I often hear about “character actors.” But *all * actors portray characters. The nearest I can figure out is that it means that these are people who portray exaggerated two-dimensional characters, usually comically, like Fred and Ethel Mertz.
What does this really mean and why is this term used?
Generally they’re the people that you remember as the character, rather than as the actor. Usually they’re not the stars (unless it’s a lower-budget film), but they can have big roles.
If you just mention their names, most people will say, “who?” But if you say “he played the henchman in the last Bond film” or “she was the Mom that Christmas movie” people will immediately know who you mean. Play enough roles like that, and you’re a character actor.
I take it as a polite way of referring to an actor who gets a lot of good minor roles, but never gets lead or even semi-lead roles. Defintiely a few steps up from “typist no. 2” though.
Character actors disappear into their characters and so can play many roles and not ruin the experience for you. Stars are almost always themselves no matter what role they play, so their appearance can be a distraction no matter how good a job they do.
When my daughter was acting, kids were split into “beautiful children” and “character kids.” Beautiful children were typically tall and blonde, character kids were everyone else. My daughter had dark hair and was too intelligent looking to be a beautiful child, but I assure you plenty of character kids were good looking.
It’s not at all true that character actors won’t get top roles. They may never play the major love interest, except in quirky movies, but they are a lot more important than bit players. The show my daughter was on was pretty much 100% character kids - or at least for the subset of actors in the storylines she was in.
“Character Actor” is a Hollywood term of art to refer to someone who is an actor as opposed to a movie star. Different things, although of course not neccesarily mutually exclusive.
Yes, when I’m watching a “star” in a movie, I’m constantly thinking about their other roles, their marriages, their sexual orientation, their scandals, their deaths, etc. I have a hard time just getting lost in the character.
But with a character actor, I can forget the actor and sink my teeth into the role, and it’s a juicier role to begin with.
True enough, but you’re basically giving the same examples. A star is very often a character actor because they earn a reputation for playing the same roles despite how much or how little they disappear into them. Character actor status is not related to star status. They can be famous or totally unknown. You don’t find non-leading character actors struggling to get roles regardless of their age, weight, height, or physical beauty, but if a star character actor bombs at the box office more than once, their “star character actor” status starts to become more of a liability than it is an asset, regardless of how pretty they are. It’s rare when it happens, but look at Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. Granted, Ford is getting on in years and isn’t action star material anymore, so I suppose that’s ageism, but we’ll see how he does in Indy 4. 
Cruise is still young and capable, but is generally recognized as being daffy nowadays. Either way, these guys are both character acting stars who are not the box office draw they used to be.
It’s common to think to them this way too, but it’s a misnomer. I used to think this way as well, but your description is really a bit player. It is possible, of course, for a bit player to be a character actor, but they aren’t the same thing.
My totally unofficial definitions:
A-list Star: someone with literal top billing. If you refer to the upcoming movie by the actor instead of the title (“You gonna see that new Brad Pitt movie?”), then it’s an A-list star.
B-list Star: someone who’s name or face 70% of the people in your office would recognize, but they don’t get top billing and they’re not the reason you’re seeing the movie, but a nice bonus.
Character Actor: someone you know you’ve seen before and can probably even name a few roles, because they tend to play the same type of character: deputy, PTA mom, batshit insane conspiracy theorist, etc. But you may not know the actor’s name, and you don’t generally go to a movie knowing they’re in it beforehand. (“Hey! It’s the ‘Sparkle Motion’ lady again!”) Casting directors often look for this guy if they have a stock character type to cast, and so the character(s) they generally do well are prominent on their resume.
Working Actor: someone you don’t know by name and don’t recognize from other roles, but they can support themselves on their acting, which means they work a lot. But they might be a cop in one movie, a druggie in another and a teacher in a third. No standard ‘character’ tops their resume.
Funny, i always thought a character actor was someone who usually always played similar roles. William H. Macy is a prime example. He gets good roles and has even been lead a few times, but he’s almost always the “sympathetic loser” or the “well meaning but misdirected dad/husband/brother”.
From The Complete Film Dictionary:
All of the above (even the contradictory ones). It’s a fairly vague term.
Generally speaking it’s a supporting player who only plays leads (if ever) in made-for-TV or low budget movies, but works as often as they want to work. Randy Quaid is a prime example of a character actor. He makes several movies per year and always with close-to-the-top billing, he steals every scene he’s in (particularly in the Vacation movies, but nobody would ever think of him for a romantic lead. Meanwhile some of the lead actors who’ve gotten top billing are total has beens while he’s a character actor.
Sometimes it gets really blurry: John Goodman was a star on Roseanne and in a couple of movies (the one about Babe Ruth) but generally is a character actor: if he was ever nominated for an Oscar it would be for Best Supporting Actor.
Transition is also possible. Ian McKellen was a great character actor who became a name-above-the-title star in the late 1990s (still great though- watch him as the dying Nazi officer in Apt Pupil or the title character in Richard III or the old queer director in Gods & Monsters and not only are they all very distinct performances but none make you think of Gandalf or Magneto). William Hurt is a former leading man who has become (largely by choice) a character actor.
Tom Cruise, even if his movie career tanks, will never be a character actor- he’ll always be “Tom Cruise in…”. Burt Reynolds is similar- even though he’s old and can’t get a lead role in a movie anymore he’s still Burt Reynolds; even in his BSA nomination for Boogie Nights he was less a character actor than “Burt Reynolds in…”. His co-star from deliverance, Ned “Piggy” Beatty, however, will never be the lead (except on stage where he’s played Big Daddy and Willy Loman and the like) but will work until he drops dead on the set at 103 if he so desires.
Unfortunately “character actress” means “a working actress over 30”, except on TV where she might still get a lead.
I totally disagree. True stars are never character actors. Period. The definitions are mutually exclusive. True stars may find themselves unable to carry a picture but even if they age or descend into secondary roles they are never anything but a faded star.
Another distinction of character actors: they float between formats a lot more. James Earl Jones may have a small role in a big-budget movie, guest starring roles on one sitcom and one law & order type show, star name-above-the-title in a Broadway show, have a large supporting role in a low budget movie, star in a TV movie, and be the voice of some product on an advertisement all in the course of a year or two. It’s hard to imagine a Josh Hartnett or a Ben Affleck doing that.
Incidentally, many character actors are leading actors on stage and character actors in movies. Christopher Plummer & Bryan Dennehy, for example, are character actors in film but they’re currently name above the title stars on B’way in Inherit the Wind.
A good example of a character actor done good?
He’s been acting professionally (at least in Movies/TV) for almost 30 years, yet was pretty much in “Oh! THAT guy” territory until a few years ago - even today he isn’t really ‘leading man’ material, but he is recognizable to many people now.
Hmm. Where does that put Johnny Depp and Bette Davis?
As talented, versatile movie stars.
Remember, the term “character actor” was coined by movie producers, not movie critics. It’s a buisiness definition.
I always think of Gabby Hayes, Peter Lorre and Eve Arden. They never play the romantic lead, but are in continuous demand as the second banana.
Sometimes, character actors actually make the leap to “leading man/lady”: Robert Duvall, Jason Lee, Alyson Hannigan.
How are you defining “star”? A star is an actor who is popular enough to have top billing. It has nothing to do with how well he acts. Keanu Reeves is a star.
A character actor is an actor who has a single shtick and sticks to it. Some popular character actors, including stars:
Al Paccino
Jack Nicholson
Ed O’Neill
Rick Moranis
Steve Buscemi
Bill Murray