Stage actors make for better screen actors

Stage actors make for better screen actors. I’ve said it multiple times in my reviews and I truly believe it to be true. I am not an actor, in either of the disciplines, stage or screen, I have watched enough, though, and studied acting and actors enough to be able to see commonalities in the great actors when compared to the mediocre ones. I thought, therefore, that to help get my point across and get it able to be understood by everyone, I should write out and explain the thoughts that lead me to believe that this is true. The following reasons are why I believe that stage actors make for better screen actors.

1. Screen acting is easier. I am not trying to say that acting whilst being recorded is easy. There are people who have large phobias of being on camera and cannot act in the way that they normally would. With that being said, when acting in front of a camera, an actor only has to think about a specific, smaller, amount of lines rather than an entire show's amount of lines. A screen actor can do take after take of acting out one scene. They can “get it right” 1/100 times. Meanwhile, a stage actor has to get a scene correct on the first try as they perform the show every so often. So, stage performers have to use their brains more than screen actors to memorize lines for a whole show as well have the skill and accuracy to get their scene right each time.

2. Stage actors work with the audience. There is something different about doing something by yourself or “performing” it in front of people. I think everyone can agree on that. It’s why stage fright exists and is so well known. This means that stage actors put more effort into their craft than do screen actors. They sometimes have to emphasize their facial movements or articulate their speaking more to make themselves seem natural. Without the pressure of having to act in front of a live audience, stage actors have the ability to relax and focus solely on their craft, not how their craft is come across to the members of the audience.

3. Stage actors have stamina. Actors in a play or a musical have to perform that piece of work over and over again. This means that they learn the material, whether they want to or not. They learn the meaning behind each word and the complicated personalities of each character. They do this, in part, because when saying the same lines over and over again, the performance can get stale and emotionless unless meaning is found in the deliverance of those lines. After doing this onstage, an actor's ability to do this on sets for films increases and adds to the actors general ability.

4. Stage actors tend to love acting. Stage acting isn’t a profession you get into because of a desire to make exorbitant amounts of money. Theaters where stage actors perform tend to be smaller and don’t tend to reach the masses as well as art forms on the silver screen, meaning that the payment they receive from acting in a stage production is lower than it would be in the other art form. Why would they do this instead of simply acting in the high paying roles? They love acting. They love their craft and just want to participate in it no matter what they’re getting paid. Plus, there is the old adage that people who love their jobs are better at them. If you love acting, you will be better at it than someone who loves the perks of acting.

I once listened to an interview from someone who was a stage actor who had made the jump to acting on screen, and in the interview, they talked about how much easier it was. Likewise, I listened to an interview of a screen actor who was acting in a Broadway show, and what they talked about was how hard and taxing it was compared to acting on screen. Those television shows like “Saturday NIght Live” which do have a live audience and have to be performed somewhat correctly on the first take require actors who have an appealing acting ability which leads me to believe that they are better actors than strict screen actors.

Not all stage and screen actors fit everything and inhabit all the qualities discussed above. Some might lay claim to two, some might lay claim to three, some might lay claim to one, etc. However, from my experience of learning about actors, these are the common reasons stage actors make better screen actors.