My Reelity

Most of the time, this question always leave me in a state of bemusement.

Let’s see what the basic definition is :

ac?tor
? ?/?ækt?r/ [ak-ter]
–noun
1. a person who acts in stage plays, motion pictures, television broadcasts, etc.
2. a person who does something; participant.

So going by the above definition, then I guess I am one.

But anyone can be an actor, you say. True, I mean its not like you need a Masters degree to be one. And wasn’t it Bill (William Shakespeare) who labeled everyone an actor?

I guess why people ask me the question is because I’m too obscure and/or haven’t been featured prominently in anything mainstream. I don’t fault them for that; heck if I’m in their shoes, I too, will have difficulty believing I’m an actor.

But I do get offended by people if their questioning goes along the lines of “Are you pretending to be an actor”. Please lah, I got nothing better to do meh? Why do I want to pretend to be something anyone can be?

And then there are those who differentiate between extras, bit players and main part actors. Most of us have to start somewhere and its just too bad that the industry here don’t really advocate working your way up. But that’s not a reason to condemn those who call themselves actors but have been only doing carelefare work (see definition above).

So am I really an actor? Well, you decide for yourself. But I do know I have a good body of work behind me, so if anyone’s asking, I’m an actor.

And a darn good one at that. 😉