) when the Greek performer Thespis stepped on to the stage at the Theatre Dionysus and became the first known person to speak words as a character in a play. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were told in song and dance and in third person narrative, but no one had assumed the role of a character in a story. In honour of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians. Theatrical legend to this day maintains that Thespis exists as a mischievous spirit, and disasters in the theatre are sometimes blamed on his ghostly intervention.

Actors were traditionally not people of high status, and in the Early Middle Ages travelling acting troupes were often viewed with distrust. However, this negative perception has largely been reversed in the 20th century as acting has become an honored and popular profession and art. Part of the cause is the easier popular access to dramatic film entertainment and the resulting rise of the movie star - as regards both their social status and the salaries they command. The combination of public presence and wealth has profoundly rehabilitated their image.

In the past, only men could become actors in some societies. In the ancient and medieval world, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to go on the stage, and this belief continued right up until the 17th century, when in Venice it was broken. In the time of William Shakespeare, women's roles were played by men or boys, though there is some evidence to suggest that women disguised as men also (illegally) performed. The British prohibition was ended in the reign of Charles II who enjoyed watching female actors on stage.

[edit] Theories

As in other art forms, acting has a theoretical foundation. Stanislavsky and the Moscow Theater were among the first founders of what is now considered Method Acting. Meyerhold and his theory on biomechanics and physicality was a revolutionary idea back in early 20th century Russian theater. Since then, Americanized forms of these theories brought about by Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and other variations brought about by Sanford Meisner and Viola Spolin can be seen.

[edit] Techniques of acting

Actors employ a variety of techniques that are learned through training and experience. Some of these are:

  1. The rigorous use of the voice to communicate a character's lines and express emotion. This is achieved through attention to diction and projection through correct breathing and articulation. It is also achieved through the tone and emphasis that an actor puts on words
  2. Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly
  3. Use of gesture to complement the voice, interact with other actors and to bring emphasis to the words in a play, as well as having symbolic meaning

Shakespeare is believed to have been commenting on the acting style and techniques of his era when Hamlet gives his advice to the players in the play-within-the-play. He encourages the actors to “speak the speech...as I pronounced it to you,” and avoid “saw[ing] the air too much with your hand” , because even in a ” whirlwind of passion, you must...give it smoothness.” On the other hand, Hamlet urges the players to “Be not too tame neither.” He suggests that they make sure to “suit the action to the word, the word to the action”, taking care to “o'erstep not the modesty of nature.” As well, he told the players to not “...let those that play your clowns...laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too,” which Hamlet considered to be a “villainous” and “pitiful” tactic.

The English critic Benedict Nightingale discussed and compared great classical actors of the long dead past, and the present, and their magical effects upon audiences, in this 1983 article from the New York Times, available online [5].

[edit] Actors playing the opposite sex

Historically, acting was considered a man's profession, so, in Shakespeare's time, for instance, men traditionally played all roles, including the female parts. In Japan, men took over the female roles in kabuki theater when women were banned from performing on stage during the Edo period.

Today, women sometimes play the roles of prepubescent boys, because in some regards a woman has a closer resemblance to a boy than does a man. The role of Peter Pan, for example, is traditionally played by a woman. The tradition of the principal boy in pantomime may be compared. An adult playing a child occurs more in theater than in film. The exception to this is voice actors in animated films, where boys are generally voiced by women, as heard in The Simpsons where the voice of Bart Simpson is provided by Nancy Cartwright. Opera has several 'pants roles' traditionally sung by women, usually mezzo-sopranos. Examples are Hansel in Hänsel und Gretel, and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro.

Mary Pickford played the part of Little Lord Fauntleroy in the first film version of the book. Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Year of Living Dangerously, in which she played the part of a man.

Having an actor play the opposite sex for comic effect is also a long standing tradition in comic theatre and film. Most of Shakespeare's comedies include instances of cross dressing, such as Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and both Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams appeared in hit comedy films where they were required to play most scenes dressed as women. The movie A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum stars Jack Gilford dressing as a young bride, among other slapstick comedy. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon famously posed as women to escape gangsters in the Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot. Several roles in modern plays and musicals are played by a member of the opposite sex, such as the character "Edna Turnblad" (originally played by Harvey Fierstein) in the Broadway musical Hairspray. Some parts have further complicated the issue by having a woman play a man pretending to be a woman, as Julie Andrews did in Victor/Victoria.

[edit] Acting awards

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

  • Actors' Equity Association (AEA): a union representing U.S. theatre actors and stage managers.
  • AGVA, AGMA and AFM: unions representing variety artists (including actors at small venues, jugglers, etc.), musical artists, and musicians.
  • American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA): a union representing U.S. television and radio actors and broadcasters (on-air journalists, etc.).
  • Career Advice: an online guide for beginning and professional actors, from the performing-arts trade publication Back Stage.
  • British Actors' Equity: a trade union representing UK artists, including actors, singers, dancers, choreographers, stage managers, theatre directors and designers, variety and circus artists, television and radio presenters, walk-on and supporting artists, stunt performers and directors and theatre fight directors.
  • Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance: an Australian/New Zealand trade union representing everyone in the media, entertainment, sports, and arts industries.
  • Screen Actors Guild (SAG): a union representing U.S. film and TV actors.


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