What is a Character Actor?
Ordinary Looks, Broad Acting Style Define These Industry Workhorses
The comedian said he was the "glue" that helped make Saturday Night Live sketches work. He specialized in playing authority figures such as bosses and announcers who propelled the plots of the skits, which centered around the leads, usually the guest hosts.
Hartman was a consummate character actor for the small screen. On the silver screen, the term "character actor" is used less often today. Today, it's "supporting actors" or "supporting cast." Or else the director or studio will bill a film as an "ensemble piece" if there are no main leads.
But generally, films have at least one male and one female lead. In the Golden Era, they were known as "leading men" or "leading ladies" or, more succinctly, "movie stars." Charactter actors rounded out casts. The leads have to have friends, spouses, bosses and such to bounce off of, and that's where these actors came in.
Character Actor Characteristics
Their primary characteristics:
- Ordinary looks. Studios generally wanted the leads to be the best looking, and these shining stars wouldn't want to be in the shadow of a stunning beauty or handsome guy anyway. Thus, supporting players generally are the kinds of people you're likely to see in the grocery store.
- Broader acting styles. These actors and actresses often serve specific functions, e.g. comic relief, a villain to challenge the protagonist, or a familial functionary such as mom, dad or sibling, Family members and pals generally serve to elicit reactions from the lead that help define the lead's personality for the viewer.
Without Andy Hardy's heart-to-heart talks with his father, played by veteran character actor Lewis Stone back in the 1930sand '40s, the viewer may never know why Andy's been so worried about school or work or whatever crisis du jour.
Would Jaws be as intense if Roy Scheider were alone on the boat, without the crazy old salt Robert Shaw and smarmy marine researcher Richard Dreyfuss on board?
Take most Alfred Hitchcock films. His casting people had a talent for gathering great supporting casts. Rear Window would just be a bunch of dreamy stares between Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly without the world-weary and witty observations of neighbor Thelma Ritter and the camaraderie between Stewart and his detective pal Tom Doyle, played by Wendell Corey.
- More accessibility. The audience likely can more easily identify with supporting players than the leads not only because of looks, but also because of lifestyle structures. Leads often are heroic types who must save the day, or rich people. Hollywood usually works with the premise that people go to the movies to see people unlike them, who lead unique lives one can't experience in the real world.
Supporting Roles Shouldn't Steamroll the Leads
It also boils down to this: Leading actors often are too busy propelling the plot to be that interesting. They have the burden of saving the world from destruction or wooing the leading lady or man. Face it, not all leading actors have the vocal trademarks or mannerisms of, say, John Wayne or Bette Davis.
However, the best character actors realize theirs is not to overshadow the lead.
Fritz Feld, who was a longtime character actor from the studio system, would be recognized by almost anyone who has seen classic films. He usually played the snooty waiter, maitre'd or hotel clerk, often with a chirpy French accent. In the book Reel Characters, by Jordan Young, he discusses the function of character actors: "The reason I've played so many parts is because producers could trust me not to steal scenes ... The reason the audience likes me is because I'm the underdog. I don't take away from the leading man."
Essentially, the audience can identify with an "underdog" supporting actor because they likely never get the girl or guy, save the day or inherit the family fortune, so they're closer to John and Jane Doe filmgoer.
Though most actors get pigeon-holed into a form and function, some have spent time on both sides of the fence. Christopher Walken started out as a supporting player in the late 1970s in films like Annie Hall and The Deer Hunter, became a lead in the early 80s, then acquired the most fame, some would argue cult status, as the go-to character actor when a producer sought a crime lord or other low-life.
So character actors may not get $20 million per picture, and the fame, of many leads, but their careers usually last longer, as the fickle finger of Hollywood fate leans toward the young when it comes to leading men and women.
Who knows, had James Dean and Marilyn Monroe lived longer lives, they could've wound up playing the cranky, but endearing, old neighbor couple in films today.
Christopher Walken evolved from lead to character.
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