Stage and film acting both involve performances in front of an audience. There are fundamental differences between the two. When you act for the stage, you are performing in front of a live audience. That means that your voice and your body movements must be clear even to those seated at the back row. Film acting, on the other hand, requires no voice projection. This is because you are performing in front of the camera. Although a film actor still needs to put the right expression to pull off a ...

Stage and film acting both involve performances in front of an audience. There are fundamental differences between the two.

When you act for the stage, you are performing in front of a live audience. That means that your voice and your body movements must be clear even to those seated at the back row. Film acting, on the other hand, requires no voice projection. This is because you are performing in front of the camera. Although a film actor still needs to put the right expression to pull off a role realistically, overdoing movement or being overly expressive actually works against him in film acting because this can be construed as overacting. Controlled and small gestures are the requirements when acting for film.

Another difference between stage acting and film acting is the material that is used. Theater involves doing well-known plays time and time again. As such, directors, producers and even avid theater-goers know the plays by heart. Some would even know every line and have developed expectations on how it should be delivered. When a line is not correctly said or the action delivered is not what is expected, an actor can be criticized severely. This is not an issue with film acting because the script is freshly-written. There are basically no expectations on how a role is supposed to be played. Putting the character to life becomes your responsibility and casting directors often choose talents based on their ability to give an authentic and believable performance.

The fact that stage acting is done in real time also differentiates it from film acting. The scenes are done in sequence, often building up to a climax. This means that stage actors can’t afford to make mistakes. They have to memorize their lines well or risk forgetting in the middle of the performance. Stage actors must also exhibit quick thinking in case something unexpected happens on stage. Film acting is not done in front of a live audience. Although actors are encouraged to perform the scene perfectly on the first take because of budgetary considerations, a scene can always be redone in case the director is not satisfied with it. When an actor forgets his lines, there is always a script that can be referred back to without causing any damage to the outcome of the movie.

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