In theatre (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition), breaking character occurs when an actor ceases to maintain the illusion that they are the character they are supposedly portraying. This is considered unprofessional while performing in front of an audience or camera (except when the act is a deliberate breaking of the fourth wall). One of the most common ways of breaking character is corpsing, in which an actor loses their composure and laughs or giggles in a comedy scene or scene requiring ludicrous actions. If the breaking of character is particularly serious, it would normally result in an abandonment of a take in recorded or filmed drama.
The advent of DVD players, with the use of their precise pause and slow-motion functions, has made it far easier to spot breaks in character in motion pictures, and many internet sites collect such examples. [1]
Example:
Examples of actors breaking character on television include:
Breaking character or corpsing is also being used more frequently to describe a participant-player who, having assumed the role of a virtual character or avatar and is acting within a virtual or gaming environment, then breaks out of that character. [21] For example, this could be a player-character behaving inappropriately within the social-cultural environment depicted by the virtual or gaming environment or the participant-player ceasing to interact-play (momentarily or entirely) leaving the character suspended and/or lifeless.
Breaking character is not solely limited to performances in traditional theater, television, and film; the phenomenon is not unheard of in professional wrestling, which is normally highly scripted.
In Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci , commedia dell'arte actor Canio kills his real-life wife and her lover onstage.
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The Land Shark was a recurring character from the sketch comedy television series Saturday Night Live.
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"The Break-Up" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock. It was written by co-executive producers Brett Baer and Dave Finkel, and directed by Scott Ellis. The episode originally aired on NBC in the United States on December 14, 2006. Guest stars in this episode include Rachel Dratch, Chris Hansen, Keith Powell, Lonny Ross, and Dean Winters.
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The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between September 25, 1999, and May 20, 2000, the twenty-fifth season of SNL.
The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 1, 2005, and May 20, 2006, the thirty-first season of SNL.
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'You always cracked up!' says Franco.
...Fallon ... often had difficulty keeping a straight face. In a new interview, Fallon recalls why he broke up in the middle of the famous 'More Cowbell' sketch...