A character actor is an actor who predominantly plays a particular type of role rather than leading ones. Character actor roles can range from bit parts to secondary leads. However, character actors often play supporting roles, for characters who do not undergo a major change in the course of the plot, and whose role is less prominent.
While movie-goers may not recognize character actors' names, their faces are instantly recognizable to movie fans. Character actors such as John Turturro and Steve Buscemi have built their careers around small, yet distinctive roles. Some character actors play essentially the same character over and over, and get typecast, as with Andy Devine, who often played a humorous but resourceful sidekick or Dennis Farina, who often plays a tough cop or gangster.
See stock character and commedia dell'arte for a discussion of related theatrical traditions.
Career paths
There are many reasons people might become character actors. Actors may also simply seem better suited to character roles than to leading roles. Another fact worth noting is that while any film has a handful of leading roles, it may also require dozens of smaller supporting roles, and that there are arguably more opportunities for professional success as a character actor than as a movie star. Some actors become character actors by choice. Others may find character work because they are seen as typecast (strongly identified with, or only suitable for certain types of roles), often due to an early success with a particular role or genre; J.T. Walsh and Dennis Hopper made a career of playing villainous characters, and Steve Buscemi has made a career of playing scheming deadbeats and offbeat villains. As well, some actors may become character actors because casting agents may believe they lack some of the admittedly subjective physical attributes associated with movie stars: they may be regarded as too tall, too short, unattractive, overweight, or somehow lacking an ephemeral "star quality".
Some actors may have a perceived over-the-top style or presence that overwhelms or threatens to upstage other actors, which means that directors often choose to limit their screentime which in effect often gives more power and value to their performances. Some well known examples include Christopher Lee and Malcolm McDowell. Actors may be deemed too old or too young for leading roles; being "too old" is more of a problem for women, who may find that their range of acting jobs drops precipitously after the age of forty (see ageism). Actors from marginalized or minority groups (such as certain ethnic or racial groups or women) might be barred from roles for which they were otherwise suited. Actors from outside of the U.S. may be famous in their own countries, but find their roles limited in the U.S. for any number of reasons (see Marcel Dalio, Cantinflas and Jet Li).
Some character actors have distinctive voices or accents which limit their roles. Actors such as James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Gilbert Gottfried, Selma Diamond and Julie Kavner have been able to turn this to their advantage, often in voice-over work. Sometimes character actors have developed careers because they had specific talents that are required in genre films, such as dancing, horsemanship or swimming ability. The stars of a movie that fails badly at the box office are often considered part of the reason it failed, and they may have trouble finding work later. Character actors are almost never blamed for these failures, and can continue to find work relatively easily.
Crossover actors
Some character actors have eventually gained star status and have become widely known, or perhaps even become lead actors. Examples include Lon Chaney, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brendan Gleeson, Alan Arkin, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall, David Morse, John Malkovich, Ed Harris, Paul Giamatti, Christopher Walken, and Jeff Goldblum. However, many actors such as Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh and Michael Lerner have nevertheless earned acclaim for their character roles.
Other character actors have developed a cult following with a particular audience as well, such as the fans of Star Trek, Doctor Who or The Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, character actors are not limited to only seasoned performers, but also can refer to film directors who have either made the crossover to acting or worked in front of the camera before, such as John Huston, Sydney Pollack, Paul Mazursky, Mark Rydell and Tim Blake Nelson to name a few.
Examples
See also
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