# Corpse actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856 "2006-11-02T16:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/21 "2006-11-03T15:09:54Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] I’ll second **Kizarvexius** here- it’s really not easy. I just finished a run of Arsenic and Old Lace (A college production, which is not much above a high school one) where I was Mr. Spenalzo (the second body in the windowseat) and it’s hard to be carried, dropped, picked up, and finally dumped into a windowseat without moving a muscle. The actors even tossed me a little too far one night and I missed the windowseat entirely, which is great comedy but a nice bump on the back of my head, too. [/QUOTE] Mr. Spenalzo (IIRC) doesn’t have any lines, and he’s carried through the window while the set is dark. Couldn’t they have used a weighted mannequin? Of course, now that I think about it, every production of _Arsenic and Old Lace_ I’ve ever seen _has_ used actors to play the dead bodies. Some years back, when the show was revived on Broadway, the curtain call included a parade of old men representing the never seen collection of dead bodies from the cellar. For at least one performance, all thirteen of the dead old men were played by serving U.S. congressmen and/or senators. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/22 "2006-11-03T15:50:48Z")
[QUOTE=The Octagon] In Six Feet Under (show about a funeral home), I believe they actually manufactured the corpses. Lord knows how; it was one of the extras on the DVDs I didn’t have the stomach to watch. [/QUOTE] I read somewhere that they spent upwards of a million bucks on some of the corpses. Very lucrative if you’re a makeup artist. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/23 "2006-11-03T19:38:20Z")
Oh! You mean manufactured from foam and plastic and such. I was thinking of the age-old method of “manufacturing corpses”, and had to wonder how they get away with it. The raw materials aren’t rare, but there are other problems with the process. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/24 "2006-11-03T19:43:21Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] Kevin Costner was a corpse in _The Big Chill_, and he seemed particularly wooden in some other movies I’ve seen him in. [/QUOTE] Ya’ know, I came into this thread to say the same darn thing. Great minds and all that. I tell ya’, sometimes it’s scary… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/25 "2006-11-03T20:33:31Z")
If you play a person dead by drowning, does that make you a marine corpse? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/26 "2006-11-03T21:47:57Z")
[QUOTE=Greg Charles] With the popularity of crime and hospital shows, there is now a huge demand for actors and actresses that can play corpses convincingly. That’s not easy. One twitch and the illusion is gone. (Assuming they aren’t actually dead. Some people would do anything to break into show business.) So, are there corpse acting classes now to go with stage fighting, etc. Are there actors who specialize in playing corpses? [/QUOTE] I think I remember hearing that there are actually classes on how to play a corpse. Maybe I saw it on one of the DVD sets of CSI. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/27 "2006-11-03T22:06:56Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] If you play a person dead by drowning, does that make you a marine corpse? [/QUOTE] On Law & Order, people often seem to leave their victims in Central Park, leading to cops finding corpses in copses. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/28 "2006-11-04T23:09:45Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] On Law & Order, people often seem to leave their victims in Central Park, leading to cops finding corpses in copses. [/QUOTE] A little more respect, please, people. You’re being rotten to the corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Wallet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e99b99/32.png) [@Wallet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallet)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/29 "2006-11-05T01:48:36Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] I just learned that “corpse” was an acting term recently while browsing Wikipedia entries on _Doctor Who_ episodes. [/QUOTE] I searched Wikipedia, and couldn’t find any articles related to corpses and acting. Could you let me know what it means? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/30 "2006-11-05T03:05:06Z")
It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure. The phew. The purid. The marine corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/31 "2006-11-05T03:30:56Z")
[QUOTE=Wallet] I searched Wikipedia, and couldn’t find any articles related to corpses and acting. Could you let me know what it means? Thanks! [/QUOTE] It’s listed under “corpsing,” which I imagine is what threw you. It basically means breaking character. > **[Breaking character](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpsing)** > > In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition) and film, breaking character occurs when an actor fails to maintain the illusion that they are the character they are supposedly portraying. This is considered unprofessional while performing in front of an audience or camera (except when the act is a deliberate breaking of the fourth wall). British English uses a slang term, corpsing, to specifically describe one of the most common ways of breaking character—when an actor loses their... ---
**Author:** ![Wallet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e99b99/32.png) [@Wallet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallet)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/32 "2006-11-05T04:13:28Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] It’s listed under “corpsing,” which I imagine is what threw you. It basically means breaking character. > **[Breaking character](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpsing)** > > In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition) and film, breaking character occurs when an actor fails to maintain the illusion that they are the character they are supposedly portraying. This is considered unprofessional while performing in front of an audience or camera (except when the act is a deliberate breaking of the fourth wall). British English uses a slang term, corpsing, to specifically describe one of the most common ways of breaking character—when an actor loses their... [/QUOTE] Huh, learn something new… Thanks so much! ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/33 "2006-11-05T05:33:07Z")
[QUOTE=DeadlyAccurate] I think I remember hearing that there are actually classes on how to play a corpse. Maybe I saw it on one of the DVD sets of CSI. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t suprise me. Professional models are often trained to hold an exact pose for extended periods of time (more useful for arts like drawing and painting than photography, of course). Similar training would easily be used for training someone to make like a corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/34 "2006-11-05T05:48:20Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure. The phew. The purid. The marine corpse. [/QUOTE] This is _bad_. So why in hell am I laughing? Damn you, **Duckster**! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856/35 "2006-11-05T14:04:13Z")
An extremely bad corpse actor actually spoiled an episode of _Hetty Wainthropp_ for me. In this episode, a man and his mother have an argument, during which he knocks her down and she hits her head. The man then leaves his presumably dead Mum sitting in the rocking chair in her room for somebody else to find while he runs off. Throughout the story, there were shots of the old lady sitting in her chair… obviously breathing, eyelids twitching, even swallowing at one point. And I thought: she isn’t dead! She’s only concussed and she’s going to come to, get up, and scare the crap out of the young couple the son has left at the house to find her. But as it turned out, no, she wasn’t. She was meant to be dead all along and the actress was giving an incredibly bad performance as a corpse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corpse-actors/378856.md?page=1)