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| - As in "classically trained Shakespearian actor". These actors (male and female), usually Brits, have had some serious training--often a stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company--and so have developed redoubtable acting skills. Of course, they won't necessarily limit themselves to Shakespeare -- or even to theater. It's entirely possible for these people to do comedy, appear in major action movies and even enter Large Ham territory at times (see, for instance, Brian Blessed).
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| - As in "classically trained Shakespearian actor". These actors (male and female), usually Brits, have had some serious training--often a stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company--and so have developed redoubtable acting skills. Of course, they won't necessarily limit themselves to Shakespeare -- or even to theater. It's entirely possible for these people to do comedy, appear in major action movies and even enter Large Ham territory at times (see, for instance, Brian Blessed). Used intelligently, Shakespearian Actors can raise everyone's game, or turn a blah character into a Breakout Character. But beware: being cast alongside one or more Shakespearian Actors makes it painfully clear if someone can't act (see, for instance, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, in which Helen Mirren out-acts all of her co-stars combined with her hands quite literally tied behind her back). Think of them as the acting equivalent of Spandex: they make good things better, and bad things much, much worse. Because these actors will be critically acclaimed (they can be popular as well), they are more likely than most actors, if they're British, to succumb to the K-strain of Knight Fever, i.e. getting a knighthood. One of the litmus tests for being a Shakespearian actor is to have played a major/lead role for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The RSC is probably the most prestigious theatre company in Britain, performing (almost) exclusively Shakespeare. (The closest North American equivalents are probably the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.) Even better, see the YouTube entries for the old educational series, Playing Shakespeare, featuring the RSC players of its day, now in retrospect chock full of future movie stars like Patrick Stewart, Dame Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley, and Sir Ian McKellen.
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