American actor

An actor (or in some cases actress for females; see terminology) is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (hupokritḗs), literally "one who answers". The actor's interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is "playing themselves", as in some forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly; to act, is to create, a character in performance.

Formerly, in some societies, only men could become actors, and women's roles were generally played by men or boys. When used for the stage, women occasionally played the roles of prepubescent boys.

After 1660 in England, when women first started to appear on stage, the terms actor or actress were initially used interchangeably for female performers, but later, influenced by the French , actress became the commonly used term for women in theatre and film. The etymology is a simple derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a gender-specific term for male performers. Actor is also used before the full name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the neutral term dates to the 1950–1960s, the post-war period when the contributions of women to cultural life in general were being reviewed. "When the Observer and the Guardian published their new joint style guide in 2010, it stated "Use ["actor"] for both male and female actors; do not use actress except when in name of award, e.g. Oscar for best actress." The authors of the style guide stated that "actress comes into the same category as authoress, comedienne, manageress, 'lady doctor', 'male nurse' and similar obsolete terms that date from a time when professions were largely the preserve of one sex (usually men). As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper: 'An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor – I can play anything.'" The U.K. performers' union Equity has no policy on the use of "actor" or "actress". An Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the "...subject divides the profession." In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that "Actress" remains the common term used in major acting awards given to female recipients (e.g., Academy Award for Best Actress).

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