actor
/ˈæktɝ/
noun
someone whose job involves performing in movies, plays, or series
Click to see examples

Examples

1Movies are usually labeled as the work of the actors or director.
2Appropriate actions include warning, suspending or terminating a bad actor's account.
3Joke-busters Before the cameras roll, actors carefully memorize their lines.
4Actors performed a show.
5In the classical world, actors wore masks.
actress
/ˈæktɹəs/
noun
a woman whose job involves performing in movies, plays, or series
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Examples

1The actress announced her departure from the series with an Instagram post on May 26, 2021.
2The actress got positive feedback from both Bollywood bigwigs and critics alike.
3A good example of this type of Gemini was actress Marilyn Monroe.
4In October 2017, the actress welcomed her first child with husband Preston J. Cook.
5This person is an actress.
double
/ˈdəbəɫ/
noun
someone who takes part in a movie in order to replace the real actor while the nude or dangerous scenes are recorded
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Examples

1The first half of the 20th century saw the world’s population almost double.
2Unemployment nearly doubled.
3In just three years, nurse vacancies nearly doubled.
4Doubling the amount of chocolate lessens the amount of batter per cookie.
5The sprawl version of California almost doubles the urban physical footprint.
ensemble cast
/ɑːnsˈɑːmbəl kˈæst/
noun
a group of actors who share roughly equal screen time and importance in a movie

Examples

character actor
/kˈæɹɪktɚɹ ˈæktɚ/
noun
an actor who always plays the role of a bizarre or outlandish character rather than a main role
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Examples

1I'm a character actor.
2He is an amazing character actor.
3Just some character actor playing Carl Jr.
4He's a character actor.
5And celebrated character actor Ray Walston.
leading man
/lˈiːdɪŋ mˈæn/
noun
actor who plays the leading male role

Examples

leading lady
/lˈiːdɪŋ lˈeɪdi/
noun
an actress who plays the main role in a movie or play
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Examples

1The leading lady of the movie, Greta Nissen, was cut because of her strong Norwegian accent and Carpenter stepped into the role.
2But if more sequels are on the way, the series' leading lady won't be coming along.
3She's not just like, a leading lady romantic interest.
4We found our two leading ladies early on.
5Are you a leading lady?
ham
/ˈhæm/
noun
an actor with an exaggerated theatrical style
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Examples

1Just hams.
2Going ham? -
3Where's the rum ham?
4Ham dinner kind of sounds yummy.
5You guys went ham.
lead
/ˈɫɛd/, /ˈɫid/
noun
an actor who plays the main role in a play or movie
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Examples

1A culinary choice in South China led to a fatal infection in Hong Kong, subsequently 8,000 cases of SARS, nearly 1,000 deaths, 30 countries, six continents.
2My ego is leading the way.
3The royal always leads the way.
4Lead your partner.
5- Lead the conversation.
supporting actor
/səpˈoːɹɾɪŋ ˈæktɚ/
noun
an actor who plays a secondary character in a film or television show, often providing support or context to the main plot or protagonist

Examples

voice actor
/vˈɔɪs ˈæktɚ/
noun
a performer who provides voices for animated films, TV shows, video games, commercials, audiobooks, and other media where speaking voices are needed

Examples

bit part
/bˈɪt pˈɑːɹt/
noun
a minor role in a movie or play
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Examples

1So, a bit part of the problem is that not all of the water on Earth is usable.
2Kirsch began his TV career with bit parts on a variety of shows throughout the early '90s.
3They're all like little bit parts.
4Just focus on the bacon bit part.
5Stockard Channing had a bit part as Cynthia, the old college friend of the film's main stars.
stand-in
/stˈændˈɪn/
noun
a person who replaces someone else briefly in doing their job while they are not available
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Examples

1Like here, vague language provides a stand-in for detailed testimony.
2So this is a stand-in.
3This is a stand-in for some other arbitrary goal.
4During this period, beep speech was usually a stand-in for a real language.
5Stories are stand-ins for our own fraught-filled lives.
star
/ˈstɑɹ/
noun
the chief actor or performer in a motion picture, play, TV or radio program, etc.
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Examples

1If you don't know what Hush is, it is a movie that came out on Netflix and it stars Kate Siegel.
2We are as much the universe as a neutron star or a black hole or a nebula.
3Star jumps.
4Star jumps.
5Star jumps.
starlet
/ˈstɑɹɫət/
noun
a young and promising female actor who is coached and publicized in order to become a star
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Examples

1So most starlets, that's not their real name.
2She's just a pretty Hollywood starlet.
3In January 2005, the Hollywood starlet met country music superstar Kenny Chesney.
4My first impression of Damon Wayans Jr., was starlet, just a true Hollywood starlet.
5My first impression of Damon Wayans Jr., was starlet, just a true Hollywood starlet.
tragedian
/tɹædʒˈiːdiən/
noun
an actor who takes part in performing a role in a tragedy
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Examples

1Because he felt that in the hands of a great tragedian, like Sophocles or Euripides, a story can be told in such a way that rather than calling the guy who has murdered his family a weirdo, or a nut case, or et cetera, you start to see something very, very frightening indeed.
2I would not want to be known as a comedy star or only a tragedian.
3The next event that we hear about in Athens that's relevant to our story is that in the year 493, the Athenian tragedian Phrynicus presents his play called, The Capture of Miletus.
4If he had been slender and well made he would have been the first tragedian on any stage.
5Milton invokes a tragedian, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nazianzen who was able to finish a tragedy: Gregory Nazianzen, a Father of the Church, thought it not unbeseeming the sanctity of his person to write a Tragedy, which he entitl'd Christ Suffering.
understudy
/ˈəndɝˌstədi/
noun
an actor who practices the lines of another actor in order to replace them if necessary
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Examples

1She played understudy and apprentice to legendary point guard Teresa Weatherspoon.
2Now do you have your understudy?
3You are my understudy?
4Are you my understudy?
5- Are you my understudy?
walk-on
/ˈwɔˌkɑn/
noun
a small, non-speaking role played by an actor who appears briefly on screen, often as a background character or extra
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Examples

1No, she does not need walk-on music.
2well I'm just a walk-on here if I knew how to do it what I can do is pull the microphones closer I think that's it
3This guy named Brian Rohleder he was the sophomore walk-on for Kansas State.
4We can do a walk-on.
5A walk-on is like-- you have a puppy mill.
acting coach
/ˈæktɪŋ kˈoʊtʃ/
noun
a professional who trains actors to improve their performance skills and technique
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Examples

1He's a very good Acting Coach.
bad guy
/bˈæd ɡˈaɪ/
noun
a character in a story or film who is portrayed as an antagonist or villain
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Examples

1The Blue Morpho is a Bad Guy!
2I got the Bad Guy!
3-So, the song that you'll be singing tonight is "Bad Guy."
4Bad Guy by Billie Eilish, Come on Eileen, or I Wanna to Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston.
5I really love Billie Eilish and I love Bad Guy. -
cameo
/ˈkæmiˌoʊ/
noun
a minor role that is played by a well-known actor
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Examples

1Knock knock, Houston, we have a cameo.
2You have a cameo.
3Susan Sarandon's cameo is the final scene in the movie.
4My children have their cameo.
5They make a cameo.
co-star
/kˈoʊstˈɑːɹ/
noun
a leading actor or actress who takes part in a movie, play, etc.
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Examples

1Harden needed a co-star.
2Her co-stars include Tyler Posey, Jamie Chung, Rachel House, and Joseph Fiennes.
3In June 2019, co-star Alan Cumming essentially confirmed the beef to Us Weekly.
4She also praised her co-star and director, the legendary Denzel Washington.
5Now you famously married your co-star.
extra
/ˈɛkstɹə/
noun
someone who plays a very small part in a movie, usually as a part of a crowd
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Examples

1This one came out extra large. -
2Now, extras are paid about $90 for a 12-hour day.
3Luckily, we got extras.
4Only my enthusiasm for the guac is extra.
5You guys are so extra.
good guy
/ɡˈʊd ɡˈaɪ/
noun
a protagonist or a heroic character in a story or film who embodies positive traits and intentions

Examples

part
/ˈpɑɹt/
noun
the specific role given to an actor
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Examples

1This is in large part, due to home equity being bequeathed from one generation to the next.
2The first part of her trip was tough.
3Life in Poland was tough during the latter part of the 19th century.
4Pollen is moved from the male part of a flower to the female part of a flower, then fertilisation can happen causing fruit to grow.
5Pollen is moved from the male part of a flower to the female part of a flower, then fertilisation can happen causing fruit to grow.
role
/ˈɹoʊɫ/
noun
the part or character that an actor plays in a movie or play
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Examples

1The three other brothers, Carlo, Bindo, and Mario also played roles.
2Gavin's career also featured roles in Imitation of Life, Spartacus, and Fantasy Island.
3So without further ado, role the tape.
4Role the tape.
5So the sun is playing a role.
starring role
/stˈɑːɹɪŋ ɹˈoʊl/
noun
a lead or main role played by an actor in a film or a theatrical production
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Examples

1In fact only one LATINA will even be competing,Ly Aeks is ble DELL for her guest Starring Role in a Handmaid 'S Tale.
2The PRESIDENT has cast himself in the Starring Role of the BLAMELESS victim of a DEADLY pandemic, of a stalled economy, of Deep Seated Racial Unrest, all of which happened to HIM rather than the COUNTRY.
3If you look at Eric Swalwell On the Judiciary Committee, jeffries, there are individuals who are former prosecutors and who are part of PELOSI's Leadership Team that want to play a Starring Role in THIS, if you will.
title role
/tˈaɪɾəl ɹˈoʊl/
noun
the role of the character after whom the play is named

Examples

villain
/ˈvɪɫən/
noun
the main bad character in a movie, story, play, etc.
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Examples

1Villains go first.
2- Villains have the corner.
3Villains are feminine.
4-What villains do?
5Hero conquerors villain.
line
/ˈɫaɪn/
noun
the words recited by an actor in a play or movie
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Examples

1Some people wait in line for hours for their favorite rides.
2These are the border cells of your body, lining your organs and mucosa waiting to be infected.
3But if delta x got a little bit smaller, then the secant line would look like that.
4Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil.
5Line the ramekin with plastic wrap.
cue
/ˈkju/
noun
a few words or actions that hint another performer to say a line or do something
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Examples

1Cue the rain!
2Cue the outro montage.
3Cue the llamas.
4Cue the waterworks!
5Cue your anxiety and guilt.
prompt
/ˈpɹɑmpt/
noun
a word or phrase that an actor says to signal another actor to begin acting or say a line
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Examples

1Vince's distance from these decisions prompted trade rumors.
2The demonstrations are prompting heated debates.
3Our fifth on the list is prompted choice.
4The fall of Galilee to Vespasian’s legionaries prompted more internal strife among the Jewish factions.
5At the same time, in Great Britain the war also prompted a crisis of leadership.
stage direction
/stˈeɪdʒ dɚɹˈɛkʃən/
noun
a text in the script of a play, giving an instruction regarding the movement, position, etc. of actors
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Examples

1He was also big on speaking stage directions out loud.
2And there are stage directions that I'm going to read.
3Baby Dil's lines are all for the most part in the beginning in the stage directions.
4In the script, it's like one line of stage direction.
5That's a stage direction.
casting
/ˈkæstɪŋ/
noun
the process of assigning roles and parts to actors or performers in a movie, play, etc.
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Examples

1-They're central casting.
2Casting is a key ingredient in the secret sauce of great filmmaking.
3You talk central casting.
4Casting is officially closed!
5Good casting can bring a script to life.
screen test
/skɹˈiːn tˈɛst/
noun
a session of audition during which the actor is recorded in order to be assessed for a role
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Examples

1So it was into screen test time
2It passes the window dragging around the screen test with flying colors.
3We actually met doing a screen test for Zorro in the future.
4The young star was later called out for a screen test in Los Angeles.
5Your first kiss was in a screen test for a job you were doing.
act
/ˈækt/
noun
a main part of a play, opera, or ballet
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Examples

1So the first guy is acting as the interpreter, and, first of all, he's not even really a professional interpreter.
2Because the aid and oil or mineral money acts the same way.
3- No, act your age!
4This means act immediately.
5- Acting.
baddy
/bˈædi/
noun
an evil character in fiction or a motion picture
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Examples

1The wrestler-type baddy is an action game trope that lives on to this day.
2And then I go for a little blue baddy. -
3I subtract four for baddy cubes, but add five.
4This is just the baddy version of you.
5Maya turns into an Insta baddy.
aside
/əˈsaɪd/
noun
an actor's line that is told to the audience but the other characters on the stage are not intended to hear
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Examples

1- Terrible puns aside, the speakers are pretty solid here.
2Devils aside, what causes this blood red water?
3All jokes aside, change is good.
4All jokes aside, squats do have some major benefits.
5Throw your integrity aside.
protagonist
/pɹoʊˈtæɡənəst/
noun
the main character in a movie, novel, TV show, etc.
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Examples

1Today’s protagonist is universally recognised as one of the greatest science fiction writers in the history of literature.
2Today’s protagonist was an Olympics-level horse rider, a ladiesman, a cavalry officer of three wars, a guerrilla fighter, and a secret agent.
3Today’s protagonist is one of them.
4And the protagonist, the key person in the case, again, has to make a decision with some uncertain information.
5The protagonist is no hero by conventional literary standards.
dialogue
/ˈdaɪəˌɫɔɡ/
noun
a written or spoken line that is spoken by a character in a play, movie, book, or other work of fiction
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Examples

1We need dialogue.
2He loved dialogue.
3Does dialogue make a difference?
4I balked dialogue.
5Develop a dialogue.
exit
/ˈɛɡzɪt/, /ˈɛksət/
noun
an act of departure from the stage by an actor
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Examples

1The flavor has exited the building.
2Three Democratic candidates in three days have exited the Democratic race for president.
3So exit the rock star.
4One individual must exit the room.
5The vehicle is exiting a highway?
goody
/ˈɡʊdi/
noun
someone who is morally good, especially a character in a movie, play or book
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Examples

1- Grab your goodies.
2My weasel holds lots of goodies!
3Goody bags, oh my god.
4- Goody boog.
5Oh, goody, here's my shot.
hero
/ˈhiɹoʊ/, /ˈhɪɹoʊ/
noun
the main male character in a story, book, movie, etc., often known for his bravery and other great qualities
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Examples

1The asylum seekers are arriving heroes.
2And heroes save the day.
3The world will always need heroes.
4- Heroes wear hoodies.
5Are heroes.
heroine
/ˈhɛɹoʊən/
noun
the main female character in a story, book, film, etc., typically known for great qualities
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Examples

1These headstrong heroines provide an entertaining anchor for their tumultuous romantic narratives.
2So, I write, 'Heroine.'
3You're just doing heroine?
4But here in Germany, my heroine is Frau Merkel.
5In the book series, the heroine is especially full of piercings.
love interest
/lˈʌv ˈɪntɹəst/
noun
a person who is romantically or emotionally involved with another person, often a central character in a story or narrative
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Examples

1To sort of be a love interest to Carrie.
2You played Joey's love interest in an episode of Friends.
3I play Blake Lively's husband, Anna Kendrick's love interest.
4There's no white woman love interest.
5Where's Ryan's love interest?
soliloquy
/səˈɫɪɫəkwi/
noun
a speech that a character in a dramatic play gives in the form of a monologue as a series of inner reflections spoken out loud
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Examples

1I'm writing a, I'm writing a little soliloquy here.
2- Soliloquy, I guess?
3It's called "FF's Soliloquy."
4It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul.
5And I did that with the Hamlet soliloquy.
superhero
/ˌsupɝˈhiɹoʊ/
noun
a fictional character with special and strange powers
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Examples

1Superheroes are outlawed.
2Superhero: Aw, come on!
3The world still needs superheroes
4Superheroes help other people.
5Superheroes wear this.
character
/ˈkɛɹɪktɝ/
noun
a role or part played by an actor or performer
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Examples

1I have never seen you smile really before, your character is so dour.
2And I love John Smith as a character because he was a braggart.
3Items with distinctive shapes, like a bow tie, add character.
4So, stories have characters.
5Characters have a noticeable weight and slowness with affords a satisfying realism to the movement and animations.
actor's assistant
/ˈæktɚz ɐsˈɪstənt/
noun
a wardrobe assistant for an actor

Examples

actor-manager
/ˈæktɚmˈænɪdʒɚ/
noun
someone who manages a theater company and also acts in their plays

Examples

cast
/ˈkæst/
noun
all the actors and actresses in a movie, play, etc.
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Examples

1Cast the runes!
2The good people of South Thanet, they cast their vote.
3Sarai's barren state really casts a shadow over the promise from the very beginning of the story of Abraham and Sarah.
4Early voters have already cast their ballot.
5Fire casts no shadow.
matinee idol
/mˈætənˌeɪ ˈaɪdəl/
noun
a good-looking actor who is admired by women
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Examples

1And there was a while-- there was five years when I was trying to be a matinee idol and wear the leather jacket--
2In 1984, an American matinee idol met a disturbing end.
3For his more athletic and adventurous side, he modeled himself after the matinee idol of his own youth, Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
movie star
/mˈuːvi stˈɑːɹ/
noun
a famous actor or actress who plays the leading role in a movie
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Examples

1Movie stars like Marie Dressler, here seen on Hearst's arm, and his longtime mistress, actress Marion Davies, on the left ham it up in home movies.
2This movie stars two young actors that you may recognize from other movies or TV series: Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz.
3Movie stars are usually thin.
4- Who was the movie star?
5- Be a movie star.
player
/ˈpɫeɪɝ/
noun
an actor specially one who performs a role on the stage
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Examples

1Players carry the weight of debt.
2Players take the role of either Allies, US, UK and Soviet Union, or the Axis, Germany and Japan.
3Then players shift all abilities and characters on their cooldown track one space.
4Players could explore all parts of it.
5About ten steps away from the pyramid, players mark a line.
prompter
/pɹˈɑːmptɚ/
noun
someone who reminds actors what to say if they forget their lines on the stage
Click to see examples

Examples

1There's no prompter?
2- There's no prompter.
3Your lines are on the prompter.
4- What does the prompter say? -
5That's called a prompter.
stunt man
/stˈʌnt mˈæn/
noun
a person who doubles for an actor during the production of dangerous scenes in a motion picture
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Examples

1Do stunt men respect Johnny Knoxville?
2Stunt man Joaquin strikes the dummy with full force.
3Are you a stunt man?
4We can't be killing stunt men.
5I play Duke Kaboom, Canada's greatest stunt man.
stunt woman
/stˈʌnt wˈʊmən/
noun
a woman who doubles for an actor during the production of dangerous scenes in a movie
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Examples

1and it's her stunt woman
2He really had to find a stunt woman, who could give him what he wanted from this film.
3Not that I would ever take the credit away from the incredible stunt women that have doubled me, including Heidi Moneymaker, who does all the, that's her real name, who has done a lot of Black Widow stuff with me.
4One is a stunt woman suing the studios-- and the employer in particular-- because a man was allowed to wear a wig and pretend he was a woman, and women in the stunt world are trying to get work.
5This is the first stunt woman, Rosie Venger, an amazing woman.
trouper
/tɹˈuːpɚ/
noun
an actor or performer who is very reliable and has a lot of experience
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Examples

1Talk about a trouper.
press agent
/pɹˈɛs ˈeɪdʒənt/
noun
someone who is in charge of the advertising and publicity of a particular actor, musician, etc., providing information to a newspaper, magazine, etc.
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Examples

1One of the reasons that we know so much about the paratroopers today is because of a press agent by the name Colonel Barney Oldfield, the name Barney Oldfield might mean something to you race car fans because his uncle was a famous race car driver.
2I was practically his press agent.
3Let me be his press agent for a little while.
4An announcement came over the intercom, requesting a meeting with manager Epstein, their press agent and the Beatlespersonal assistants, Mal and Neil.
monologue
/ˈmɑnəˌɫɔɡ/
noun
a long speech recited by an actor in a movie or play
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Examples

1It's an amazing monologue.
2He didn’t sing, but instead delivered a monologue during one of the band’s songs.
3- Which one is monologue about?
4She brought a monologue.
5Take the monologue out of the context of the play or film.
ad lib
/ˈæd lˈɪb/
noun
a line that is recited in a speech or performance without prior preparation
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Examples

1Luckily he had some of the funniest ad libs.
2- Okay, so, this is the Porky Pig stutter ad lib.
3Tight lyrics and ad libs are nothing new to pop music.
4Is it Barry, I'm sorry, the older brother ad libs at the end.
5I talk ad lib.
characterization
/ˌkɛɹəktɝɪˈzeɪʃən/
noun
the techniques used by actors to develop and portray a character, including their physicality, personality, and backstory
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Examples

1The issue of characterization is hugely, hugely, hugely significant.
2I agree with Martha's characterization.
3We never had a characterization of this river.
4That characterization, in my view, is even more charitable.
5I have a characterization.
screen actor
/skɹˈiːn ˈæktɚ/
noun
a performer who appears on television, film, or other visual media
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Examples

1However, the name actors had accepted a lower pay rate for the sake of the production, and the strict rules of the Screen Actor's Guild required that, for them to do so, there needed to be a domestic release in theaters first.
2but she flipped the script on 'em a couple of years ago and did something dramatic and got nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award for her work in I Smiled Back.
3And then you transition to a incredible movie where you were nominated for a Screen Actor's Guild Award.
4The movie itself was incredibly powerful, and Channing's performance won her a Screen Actor's Guild Award and an Emmy Award.

Great!

You've reviewed all the words in this lesson!