Actor

An actor is a person who acts, or plays a role, in an artistic 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. A female actor may be known as an actress, although the term "actor", is also used as a gender-neutral term.

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.

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

Method acting is an acting technique in which actors try to replicate the emotional conditions under which the character operates in real life, in an effort to create a life-like, realistic performance. "The Method" requires an actor to draw on his or her own emotions, memories, and experiences to influence their portrayal of a character.

A character actor is an actor who predominantly performs supporting parts, often in similar roles throughout the course of a career. While some actors aspire to leading man or leading lady status, many notable actors have had enduring careers in less prominent, but important and memorable character parts. Character roles run the gamut from bit parts to secondary leads.

A scene stealer is a character in a film or dramatic performance who dominates the audience's attention, thus "stealing the scene" or "stealing the show". The term is usually used of a supporting character, such a sidekick, best friend, confidant, villain, etc. Often the term is used of a minor character who has unexpectedly (and perhaps inappropriately) drawn attention away from the star. Sometimes the term is used pejoratively, and is applied to minor actors with a hammy or self-aggrandizing style.

Notable scene stealers include Steve Buscemi in Reservoir Dogs, Jack Palance in City Slickes, Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, Thelma Ritter in Rear Window, Ryan Reynolds in Blade Trinity and Dan Hedaya in Clueless.

Some scene-stealers, such as Beatrice Straight and Judi Dench, have won Academy Awards for their appearances in a single scene of a movie.

TV Commercials

Actors breaking in to the business can work with committed fully crewed production teams, with filmmakers of the highest calibre, on feature film standard "mini-movies", often devising or using cutting edge techniques.

Working on Television commercials is an accepted training route for people who want to break into feature films and an area the film industry watches for emerging talent.