AskDefine | Define acting

Dictionary Definition

acting adj : serving temporarily especially as a substitute; "the acting president" [syn: acting(a)] n : the performance of a part or role in a drama [syn: playing, playacting, performing]

User Contributed Dictionary




  1. Temporarily assuming the duties or authority of another person when they are unable to do their job.
    Acting President of the United States is a temporary office in the government of the United States.


Temporarily assuming the duties or authority


  1. present participle of act


  1. An intended action or deed.
  2. Pretending.
  3. The occupation of an actor.
  4. The deeds or actions of parties are called actings to avoid confusion with the legal senses of deeds and actions.

Extensive Definition


Definition and history

The word acting is derived from the Latin word pretentious meaning "to speak with an accent." However, it literally comes from the verb "to act" which means "take action", this is the central basis of any drama and the essence of an actors job. i.e an actor must act, note this is does not mean pretend it means do, an actor is always doing something, or acting on something, this is where the word actor comes from, as is summarises an actors job. In acting, an actor suppresses or augments aspects of their personality in order to reveal the actions and motivations of the character for particular moments in time. The actor is said to be "assuming the role" of another, usually for the benefit of an audience, but also because it can bring one a sense of artistic satisfaction. The first actor is believed to be Thespis of Icaria, a man of ancient Greece. "Plays" of this time, called choric dithyrambs, involved a chorus of 50 who sang the story to the audience. The possibly apocryphal story says that Thespis stepped out of the chorus and spoke to them as a separate character in the story. Before Thespis, the chorus in all plays would sing in a narrative way, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said that." When Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he said "I am Dionysus. I did this." From Thespis' name derives the word thespian, meaning any sort of performer but chiefly an actor. The International Thespian to possess a number of skills, including good vocal projection, clarity of speech, physical expressiveness, a good sense of perspective, emotional availability, a well developed imagination, the ability to analyze and understand dramatic text, and the ability to emulate or generate emotional and physical conditions. Well-rounded actors are often also skilled in singing, dancing, emotional expressiveness, imitating dialects and accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, stage combat, and performing classical texts such as Shakespeare. Many actors train at length in special programs or colleges to develop these skills, which have a wide range of different artistic philosophies and processes.
See also actor, thespian, or Thespis.
Not all people working as actors in film, television or theatre are professionally trained. Chances of succeeding as an actor are greatly enhanced by studying drama at a university or college, or attending an acting conservatory. Conservatories typically offer two to four year training on all aspects of acting. Universities will offer three to four year programs, where a student can choose to focus on acting, while still learning about other aspects of theatre. Schools will vary in their approach, but in North America the most popular method taught is the 'inside out' technique, developed by Stanislavski in his early years and popularized in America by Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. Others may include a more physical approach, following the teachings of Jerzy Grotowski and others. Regardless of a school's approach, students should expect intensive training in textual interpretation, voice and movement. Applications to drama programs and conservatories are through auditions in the United States. Anybody over the age of 18 can usually apply to drama school.
A list of drama schools in Britain, North America and Australia can be found on the drama school article.


  • Brustein, Robert. 2005. Letters to a Young Actor New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465008062.
  • [[Uta Hagen|HaSBN 0025473905.
  • Hodge, Alison, ed. 2000. Twentieth Century Actor Training. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415194520.
  • Marston, Merlin, ed. 1987. Sanford Meisner on Acting New York: Random House. ISBN 0394750594.
  • Stanislavski, Constantin. 1936. An Actor Prepares. London: Methuen, 1988. ISBN 0413461904.
  • Zarrilli, Phillip B., ed. 2002. Acting (Re)Considered: A Theoretical and Practical Guide. Worlds of Performance Ser. 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 041526300X.

External links

acting in Arabic: تمثيل
acting in Asturian: Actuación
acting in German: Schauspiel
acting in Spanish: Actuación
acting in Hindi: अभिनय
acting in Hebrew: משחק (אמנות הבמה)
acting in Japanese: 芝居
acting in Finnish: Näytteleminen

Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words

act, action, active, activism, activity, ad interim, affectation, aping, appearance, at work, attitudinizing, behavior, behavioral, bluff, bluffing, buffoonery, business, characterization, cheating, color, coloring, deception, delusion, deputative, deputy, disguise, dissemblance, dissembling, dissimulation, doing, dumb show, embodiment, employment, enacting, enactment, exercise, facade, face, fakery, faking, false air, false front, false show, falsity, feigning, feint, four-flushing, fraud, front, function, functional, functioning, gag, gilt, gloss, going, going on, ham, hammy acting, hoke, hokum, humbug, humbuggery, imitation, impersonation, imposture, in exercise, in force, in hand, in operation, in play, in practice, in process, in the works, inaction, incarnation, interim, masquerade, meretriciousness, mimesis, mimicking, mimicry, miming, movements, mummery, occupation, on foot, on the fire, ongoing, operating, operation, operational, operations, ostentation, outward show, overacting, pantomime, pantomiming, patter, performance, performing, personation, personification, play, playacting, playing, portrayal, pose, posing, posture, practice, practicing, praxis, pretense, pretension, pretext, pro tem, pro tempore, projection, representation, representative, running, seeming, semblance, serving, sham, show, simulacrum, simulation, slapstick, speciousness, stage business, stage directions, stage presence, stunt, supply, swing, taking a role, varnish, window dressing, work, working, workings
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