Is more talent found on the silver screen, or on Broadway?

Film actors have props, lighting, gimicks, background music etc etc. With stage everyone’s eye is focussed on the person standing right there. An audience member’s laugh or snicker or jeer can easily be distracting. So although I love film, I truly have a great appreciation for theater and stage and enjoy watching it more.

I act, and I’ve been paid for it a few times. With that said, it’s my opinion that acting on a stage before a live audience takes more guts.

I’ve acted for the camera, and it’s vastly different. Most of the time, the other actors in the scene aren’t even present, because they’re not in that shot. All of one actor’s takes are shot, and then all the combined takes are shot, and finally the other actor’s scenes are done. It’s artificial.

Acting on a stage with your fellow actors gives one emotional feedback in real time. It allows the actor to step outside the self and become the character. That’s what acting is ultimately about.

The question then becomes why film actors are so much more successful monetarily than stage actors. Honestly, I think it’s marketing.

There are some talented actors on the screen, but they all got their start on stage in some form or another. I enjoy movies, and I enjoy watching great performances. The most recent example for me was The King’s Speech. Watching Colin Firth’s character development from beginning to end was mesmerizing. He changed. It was triumphant. For me, however, that kind of performance is rare.

Off-topic: When I got to the end of this very good question without having read one typing mistake, I felt tears of joy welling up. I’m proud of you, Hypo. Bravo.

Acting in film is more difficult to me, because the setting is so unreal, and scenes are broken up into short takes, so that you lose the organic dialogue. Not to mention a lot of movies these days require acting in front of a blue screen, or talking to a green ball on a stick.

But stage acting comes with no editing, no fancy cinematography. The actors have a lot more responsibility for the finished piece, and they have to do it 8 shows a week. Having to deal with forgotten lines, audience distractions, broken set pieces, etc., is another challenge of live theatre. So I think that it’s definitely harder to put across a good stage performance, but then again the thrill and the honesty of live theatre is so much more rewarding.

You often see film actors appear on Broadway, and I wonder if they are trying to prove something.
Film acting is very different, for reasons given above, and for having to continue a flow. Your voice must be at the right tense to match the work you did yesterday; having a camera straight in your face, rather than reacting to another actor; the entire loss of flow by doing work in such a choppy way.
I admire both stage and screen actors, but it’s really as different as driving a big semi truck or a cab.

I think it’s more of a different kind of talent rather than more or less. Both are suitable for their own careers, and an actor on broadway won’t necessarily work well on a movie set.

However in general I’d say I respect broadway actors more because they have to do everything right the first time, and even more importantly, if they do something wrong they must go on as if they didn’t. They don’t get stunt doubles, they have to perform in front of a large amount of people, and they usually have to dance and sing as well as play a character convincingly.

I have more respect for those who act on Broadway because it seems much tougher and yet the pay is less. Actors on the stage have to create the atmosphere and the characters out of nothing but a few cheap props and their own ability while the movie business has almost limitless resources.

@martianspringtime However in general I’d say I respect Broadway actors more because they have to do everything right the first time, and even more importantly, if they do something wrong they must go on as if they didn’t. That is much of what made me think they are more talented overall than movie actors. They have to remember the whole play, and parts of the other actors as well so they know their cue. If they stumble over a prop that wasn’t chalked right, or something dropped, like water, on the stage causing them to slip, they have to press on and cover as best they can. Sure movie actors might have to talk to air or a blue screen stand-in, but if it cracks them up and they get the giggle, ”take eight!”. They get to mess up way more than actor/actress on the stage.