Everything about Actor totally explained
An
actor,
actress,
player or rarely
thespian (see
terminology) is a person who
acts in a
dramatic production and who works in
film,
television,
theatre, or
radio in that capacity. The ancient Greek word for an actor,
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 or story. Prior to Thespis' act, stories were only known to be told in
song and dance and in
third person narrative. In honour of Thespis,a 6th century B.C poet, 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. In many parts of Europe, actors couldn't even receive a Christian burial, and traditional beliefs of the region and time period held that this left any actor forever condemned. However, this negative perception was largely reversed in the 19th and 20th centuries 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 Greece and Rome and the
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 generally played by men or boys. The British prohibition(Victor Andersen) was ended in the reign of
Charles II who enjoyed watching female actors (actresses) on stage.
Techniques
General
Acting and actresses employ a variety of techniques that are learned through training and experience. Some of these are:
- 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
- Physicalisation of a role in order to create a believable character for the audience and to use the acting space appropriately and correctly
- 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.
As opposite sex
Historically, acting was considered a man's profession; so, in Shakespeare's time, for instance, men and boys played all roles, including the female parts. However when an eighteen year
Puritan prohibition of
drama was lifted after the
English Restoration of 1660,
women began to appear on stage. The first occurrence of the term
actress in the
OED being by
Dryden in 1700.
In
Japan, men (
onnagata) took over the female roles in
kabuki theatre when women were banned from performing on stage during the
Edo period. However, some forms of
Chinese drama have
females playing all the roles.
In modern times, women sometimes play the roles of
prepubescent boys. The stage role of
Peter Pan, for example, is traditionally played by a woman, as are the
principal boy and
dame in British
pantomime. This is uncommon in film, however, except in
animated films and television programmes, where boys are sometimes voiced by women. For example, in
The Simpsons 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.
Having an actor dress as 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 overt
cross-dressing, such as
Francis Flute in
A Midsummer Night's Dream. The movie
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum stars
Jack Gilford dressing as a young bride.
Tony Curtis and
Jack Lemmon famously posed as women to escape gangsters in the
Billy Wilder film
Some Like It Hot. Cross-dressing for comic effect was a frequently used device in most of the thirty
Carry On films.
Dustin Hoffman and
Robin Williams each appeared in a hit comedy film in which they played most scenes dressed as a woman.
Several roles in modern plays and musicals are played by a member of the opposite sex (rather than a character cross-dressing), such as the character Edna Turnblad in
Hairspray — played by
Divine in the
original film,
Harvey Fierstein in the
Broadway musical, and
John Travolta in the
2007 movie musical. Occasionally the issue is further complicated through a woman acting as a man pretending to be a woman, like
Julie Andrews in
Victor/Victoria or
Gwyneth Paltrow in
Shakespeare in Love.
Acting awards
Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, for film
Cannes Film Festival Awards, international French festival for world wide films and documentaries
Golden Globe Awards for film and television
Emmy Awards for television
Genie Awards for Canadian film
Gemini Awards for Canadian television
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award for film and television; also known as BAFTA
Tony Awards for the theatre (specifically, Broadway theatre)
European Theatre Awards for the theatre
Laurence Olivier Awards for the theatre (named in honour of actor Sir Laurence Olivier)
Screen Actors Guild Awards for actors in film and television
Indian National Film Awards for the Indian cinema.
Filmfare Awards honors excellence in the Indian Film Industry (Bollywood) - limited to Hindi language films only.
Goya Awards for Spanish film.
San Sebastián International Film Festival Spanish film festival Celebrated in San Sebastián.
César Awards for French film.
AFI Awards for Australian film.
Berlinale German film festival in Berlin (Golden and Silver Bear)
Piala Citra (Citra Award) for Indonesian film.
IFTA's for the Irish Film and Television
Kids Choice Awards for Nickelodeon and TV channels based on kids.Further Information
Get more info on 'Actor'.
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