Are Actors Artists (Does Acting Count As Art)?
Over the years, there has been debate as to whether actors should be considered artists or not. People interpret art in different ways, and many individuals present their opinions about acting in confusing ways. So, are actors artists, and does acting really count as an art form?
Acting is art in the form of a performance. Actors use gestures, movements, and intonation to depict a character on stage, television, or motion picture. An artist is a person who brings their own ideas and creates a distinct piece, and an actor does the same for a character role.
Below, I discuss acting as a form of creative art and describe the features of acting that are considered artistic. Once you read this overview, you will have a clear image of what acting actually is and in what ways actors are considered artists. The explanations and theories I provide below will show that acting is indeed an art form worthy of a true artist.
Acting As A Form Of Creative Art
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Acting is a performing art in which actors use gestures, emotion, intonation, and movement to depict a particular fictional or non-fictional character, along with all their traits and feelings. Actors must make the character come to life for television, motion pictures, or the stage. This character realization requires talent, creative thinking, and a lot of hard work so that the audience can see the real inner-self of the role in question.
According to French actor François-Joseph Talma, every actor should possess a certain sensibility and deep intelligence level. Sensibility helps the actor convey the character’s emotions in accordance with the playwright or artistic director, while intelligence helps depict the soul of the character. These elements are crucial, and they need to be taken into consideration by every actor.
An actor is responsible for developing these elements in the finest possible manner, or otherwise, we are not talking about art anymore. It is important to understand that for an actor to be an artist, they need to do more than just speak the words. Actors need to use their creativity and talent to show the audience something more than just the performance.
In other words, an actor becomes an artist when they live in the character’s role, rather than just imitating the supposed movements and feelings. The actor needs to put themselves in a position in which they believe they are the character in question. Only then will the audience feel for the life of that character.
In performance art, such as acting, singing, and dancing, there has always been a debate about whether these acts should be considered art. This is due to the fact that it can be tough to determine what can be taken as an artistic form. Art involves a lot of freedom in expression. Therefore it is hard to make a clear distinction between art and performance.
Artist or Interpreter: Does Acting Count as Art?
The debate whether an actor is an artist or just an interpreter arose a long time ago. There have been theories that an actor is a mediator between the play and the audience and that their performance is just a piece of a play or a script, and their contribution to it does not mean much to the audience.
However, each movement, gesture, or speech that the actor makes signifies a lot of things. The character is the one who gives a certain message to the public, and only through them can the intended message can be conveyed. To achieve this goal successfully, the actor needs to enter the mind of a particular character and show the character’s inner thoughts and feelings using their own creative process.
Acting needs to be considered an art form since this is the only way to stimulate the actor to think creatively and express themselves freely. The actor can then present every possible manifestation of a particular human being. It can be said that everything we experience from a talented actor plays on our emotions just the same as any other piece of exemplary visual art such as a painting or sculpture.
Qualifications Of An Actor as An Artist
The skills that an actor or actress needs to portray a character are a certain look, good articulation and breathing, a clear voice, and an alert mind. These features are needed so that the actor can emote the intended feeling or intensity of a given script.
Some actors do not possess these characteristics off-stage. Still, once they are performing, they are stimulated to use all the necessary features to depict a feeling or an event. This is typical behavior of actors since they are trained for the stage, and therefore they come to life during a performance.
By responding to stimuli, the actor can enter into the character’s experience and feel like they are one and the same person. A talented actor has the ability to transform themselves into a whole other person, in this case, a particular character. This ability is artistic because you cannot do something like that if you are only an interpreter, or your duty is just to imitate feelings and mannerisms.
We’ve all witnessed an acting performance that sends chills up and down our spine. Not every actor or performance can cause this reaction in a viewer, however.
These elements and features are seen in the great actors, not the ‘ordinary actors.’ In other words, not everyone can get themselves in such a deep state of character. However, this does not mean that just the great actors are artists. It is just a fact that some actors are born with a special talent that cannot be trained or learned.
Other than the elements mentioned above, the actor needs to have the ability to relax on the stage, theater, or in front of the screen. Being exposed to a huge audience is quite a lot of pressure, so the actor needs to learn how to cope. If the actor is not a true artist, they would not be able to perform and deal with that kind of pressure at the same time.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, the facts confirm that acting is a true form of art and that this kind of profession requires a lot of skills and creativity. Everything created out of a person’s mind and shared with the public in a unique way should be considered art, including acting.
