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[[File:I dream of jeannie hagman eden.JPG|thumb|Actors [[Larry Hagman]] and [[Barbara Eden]] from the [[television series]] "[[I Dream of Jeannie]]."]] | |||
| | An '''actor''' is a person who [[act]]s, or has a role (a part) in a [[movie]], [[television]] show, [[Play (theatre)|play]], or [[radio]] show. Actors may be professional or not. Sometimes actors only sing or dance, or sometimes they only work on radio. A woman actor is '''actress''', but the word "actor" is used for both men and women when referring to a group. Actors are also known as [[‘thespians’]] because of the first known Greek actor [[‘Thespis’]]. | ||
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| | == History == | ||
The first time we know an actor worked was in 534 B.C. The changes in [[calendar]] between then and now make the year uncertain. This actor was called [[Thespis]] and he was [[Greece|Greek]]. The place where the play happened was called the ''Theatre Dionysus'' in Athens, and he won a competition. He was the first person to speak words as a character. This was a big change in [[story]]telling. Before then, people sang and danced stories, but no one had been a person in the story. Today we call actors "thespians" because of Thespis. | |||
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== Women == | |||
In the past, the name "actor" was only for men. Women only began performing often in the [[17th century]]. People called them "actresses". In the ancient world and in the [[Middle Ages]], people thought it was bad (shameful) for a woman to act. | |||
Today, the word "actor" is for both men and women, because some people think the name "actress" is [[sexism/sexist]]. But people also use the word ''actress'' very often. | |||
== Swapped Roles == | |||
[[File:PeterPan3.jpg|thumb|Actor Maude Adams playing the part of [[Peter Pan]] in 1915]] | |||
=== Actresses in Men's Roles === | |||
Women actors sometimes act the roles of young boys, because in some ways a woman is more similar to a boy than a man is. For example, a woman usually plays the role of [[Peter Pan]]. In pantomime, a sort of play for children (not the same as [[mime]]), the most important young man is also a woman. [[Opera]] has some "pants roles" which women traditionally sing. These women are usually [[mezzo-soprano]]s, which means they sing with a voice that is high but not very high. Examples are Hansel in ''{{lang|de|[[Hänsel und Gretel (opera)|Hänsel and 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. | |||
In [[comedy|comic]] theatre and film, people often use a man for a woman's part, or a woman for a man's part - this has a long history. Most of Shakespeare's comedies have examples of this. Both [[Dustin Hoffman]] and [[Robin Williams]] were in popular comedy films where they played most scenes as men in women's [[clothes]], pretending to be women. | |||
=== Actors in Women's Roles === | |||
In the time of [[Shakespeare]], and earlier, all roles in an English play were played by men, meaning even characters such as Juliet, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra were first played by men or boys. After the [[English Restoration]] women were allowed to perform on-stage. | |||
More recently, men have played female roles as a type of humor. Movies with this role reversal include ''[[Mrs. Doubtfire]]'', ''[[Tootsie]]'', ''[[Big Momma's House]]'', ''[[Hairspray (1988 movie)|Hairspray]]'', and ''[[The Nutty Professor (1996 movie)|The Nutty Professor]]'' starring [[Eddie Murphy]]. | |||
== Voice acting == | |||
Voice acting is a special type of acting. It is most commonly used in [[animation]] for both television and movies. Voice actors are the people who make the voices for the [[fictional character|characters]]. They may be the [[narrator]] in non-animated works. | |||
==Types== | |||
Actors working in theatre, film, and television have to learn different skills. Skills that work well in one type of acting may not work well in another type of acting. | |||
===In theatre=== | |||
To act on stage, actors need to learn the stage directions that appear in the script, such as "Stage Left" and "Stage Right". These directions are based on the actor's point of view as he or she stands on the stage facing the audience. Actors also have to learn the meaning of the stage directions "Upstage" (away from the audience) and "Downstage" (towards the audience)<ref name="sft.edu">http://www.sft.edu/tips/stage-acting.html Retrieved on April 3, 2014</ref> | |||
Theatre actors need to learn blocking, which is "...where and how an actor moves on the stage during a play." | |||
Most scripts specify some blocking. The Director will also give instructions on blocking, such as crossing the stage or picking up and using a prop. | |||
<ref name="sft.edu"/> | |||
Theatre actors need to learn stage combat, which is simulated fighting on stage. Actors may have to simulate "hand-to-hand [fighting] or with sword[-fighting]." Actors are coached by [[fight director]]s, who help them to learn the choreographed sequence of fight actions. | |||
<ref name="sft.edu"/> | |||
===In film=== | |||
[[D. W. Griffith]] first developed of acting that would "suit the cinema rather than the theater." He realized that theatrical acting did not look good on film. Griffith required his actors and actresses to go through weeks of film acting training.<ref name="infoplease.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/features/movies-tv-and-music/movies-and-film-film-acting-vs-theater-acting|title=Movies and Film: Film Acting vs. Theater Acting|website=InfoPlease}}</ref> | |||
Film actors have to learn to get used to and be comfortable with a camera being in front of them.<ref>http://www.ace-your-audition.com/auditions-for-film.html Retrieved on April 3, 2014.</ref> | |||
Film actors need to learn to find and stay on their "mark." This is a position on the floor marked with tape. This position is where the lights and camera focus are optimized. Film actors also need to learn how to prepare well and perform well on [[screen tests]]. Screen tests are a filmed audition of part of the script. | |||
"Unlike the theater actor, who gets to develop a character during...a two- or three-hour performance, the film actor lacks continuity, forcing him or her to come to all the scenes (often shot in reverse order in which they'll ultimately appear) with a character already fully developed."<ref name="infoplease.com"/> | |||
"Since film captures even the smallest gesture and magnifies it..., cinema demands a less flamboyant and stylized bodily performance from the actor than does the theater." "The performance of emotion is the most difficult aspect of film acting to master: ...the film actor must rely on subtle facial ticks, quivers, and tiny lifts of the eyebrow to create a believable character."<ref name="infoplease.com"/> Some theatre stars "...have made the theater-to-cinema transition quite successfully ([[Lawrence Olivier|Olivier]], [[Glenn Close]], and [[Julie Andrews]], for instance), others have not..."<ref name="infoplease.com"/> | |||
===In television=== | |||
"On a television set, there are typically several cameras angled at the set. Actors who are new to on-screen acting can get confused about which camera to look into." <ref name="ReferenceA">http://www.sft.edu/tips/television-acting.html Retrieved on April 3, 2014</ref> TV actors need to learn to use lav mics ([[Lavaliere microphone]]s).<ref name="ReferenceA"/> TV actors need to understand the concept of "frame." "The term frame refers to the area that the camera's lens is capturing." | |||
<ref name="ReferenceA"/> | |||
== References == | |||
{{commonscat|Actors}} | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
[[Category:Actors| ]] | |||
[[Category:Entertainment occupations]] | |||