The word is ‘Actor’ because that is the job

Monday is about movies, sometimes TV. Today, I talk about the word ‘actor’ and whether it’s the way to describe everyone that does that job, or only the men?

I say ‘actor’ when I’m referring to my favourite actors — be they Gene Hackman (R.I.P.) or Al Pacino or Robert Duvall or any of the others. I say ‘actor’ when I’m referring to all-time favourites. Some more examples that instantly come to mind are Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway, Glenn Close, Laura Dern…

I say ‘actor’ when I rave about a new actor in a film or show, someone whose talent takes my eye. When I wrote recently about Apple Cider Vinegar —

— I singled out the performance of Kaitlyn Dever, turns out (had to look her up to know this) I’d seen her as a teen in Justified (a show I loved) but really she was pretty much an unknown to me, and her performance in Apple Cider Vinegar is enough for her to be ‘one to watch’ for me from now on. I’d take a punt on anything else she goes on to star in, simply because she was so good this one time that there must be more there of course. I felt the same way last year (and in late 2023) about Lily Gladstone after seeing her in Killers of The Flower Moon.

That’s pretty normal right? All above board. Just praising the actors for acting — just commenting on the job well done; the job they are employed to do.

But I’m doing something here that the Oscars and Emmys and Golden Globes and such do not do. I’m referring to male and females here as actors. I feel like, at some point, the term “actress” just went away — and actor became a gender-neutral term. If I willingly knew of gender-neutral or gender-denying or non-binary actors I would mention them here in any list too by the way. I’m just not sure that I do. That is one bonus — if that’s the right word — for having one term is it not. Everyone covered in the one category. All actors be acting. All acting people be called actors. There would be no idiots saying idiot things like they currently do about sports categories because there is one term to rule them all — it’s just actors doing acting, and the ‘best’ is rather silly to try to determine anyway, so maybe the awards get an overhaul as a result.

You do not go to see a male doctor or female doctor or gender-neutral doctor, you go to “Your Doctor” or the one “on call” and they are whatever person they are, and the job they do is to be a doctor, so they are called doctor — their personal pronouns are relevant if and when they tell you to use those. You might just call them “doctor”. Or ask what’s up, “doc”?”

When you call for a plumber or gardener or any service to your house, the person that arrives is the person that does that job. If they won the award for the year as the best gardener or plumber in your town it would not be “Best Male Plumber” or “Best Female Plumber” would it?

So I was thinking about this a bit recently, I’m not trying to be flippant, not wishing to wind up anyone in any sort of debate, I’m just genuinely curious. My son is younger than me, which is just how the maths of biology works, and it’s as you’d expect it to be. He is also therefore of a different generation and is growing up in a different time — again, this is ‘normal’ and we can call it the biology of maths if you like but that’s really just throwing more words at a sentence than is required but now it’s too late and I did not hit delete and rephrase any of this. (As probably should have been the case…)

Anyway, he was very curious about my use of ‘actor’ — a couple of times recently when I’ve used it talking about someone that is not male. I might have used an example like, “Sydney Sweeney is a very selfish actor I think, she does not acknowledge others in the scene, nor share the space and seems unaware and/or uninterested in her scene partners”. You know, something like that. And he has corrected me on one particular point. And said “Actress”. And I’ve said, “nah, actor” — and he’s said that I am silly to say that because the woman is playing a female role and therefore is clearly an actress. And he has pointed to the fact that the Oscars have the categories of Best Actor/Best Actress as part of his supporting “evidence”. And that’s a fair enough grab from him, at 13. He is not trying to be edgy, he is just trying to understand things.

And in a fair enough attempt to explain my thinking — which is largely what this piece of writing here is, by the way — I have said to him that you don’t ask for a male plumber or a female doctor, or specifically request a non-binary driver to deliver your pizza: People just are the role they are while they are doing it. Your Uber Eats driver is “The Driver” or they are the name that shows up on the app if you like. That is their role. Your electrician is there to fix things, and it should come as no shock (!) that they are the best person for the job (hopefully) and that it is not a requirement for them to call themselves an electrician-ess if they are not male.

Does the Academy and all the other award-givers from various institutions need to move with the times? Or are the times not moving in the right direction at all? I know you can still refer to someone as an actress, and I am guessing that maybe many people in the acting industry use the term ‘actress’ to describe themselves perhaps; because they always have; because it suits them best; because — maybe — they are only ever going out for female roles…these might be some of the reasons. Or because that’s the words they heard when they were young and watched the Emmys and Oscars and Golden Globes too. Right? And Faye Dunaway or Meryl Streep or Glenn Close or any of the other greats that were nominated for or won a category could have been their first formative influence.

Anyway, I was curious to know if others used ‘actor’ only — I like it. I think it evens the playing field. It is the best description of the job — which is to act, and the gender of the person doing the acting and the character they are acting is only relevant if it’s important in the script; if there are themes around that, or frank discussions as part of the production and in the text that informs it.

Or am I way off? I’m happy to be told so if that’s the case.