I see the term “character actor” from time to time.
Don’t all actors play characters? Is a character actor simply any actor who does not play leading roles? Can an actor be a character actor in one film and not in another, or is it a label that follows you from role to role? Does it have a negative connotation or is it just a description of the kind of acting you do? Does being a character actor mean you are not a “big star?”
Character actors are almost always supporting players in any sort of production. Tom Cruise is not a character actor. John Mahoney is a character actor.
Well, ths is going to be all opinion, so we may get bumped to another forum.
I think most of what you said is true. Generally a character actor is not a "big star, but is rather a dependable type who often outshines the lead. And usually they look like you and I, though that is being presumptuous, so let’s just say they look like average Joes.
My two cents–give me any day five hours of wonderful character actors such as M. Emmett Walsh, Claude Akins, Olan Soule, Albert Salmi, Neville Brand (the list is endless) as opposed to five seconds of yet another Van Dien, or whoever the latest pretty boy is.
Sir
Character actors are generally to be found in distinct but static roles.
Lead and key supporting roles in film are usually dynamic roles, meaning that the character grows or changes in some way through the course of the film. In “Good Will Hunting,” Will (Matt Damon) starts out afraid of risk and change, but learns to accept it. In “The Sixth Sense,” Cole (H.J. Osment) starts out afraid of his curse/gift but learns to work with it. Dynamism can also be dynamism of motive, such as “Star Wars,” where Luke starts out as a shallow kid who just wants adventure, then chooses a path towards becoming a Jedi.
Character actors are (typecasted, usually) found in roles that are NOT dymanic, or static; the characters maintain essentially the same outlook and motive throughout the film, but are strong and important enough to make you notice. Why some people get stuck in thes roles forever I don’t know; not enough star power, I guess.
Usually the character actor is unlike the general run of people you know, sometimes called colorful.
The lead can be a character actor, like in Forrest Gump.
It’s someone that the audience is not supposed to relate to but to observe.
Is it a label that can follow you from role to role? Yep! It’s called type casting.
My favorite character actor (I’m old, and this shows it) was Andy Devine. His character could be classified as “sidekick.”
I did an interview once with Ken Curtis (the sidekick “Festus” in Gunsmoke). He allowed that he was cast in a pretty static role. But the series was one of the longer running TV shows. During the length of the series he paid off his house, got his kids through college and saved enough for a comfortable retirement. Not too many actors can say that.
A character actor is an actor who can always be counted on to perform a certain flavor of character dependably and recongnizably (is that a word?).
I am a character actor.
To call the use of character actors “typecasting” is accurate, though the term “typecasting” carries a pejorative sense that it ill deserves. All casting is done by type.
A character actor is someone who has built a career playing certain kinds of roles. Anthony LaPaglia and [Dan Hedaya are character actors. In short, they are actors whose names you usually can’t remember but who evoke the “Hey! It’s that guy!” response from audiences.
I mean, sure, you could cast [url=“http://us.imdb.com/PGallery?Gandolfini,+James”]James Gandolfini](http://us.imdb.com/PGallery?Hedaya,+Dan) as a scientific genius, but you would have a hard time getting the audience to believe it. But, put him in a pinstrip suit and have someone call him “Tony,” and presto-chango, your audience understands his entire character.
Back up on my typecasting soapbox for a minute: Even famous leading men are usually typecast. It is very unusual for someone to effectively play a role against his or her type. Just watch DeNiro in some of his new comedies, or imagine Pacino playing the cuddly lead in a romantic comedy.
Of course, all of that makes it even more effective when someone does play well against type; think of Kevin Spacey in Glengarry Glen Ross for example.
From The Complete Film Dictionary:
“A performer who specializes in secondary roles of a well-defined, often humorous nature. Such actors or actresses generally play these roles because of their own physical characteristics and individual voices.”
I have to take issue with this definition in part. I think there are two different types of character actors. The first is an actor who specializes in secondary roles and consistently plays to a “type”. Andy Devine and Dan Hedaya have been mentioned, and they certainly fit this type. Other great film examples would be Elisha Cook, Jr., Thelma Ritter, Barry Fitzgerald, Marjorie Rambeau, and Walter Brennan.
But there is another common usage of the term which is, in many ways, as contradictory as it is consistent with this first definition. A character actor is also commonly used to describe an actor who is relegated to secondary roles because they are too indistinct to “type”. The Hollywood star system relied on the assumption that stars would stay very close to the type of role with which the genral public was most comfortable seeing them in. The Garbos and Bogarts and Monroes and Cruises very rarely deviated from their established personas. These stars often exuded a special type of charisma that was as heavily indebted to looks and bearing as it was to acting ability.
Many of the great character actors did not have the matinee idol “looks” that allowed them to carry a picture, but they were versatile enough that they did more than just play the same role over and over. Some examples of this type of character actor were Claude Rains, Agnes Moorehead, Mary Astor, and Arthur Kennedy. These types of actors are known for immersing themselves in a role to the extent that they transcend audience expectations (and often may not even be recognized, so secondary is their force of personality). Nevertheless, they often can steal the picture by virtue of their acting chops alone. Probably the most famous contemporary example is Robert Duvall, though he has attained a level of fame unusual for character actors. A more typical example would be David Strathairn or Alison Janney. It is in this second common definition that I’d have to disagree with some of the posts that only refer to the first (sdimbert,Doug Bowe)
And with all due respect to Piano, you are completely off–the term “character actor” refers directly to the actor him/herself, and the types of characters they play are usually much more recognizable as everyday types than typical Hollywood star roles. Tom Hanks is most certainly not a character actor.
The question in the OP reminds me of “car seats” for babies
and toddlers. They should have called them “child seats” or
“baby seats”. “Car seats” just sounds like any seat in a car. Don’t we all sit in car seats?
Good one, javaman, that’s exactly what got me wondering about the term “character actor.”
So: Edie McClurg and Ben Stein: character actors; Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts: not character actors.
…And plenty of grey area in between. I guess the best way to get a sense of this is to observe the roles and persons to which the term is applied.
Onto: ‘Character foils’
Harry Dean Stanton
Character actors can be stars. Paul Muni (THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA, THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR, I WAS A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG) was an Oscar-winning character actor and a star. He was not in front of the camera for his looks, and in any case he looked different in every picture. More importantly, his personality was subordinated to the character he was playing, not the other way around.
Clark Gable was not a character actor. No, not just because he had leading man looks. Because basically every character he played was the same character, Clark Gable. One of his worst movies, PARNELL, tried to have him play an actual historical character whose personality was a matter of record. Didn’t work. Clark Gable could not be squeezed into someone else’s personality.
Christopher Lloyd, character actor.
Christopher Lee, non-character actor
Bob Hoskins, character actor
Bob Redford, non-charactr actor
Hmm
Christopher Reeve, dammit.
Sheeesh!
Christopher Lee is definitely a character actor.