character actor

plural character actors

1. A supporting actor who specializes in playing eccentric or unusual roles.

   Merkel is played by Katharina Thalbach, one of Germany's best-loved character actors.

   2024 July 13, Guy Chazan, “Ex-chancellor’s imagined career as a sleuth hits Italian TV”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2

   4 more examples

   In an interview with Charlie Rose in November 1999, Johnny Depp stated that he really would like to be known as, and work as, a character actor. Depp cites Lon Chaney as his model and hero, “the greatest character actor of all time."

   2007, Michael Blitz, Louise Krasniewicz, Johnny Depp: A Biography, page 91

   One of the great signature traits of the studio years in Hollywood was its wealth of character actors.

   2008, John Fawell, The Hidden Art of Hollywood: In Defense of the Studio Era Film, page 141

   The character actor has a much less glamorous effect on their audiences, their impact being made more traditionally over time. Character actors are those who early in their careers discover the chameleon-like ability to play a great variety of roles, each time subsuming themselves into the part until they are almost unrecognisable.

   2009, Gill Foreman, A Practical Guide to Working in Theatre, page 48

   But Renner, who’s less of a star and more of a great character actor, remains second fiddle to Hunt, whose future seems secure as the films continue to rake in profits.

   2015 July 30, David Sims, “Why Tom Cruise's Personal Life Hasn't Hurt the Mission: Impossible Movies”, in The Atlantic, retrieved 02 Oct 2023