Otheruses

An actor or actress (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity. The ancient Greek word for an actor, (hypokrites), means literally "one who interprets";Hypokrites (related to our word for hypocrite) also means, less often, "to answer" the tragic chorus. See Weimann (1978, 2). in this sense, an actor is one who interprets a dramatic character.This is true whether the character than an actor plays is based on a real person or a fictional one, even themselves (when the actor is 'playing themselves,' as in some forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, as in John Malkovich's performance in the film Being John Malkovich); to act is to create a character in performance: "The dramatic world can be extended to include the 'author', the 'audience' and even the 'theatre'; but these remain 'possible' surrogates, not the 'actual' referents as such" (Elam 1980, 110).

Terminology

The word actor refers to a person who acts regardless of gender, while actress refers specifically to a female who acts, therefore a female can be both. The Oxford English Dictionary states that originally "'actor' was used for both sexes". The English word actress does not derive from the Latin actrix, probably not even by way of French actrice; according to the Oxford English Dictionary, actress was "probably formed independently" in English. As actress is a specifically feminine word, some feminists assert that the word is sexist. Gender-neutral usage of actor has re-emerged in modern English,dictionary.com actor retrieved 13 November 2007 especially when referring to male and female performers collectively, but actress remains a commonly used word.