# Actors are more than their roles! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 29, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441 "2016-08-29T23:01:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/21 "2016-08-30T01:16:54Z")
> [@Debillw3](#): > > These actors have plenty of quotes of their own. Words they actually wrote and said. But nope. For some reason, people gotta just use the words of the character. It’s bullshit. I don’t know any, not off the top of my head, do you? Right now, you hear that your favorite actor died, you can come up with a quote that the actor said outside of a movie/tv show, that other people will recognize? Even if you could, why would you? So your friends just pass it by as they scroll through their facebook feed? > [@](#): > > I get that everyone mourns in their own way, but Willy Wonka ain’t dead. That doesn’t quite jive with this statement from his nephew > [@](#): > > The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him ‘there’s Willy Wonka,’ would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble Sure, “Willy Wonka” isn’t dead he’s pretend, but Gene is dead and Gene is Willy Wonka, so much so that they didn’t tell the world he was sick _specifically_ because they didn’t want people to think that Willy Wonka is sick…specifically for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/22 "2016-08-30T01:36:34Z")
Rosebud. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/23 "2016-08-30T02:26:18Z")
> [@Debillw3](#): > > Actors are more than their roles! Method actors aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/24 "2016-08-30T02:46:58Z")
Actor here, albeit a mostly amateur and thoroughly small time one. I’d get a kick out of being remembered as one or more of the characters I’ve played. It’d be proof positive that I’d made a lasting impression on an audience member. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/25 "2016-08-30T02:58:44Z")
I wonder where this thread will go, don’t y’all? So naturally, that brings a quote to mind. Let’s see if it fits… “The suspense is terrible… I hope it’ll last.” ~ Willy Wonka ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/26 "2016-08-30T03:28:28Z")
Willy Wonka died ??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo… ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/27 "2016-08-30T04:04:08Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m fairly certain that anyone who devotes their life to a craft would be utterly delighted to have their works shared after their death. > > None of us are mourning Jerome Silberman, the man. We didn’t know him. It would be inexcusably presumptuous for us to mourn him. That’s for his family and friends to do. > > We are mourning Gene Wilder, and more specifically and selfishly, the ending of the work of Gene Wilder that moved us personally and collectively. . . . Beautifully put, and absolutely correct. I never met Gene Wilder; why should I mourn him, but not everyone else who died today? What about the nice grocer in Tenafly? And there’s an artist in Fresno who died: why am I not mourning him? Wilder, through his roles and his work, reached millions, touched them in an almost miraculous way, and transcended the boundary between actor and role. He was Froederick Fronkensteen. “We’re actors! We’re the opposite of people!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/28 "2016-08-30T04:06:26Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Eye!!! > > Oh, you meant aye? :smack: This is a threat about actors. The correct response is “I!!!” ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/29 "2016-08-30T04:34:04Z")
Wilder replied to the OP years ago: ![Oh, so you constantly judge others? Please tell me how perfect you are. - Willy Wonka](https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/65664637.jpg) 🙂 RIP . ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/30 "2016-08-30T04:53:27Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > He was Froederick Fronkensteen. Also in that particular case he co-wrote the screenplay. So, y’know, _those were his words_. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/31 "2016-08-30T06:57:39Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I wonder where this thread will go, don’t y’all? So naturally, that brings a quote to mind. Let’s see if it fits… > > “The suspense is terrible… I hope it’ll last.” ~ Willy Wonka I’m just happy that he and Gilda are together again. And him and Marty and Peter and Madeline and Cleavon are all slaying the crowds (figuratively speaking). ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/32 "2016-08-30T08:01:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Gene Wilder was very memorable, but yeah, it’s an homage to him to pay tribute to him for his movies such as _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_, _Young Frankenstein_, and _Blazing Saddles_. It doesn’t diminish him as a human being in the slightest. He was a very special and talented human being. I was with you until you said “an homage”. Recant, my good sir, recant! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/33 "2016-08-30T08:03:16Z")
> [@Mellivora\_capensis](#): > > I was with you until you said “an homage”. > > Recant, my good sir, recant! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/34 "2016-08-30T08:13:33Z")
Homage (at least according to my English teacher, may she RIP), is pronounced with the “h” - like ham. Ergo, a homage. An honest mistake by an honourable gentleman, granted. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/35 "2016-08-30T08:34:42Z")
Don’t go getting all grammar Nazi on me. Either way’s acceptable. > [@](#): > > The New York Times style guide does not specifically address the word homage, and in such matters the copy desk typically turns to Webster’s New World Dictionary for guidance. As with other leading American dictionaries, **Webster’s New World currently recognizes two equally accepted pronunciations of the word** : either HOM-ij or OM-ij. Since the pronunciation with “h” is listed first, that would favor “a homage” over “an homage.” [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/magazine/07FOB-onlanguage-t.html](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/magazine/07FOB-onlanguage-t.html) Just because one pronunciation is favored over another, that doesn’t make it the only correct one. They’re both equally cromulent. So, I’ve got your recantation right here. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mellivora\_capensis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mellivora\_capensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mellivora_capensis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/36 "2016-08-30T08:43:11Z")
::sprinkles holy water over **cochrane** :: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/37 "2016-08-30T08:52:39Z")
Besides, everybody knows that people in show business always give it the French pronunciation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/38 "2016-08-30T12:34:24Z")
Not EVERYONE. I’m pretty sure Bugs Bunny would pronounce it “hoe-Maggie”… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/39 "2016-08-30T12:36:01Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Not EVERYONE. > > I’m pretty sure Bugs Bunny would pronounce it “hoe-Maggie”… You’re dethpicable. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441/40 "2016-08-30T12:46:13Z")
Actors ARE more than their roles. They are also our waiters, our valets, our pool boys… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-are-more-than-their-roles/764441.md?page=3)