actorac‧tor /ˈæktə $ -ər/ ●●● W3 noun [countable] 
She has starred with many leading actors.character actor (=an actor who takes unusual or interesting roles)COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa good/fine/great actor· He had a reputation as a fine actor.a well-known/famous actor· I’d really like to be a famous actor.a professional/amateur actor· It isn’t easy to become a successful professional actor.the leading/principal actor (=acting the most important part)· Schwarzenegger was one of Hollywood’s leading actors.a supporting actor (=acting a part that is not the most important one)· She was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.a talented/accomplished actor· Jacobsen was one of the most accomplished actors of his generation.a comic actor· He was a comic actor and he always got a laugh.a classical actor (=acting parts from important traditional literature)· a drama school that trains classical actorsNOUN + actora movie/film/screen/Hollywood actor· the movie actor Brad Pitta stage actor· Most stage actors are very badly paid.a television/TV actor· For several years he had small parts as a television actor.a comedy actor· Jason was voted top TV comedy actor.a character actor (=an actor who is good at unusual or interesting roles)· As a character actor you get interesting parts.THESAURUSactor someone who performs in a play or film: · Her son wants to be an actor.· Both my parents are actors.actress a woman who performs in a play or film. Many women prefer to be called actors rather than actresses: · Who was the actress who played Jane Eyre?· She’s one of my favourite actresses.star a famous actor: · Julia Roberts is a famous Hollywood star.· The hotel is popular with movie stars.the star someone who plays the most important part in a play or film: · Daniel Radcliffe is the star of the ‘Harry Potter’ films.co-star one of two or more famous actors who have important parts in a play or film: · Her co-star Jodie Foster won the Best Actress Award.the lead the main acting part in a play or film: · He will play the lead in a new version of ‘Dracula’.extra an actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd: · She started her career as an extra in TV soap operas.understudy an actor who learns a part in a play so that they can act the part if the usual actor is ill: · Vanessa had flu, and her place was taken by her understudy, Miss Lisa Fennell.a group of actorsthe cast all the actors in a play or film: · Other members of the cast include Johnny Depp and Danny DeVito.· She will head the cast (=she will have the most important part).company a group of actors who perform plays together: · In 2006, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.· The play will be performed by an all-female company.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Actor Sidney Poitier was honoured with a Life Achievement Award.
- Ben Chaplin is an English actor who had a small part in 'Remains of the Day'.
- Leonardo DiCaprio is my favourite actor -- he's so good-looking!
- His godfather was actor and singer Paul Robeson.
- I read somewhere that Harry Enfield doesn't believe that actors are brave.
- I started out in this business not having any concept about what an actor did.
- I think actors still have a lot of life left in them.
- In 1940 he fell for an actor who was his lover for two years before joining the navy in 1942.
- The actor is dependent on the stimulus of other faces and voices.
- Troublesome Behaviour has been devised by four actors working with director, Martin McNicholas.
- Upon graduation in 1944, he moved back to Chicago, seeking work as an actor.
THESAURUS
someone who performs in a play or film: · Her son wants to be an actor.· Both my parents are actors.
a woman who performs in a play or film. Many women prefer to be called actors rather than actresses: · Who was the actress who played Jane Eyre?· She’s one of my favourite actresses.
a famous actor: · Julia Roberts is a famous Hollywood star.· The hotel is popular with movie stars.
someone who plays the most important part in a play or film: · Daniel Radcliffe is the star of the ‘Harry Potter’ films.
one of two or more famous actors who have important parts in a play or film: · Her co-star Jodie Foster won the Best Actress Award.
the main acting part in a play or film: · He will play the lead in a new version of ‘Dracula’.
an actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd: · She started her career as an extra in TV soap operas.
an actor who learns a part in a play so that they can act the part if the usual actor is ill: · Vanessa had flu, and her place was taken by her understudy, Miss Lisa Fennell.
a group of actors all the actors in a play or film: · Other members of the cast include Johnny Depp and Danny DeVito.· She will head the cast (=she will have the most important part).
a group of actors who perform plays together: · In 2006, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.· The play will be performed by an all-female company.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone who performs in plays, films etc someone who performs in plays, films etc: · Leonardo DiCaprio is my favourite actor -- he's so good-looking!· Actor Sidney Poitier was honoured with a Life Achievement Award.· Ben Chaplin is an English actor who had a small part in 'Remains of the Day'.
a woman who performs in plays, films etc: · Julia Roberts is one of the most famous actresses in Hollywood.· Capucine, the French movie actress whose leading roles included one with Peter Sellers in 'The Pink Panther', died after falling from a window.
a famous actor or actress: · Eddie Murphy is one of the most successful stars in Hollywood.big star: · James Caan was a big star in the '70s.
British /movie star American a famous actor or actress who acts in films: · Her real ambition is to be a movie star, not just an actress on the stage.· Film stars like Michael Caine are trying to revive the British film industry by making movies in England.
British informal an actor or actress - used especially about groups of actors who behave towards each other in a very friendly way that is not sincere: · There's nothing worse than watching a bunch of luvvies giving speeches at some awful awards ceremony.
all the people who act in a play or film: · Films like 'Ben Hur' were made with a cast of thousands.· The entire cast of the play deserves praise for this performance.
to perform in plays, films etc · In recent years Lewis has been acting in television dramas.· He learned to act when he was in high school.· That woman just can't act! (=is bad at acting)
to play the part of a particular character: · Milla Jovovich plays Joan of Arc in 'The Messenger'.· The roles of Vladimir and Estragon were played by Paul Whitworth and Ken Grantham.
to become an actor in the theatre as a job: · Jane's parents didn't want her to go on the stage.
the activity or study of acting the job or skill of being an actor: · You shouldn't take up acting as a career; it's a very risky business.· Gloria Reuben quit acting to join Tina Turner on stage as a backing singer and dancer.
British /theater American the business and activity of arranging, acting in, and performing plays in theatres: · She does some TV work, but theatre remains her first love.· the use of theatre in primary school educationthe theatre/the theater: · Shakespeare's plays were written for the theater, but many people study them as literature.
the study of acting and plays as a subject at school, college, or university: · He studied English and Drama at Manchester University.· a drama student· I was never much good at drama when I was a kid - probably because I was very shy.
acting in plays as an activity that you do in your free time for enjoyment, not as a job you get paid for: · Jonathan once appeared in a local amateur dramatics production of 'Death of a Salesman'.· Her hobbies include amateur dramatics and horse riding.
the most important actor in a play, film etc · Peter Fonda is best known as the star of 'Easy Rider' and other 1960s biker films.· 'Blair Witch' star Heather Donahue has landed a new role in a college reunion film called 'Seven and a Match'.
one of two or more actors who are equally important in a play or film: · Stan Laurel appeared in many comedies with his co-star Oliver Hardy.· Hepburn was Humphrey Bogart's co-star in the movie 'African Queen'.
when a play, film etc has a particular actor in it if an actor stars in a play or film, he or she is one of the most important actors in it; if a play or film stars an actor, he or she plays one of the most important characters in it: · The film stars Patricia Arquette and is directed by Steven Brill.· Director Jane Campion's latest film, which stars Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel, was one of the highlights of the New York Film Festival.star in: · Danny Aiello stars in this comedy about New York's first big lottery winner. · Hollywood heart-throb Keanu Reeves is set to star in a true story based on a newspaper article from the Times.
if two or more actors co-star in a play or film, they are equally important actors in it; if a play or film co-stars two or more people, they play the most important characters in it : · The movie co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Elle Macpherson and Ben Stiller.co-star in: · Annette Bening co-starred in movies such as 'Valmont', 'Postcards from the Edge' and 'Regarding Henry'.
to act the most important part in a play or film: · Calloway played the lead in the New Federal Theater's production of 'The Louis Armstrong Story'.· He got an unexpected chance to play the lead after the film's original star fell ill.
to act in a film or play, especially as one of the most important actors: · More than 60 youngsters will perform in the play at Old Town Theater in Los Gatos.· Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh appeared together in 'Gone with the Wind'.
if a play or film features an actor, they are in it: · The play features two young actresses.· The original 'Star Trek' series, featuring William Shatner as Capt. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, lasted three years.
used when saying who is in a play, film etc: · Have you seen 'The Sixth Sense' with Bruce Willis?· Dawson is now producing a stage version of the story with a cast of young actors from New York.
if someone is in a play or film as a particular character, they act the part of that character: · Clint Eastwood was excellent as the strong, silent hero in his many westerns.· Paul McGann will star as a middle-class Jewish lawyer in a new BBC drama called 'Fish'.
the person that an actor pretends to be in a play, film etc · Jed is one of most likeable characters in the play.central/main character · Carmen Maura plays the passionate, beautiful Pepa, the central character of director Pedro Almodovar's movie.
the job of acting as a particular character in a play or film: · She knew she wanted the part as soon as she read the movie script.play the part/role of: · She played the part of the Wicked Stepmother in 'Snow White'.
WORD SETSacrobat, nounact, verbacting, nounactor, nounactress, nounagent, nounarena, nounbig name, nounbill, nounblack comedy, nounbook, verbcast, nouncasting, nounclown, nouncomedian, nouncomedienne, nouncomedy, nouncomic, nouncompany, nounconcert hall, nounconjure, verbconjurer, nounconjuring, nounconservatoire, nounconservatory, nouncontortionist, noundisplay, noundouble act, nounduo, nounemcee, nounenact, verbencore, nounentertainer, nounentertainment, nounfestival, nounfinale, nounfirst night, nounfool, noungala, noungrand finale, nounguest, nounham, nounheadline, verbheartthrob, nounhigh wire, nounhypnotist, nounimpersonator, nounimpresario, nouninterlude, nounintermission, nouninterpret, verbinterpretation, nounintro, nounlive, adjectivemagic, nounmagician, nounmagic wand, nounmajorette, nounmanager, nounmask, nounmatinée, nounmatinée idol, nounmegastar, nounmime, nounminstrel, nounnarration, nounopening night, nounPA, nounpart, nounperform, verbperformance, nounperformer, nounpresentation, nounprincipal, nounproducer, nounprogramme, nounprompt, verbprompt, nounpublic, nounpunchline, nounraconteur, nounrecast, verbrecitation, nounrehearsal, nounrehearse, verbrepertoire, nounreprise, nounringside, nounroadshow, nounrole-play, nounsafety net, nounshow business, nounshowgirl, nounshow-stopping, adjectivesketch, nounslapstick, nounsleight of hand, nounsmash hit, nounsnake charmer, nounsold out, adjectiveson et lumière, nounstand-up, adjectivestand-up, nounstar, verbstooge, nounstraight man, nounstripper, nounstriptease, nounsuperstar, nountattoo, nountightrope, nountour, nountroubadour, nountroupe, nountumbler, nounventriloquist, nounvirtuoso, nounwooden, adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives a world renowned expert in the field
· He had a reputation as a fine actor.
· I’d really like to be a famous actor.
· It isn’t easy to become a successful professional actor.
(=acting the most important part)· Schwarzenegger was one of Hollywood’s leading actors.
(=acting a part that is not the most important one)· She was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
· Jacobsen was one of the most accomplished actors of his generation.
· He was a comic actor and he always got a laugh.
(=acting parts from important traditional literature)· a drama school that trains classical actors
NOUN + actor· the movie actor Brad Pitt
· Most stage actors are very badly paid.
· For several years he had small parts as a television actor.
· Jason was voted top TV comedy actor.
(=an actor who is good at unusual or interesting roles)· As a character actor you get interesting parts.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES (=an actor who plays interesting or unusual characters)· He’s a well-known character actor.
· He was voted the top TV comedy actor.
· John Voight, the American film star, is perhaps best known for his Oscar winning performance in 'Midnight Cowboy'.
a world renowned expert in the field· Peebles is best known as a television actor.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· But he is not only a fine actor and an even finer dancer he is also uncommonly and unabashedly sexy.· Hunt and Metta provide some lively moments, but Reed, a fine actor, is mostly reduced to wailing and whimpering.· Two fine actors vanished before my appalled eyes within a couple of hours on Boxing Day.· Nigel Hawthorne's performance is wonderful: he is becoming a finer and finer actor.· Acting is not a profession where you can simply stroll on - although I know a lot of fine actors have done that.· He has also become one of the finest actors in movies.
· Unless they were very good actors, they sounded very convincing to me when they said they were innocent.· A really good actor has got to be capable of making an enormous fool out of himself.· During the day I sit banging my drum and watching good actors singing my words.· Franz won the Emmy as best actor in a drama series for the 1993-1994 season, not Caruso.· She says she likes Bob Cratchit. he's a good actor, and has a nice face.· Is there a better actor than Brando?· They're not offering a degree in stage management or a pass for being a good actor or actress.· He liked George Birkitt and thought he was a good actor.
· The greatest actor in the history of the cinema.· For one thing, as great an actor as Anthony Hopkins is, there was only one Richard Nixon.· Kevin Kline's been chatting to John Miller about working with a great actor - himself!· A great actor portraying a great actor.· With each new take great actors such as Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox contribute something remarkable and new.· A great actor portraying a great actor.· He would have made a great dramatic actor.· Linklater is great with actors, and most of the performances are terrific.
· When he left, the other actors offered him clumsy commiseration, as to some one who had been bereaved.· I deserted the play, as did the other actors on stage, and leapt into the audience.· But other theories do enquire and thus have to take an interest in what actors think that other actors think.· Finally, the state sets the rules of the international system, and all other actors have to work within them.· But that was not enough. Other actors were instructed to bring on the score.· There were other actors, too, but those six were the real company.· The fundholding scheme has entailed costs for other actors in the internal market.
· However, the railways are not passive recipients of such political pressure, but political actors and manipulators in their own right.· Improper behavior by individual political actors or by government agencies is exposed and widely communicated by investigative reporters.· Traditionally, the study of politics and its relationship to the mass media has focused on institutions and bonafide political actors.· Do you think any major political actor in any country could keep this promise?· Each individually named political actor mentioned in an item was coded in the order in which he or she appeared.· Political interest groups also can provide goods or services to political actors.· In Belgrade, by contrast, Milosevic had remained a political actor, and a pivot for extreme nationalist forces.· The focus on the single political actor has analytic advantages, since data gathering and analysis can be precise and intensive.
· For others, governments are to provide the main resources for and be the principal actors in public communication.· He was the principal other actor in all my fantasies.· Reporters try to establish what the unfolding events mean to the principal actors concerned.· Thus the Father had been the principal actor during the period of the Old Testament.· It is a simplification to banish all but the principal actors from the international stage.
· Male speaker I've never worked with professional actors before.· Only Ronald Reagan,. a professional actor, has served two full terms.· He, on the other hand, had been a professional actor in his time; and fêted for it.· On the second date, the short plays will be recorded in a studio with professional actors.· They present a complete recording of the text read by a professional actor.· We are not professional actors, so normal life must go on.· Produced and performed by Britannia, a locally-based company of professional actors.
· It is perfectly obvious that the choices made by creative social actors are limited by the practical resources available to them.· That becomes clearer, if, fourthly, we notice that ideas have meaning for social actors.· For Bourdieu the social scientist is as involved in the mêlée of every-day life as any other social actor.· The outside world is, for the social actor, the opposite of his own home ground.
· Jolie is the daughter of veteran movie actor Jon Voight.
· I had the chance to audition for the transfer to London cast of Another Country which requires young actors to play seventeen-year-olds.· And it bothers me when I read articles about young actors and athletes who have these opinions about various things.· Michael was a cracking young actor.· I suddenly started getting very positive feedback, from agents and other young actors.· A determined, skilful young actor can get an Equity card and a first job.· As a young actor you obviously went for a great deal of variety in characters and accents.· A.R. As a new young actor do you find that at Stratford you become part of a house style?
NOUN· In other words, he was still developing the characteristics that would eventually make him a character actor.· The character actor has appeared in at least 50 motion pictures in a film career that dates to the 1950s.· I never expected to be much more than a character actor.· Cyril Shaps, that splendid and irrepressible character actor, David Horovitch and me.
· His replacement was comedy actor Derek Nimmo.· Both videos are situations comedies made by a top television light entertainment director and an experienced cast of comedy actors.· The video has been made using a highly-experienced cast of comedy actors and a top television light entertainment director.
VERB· He became an actor by default.· It used to be, says W, that the greatest aspiration of models was to become actors.· Now I want to copy the large group of trees - they will become an actor later in the process.· The drama school audition By now you will have made a definite decision to become an actor - nomatterwhat the problems or obstacles.· In the early 1960s the king became a major actor in the events that led to independence for his country in 1968.· The wireless and the cinema gave me such enjoyment that I decided I'd become an actor, a film star.· A.R. How do you feel about young people wanting to become actors, these days?· Which rather begs the question why he became an actor.
· In both plays the actors are fine and resourceful.· And in an ironic twist, the Author is played by the same actor as the old farmer.· Such games can be played with the actor entirely unaware that they are doing so.· Schwarzenegger, 45, plays a famous actor while Stallone appears as his rival.· Martin Baptie was played by a local actor.
· Benicio Del Toro won the best supporting actor prize for Traffic.· The meats are unfailingly tender and flavorful, and the stuffed tomatoes deserve a Tony Award for best supporting actor.· In the assassination, Netanyahu was a supporting actor with an ambiguous role.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► the actor/issue/crime etc du jour► a failed actor/writer etc► a frustrated artist/actor/poet etc► marquee player, actor etc► an actor turned politician/a housewife turned author etc► would-be actor/murderer etc
someone who performs in a play or filmleading/principal actor- Perhaps she is a budding artist, a future novelist.
- In between travel trips Wilcock ran into a woman at a party who lived with an artist manqué, Walter Bowart.
- At a crucial moment, the United States played an important supporting role.
- Benicio Del Toro won the best supporting actor prize for Traffic.
- But the chief joy despite several eye-catching supporting roles remains watching Courtenay milk the script for all its worth.
- He felt the other two were satisfied to play supporting roles to Gedge and to a lesser extent, himself.
- Hopper won a supporting role in that film too.
- Its most unarguable successes are in the main supporting roles.
- The meats are unfailingly tender and flavorful, and the stuffed tomatoes deserve a Tony Award for best supporting actor.
- The three supporting roles are all superbly played.
She has starred with many leading actors.character actor (=an actor who takes unusual or interesting roles)COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa good/fine/great actor· He had a reputation as a fine actor.a well-known/famous actor· I’d really like to be a famous actor.a professional/amateur actor· It isn’t easy to become a successful professional actor.the leading/principal actor (=acting the most important part)· Schwarzenegger was one of Hollywood’s leading actors.a supporting actor (=acting a part that is not the most important one)· She was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.a talented/accomplished actor· Jacobsen was one of the most accomplished actors of his generation.a comic actor· He was a comic actor and he always got a laugh.a classical actor (=acting parts from important traditional literature)· a drama school that trains classical actorsNOUN + actora movie/film/screen/Hollywood actor· the movie actor Brad Pitta stage actor· Most stage actors are very badly paid.a television/TV actor· For several years he had small parts as a television actor.a comedy actor· Jason was voted top TV comedy actor.a character actor (=an actor who is good at unusual or interesting roles)· As a character actor you get interesting parts.THESAURUSactor someone who performs in a play or film: · Her son wants to be an actor.· Both my parents are actors.actress a woman who performs in a play or film. Many women prefer to be called actors rather than actresses: · Who was the actress who played Jane Eyre?· She’s one of my favourite actresses.star a famous actor: · Julia Roberts is a famous Hollywood star.· The hotel is popular with movie stars.the star someone who plays the most important part in a play or film: · Daniel Radcliffe is the star of the ‘Harry Potter’ films.co-star one of two or more famous actors who have important parts in a play or film: · Her co-star Jodie Foster won the Best Actress Award.the lead the main acting part in a play or film: · He will play the lead in a new version of ‘Dracula’.extra an actor in a film who does not say anything but is part of a crowd: · She started her career as an extra in TV soap operas.understudy an actor who learns a part in a play so that they can act the part if the usual actor is ill: · Vanessa had flu, and her place was taken by her understudy, Miss Lisa Fennell.a group of actorsthe cast all the actors in a play or film: · Other members of the cast include Johnny Depp and Danny DeVito.· She will head the cast (=she will have the most important part).company a group of actors who perform plays together: · In 2006, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.· The play will be performed by an all-female company.