Character actor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A character actor is an actor, especially in motion pictures, who predominantly performs in similar roles throughout the course of a career.

Character actor roles can range from bit parts to secondary leads. However, character actors often play supporting roles: characters who do not undergo a major change in the course of the movie, and whose role is less prominent than the leading actors'.

While some actors aspire to leading man or leading woman status, many notable actors have had enduring careers in less prominent, but important and memorable character parts. A frequent trait of character actors is that their names are not widely known yet their faces or voices are instantly recognizable to movie fans: Michael Ironside, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, Jonathan Banks or Barry Fitzgerald are some examples.

Some character actors play essentially the same character over and over, as with Andy Devine's humorous but resourceful sidekick or Dennis Farina's tough cop/gangster.

See stock character and commedia dell'arte for a discussion of related theatrical traditions.

1 Reasons people become character actors
2 Crossover actors
3 Examples of character roles
4 See also

[edit] Reasons people become character actors

There are many reasons people might become character actors. Some of these reasons might be seen as unfair, arbitrary, biased or prejudiced. Actors may also simply seem better suited to character roles than to leading roles. Another fact worth noting is that while any film has a handful of leading roles, it may also require dozens of smaller supporting roles, and that there are arguably more opportunities for professional success as a character actor than as a movie star.

Actors may find character work because they are seen as typecast (strongly identified with, or only suitable for certain types of roles), often due to an early success with a particular role or genre; J.T. Walsh crafted a career of playing villainous characters, and Steve Buscemi, who has made a career of playing witty, scheming characters.
Character actors may lack some of the physical attributes associated with movie star: they may be regarded as too tall, too short, unattractive, overweight, or somehow lacking an ephemeral "star quality".
Actors may be deemed too old or too young for leading roles (see ageism).
Actors from marginalized or minority groups (such as certain ethnic or racial groups, women, or transsexuals) might be barred from roles for which they were otherwise suited.
Actors from outside of the US may be famous in their own countries, but find their roles limited in the U.S. for any number of reasons (see Marcel Dalio, Cantinflas and Jet Li).
Some character actors have distinctive voices or accents which limit their roles. Actors such as James Earl Jones, Selma Diamond and Julie Kavner have been able to turn this to their advantage, often in voice-over work.
Sometimes character actors have developed careers because they had specific talents that are required in genre films, such as dancing, horsemanship or swimming ability.
The stars of a movie that fails badly at the box office are often considered part of the reason it failed, and they may have trouble finding work later. Character actors are almost never blamed for these failures, and can continue to find work relatively easily.

[edit] Crossover actors

Many character actors have gained star status or become widely known lead actors. Examples include Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, Alan Arkin, Robert Duvall, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum and Lynne Thigpen. However, many actors such as Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and Michael Lerner have nevertheless earned acclaim for their character roles.

Other character actors have developed a cult following with a particular audience as well, such as the fans of Star Trek, Doctor Who or The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

However, character actors are not limited to only seasoned performers, but also can refer to film directors who have either made the crossover to acting or worked in front of the camera before, such as John Huston, Sydney Pollack, Paul Mazursky, Mark Rydell and Tim Blake Nelson to name a few.