Favorite Spaghetti CHARACTER actors

(Wiki)

A character actor is a supporting actor skilled at playing distinctly unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters,[2][3][4][5][6] such that they are “almost unrecognizable from part to part, and yet play many, many roles convincingly and memorably.”[7] The term, often contrasted with that of leading actor, is somewhat abstract and open to interpretation:[8] in a general sense, all actors can be considered as character actors since they all play “characters”,[9] but the usual sense is an actor who plays a distinctive and important supporting role.[1][10] Sometimes it describes an actor who plays characters who are very different from themselves, while in another sense it describes an actor who specializes in minor roles.

[quote=“scherpschutter, post:40, topic:1457”]Never saw this thread before (at least I don’t remember), but I wanted to make the same remark.
Never knew ‘character actor’ could have the meaning of ‘supporting actor’ (that’s what people are talking about here, if I’m not mistaken.[/quote]

Now, that surprises me, as your English is generally much better than mine.

Apparently I’ve always read the term wrong. It happens.

As I said before, in Germany the use is indeed quite different.
Guys like Laurence Olivier, Bob De Niro or Javier Bardem, those who are in the leads, and especially those who win the acting awards, are the ones which are called “Charakterschauspieler”.

Yes, we have the same thing with “karakterspeler” or “karakteracteur”, it rather refers to the type of actors you mention than to supporting actors, hence the confusion.

That definition from wiki is pretty close how the term is used here in Croatia. Actors specialized in distinctive supporting roles, roles that have developed characters (or they simply add personality to minor roles on their own).

From the previous page I would say Fernando Sancho was closest to that definition, and Luigi Pistilli to some degree. Some others, like Jose Terron were not really (character) actors but simply peculiar and memorable faces.