In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time. [2] The term is also used interchangeably to refer to a production (typically film) with a large cast or a cast with several prominent performers. [3]
In contrast to the popular model, which gives precedence to a sole protagonist, an ensemble cast leans more towards a sense of "collectivity and community". [4]
Ensemble casts in film were introduced as early as September 1916, with D. W. Griffith's silent epic film Intolerance , featuring four separate though parallel plots. [5] The film follows the lives of several characters over hundreds of years, across different cultures and time periods. [6] The unification of different plot lines and character arcs is a key characteristic of ensemble casting in film; whether it is a location, event, or an overarching theme that ties the film and characters together. [5]
Films that feature ensembles tend to emphasize the interconnectivity of the characters, even when the characters are strangers to one another. [7] The interconnectivity is often shown to the audience through examples of the "six degrees of separation" theory, and allows them to navigate through plot lines using cognitive mapping. [7] Examples of this method, where the six degrees of separation is evident in films with an ensemble cast, are in productions such as Love Actually, Crash , and Babel , which all have strong underlying themes interwoven within the plots that unify each film. [5]
The Avengers , X-Men , and Justice League are three examples of ensemble casts in the superhero genre. [8] [9] Those three films all focus on teams of five or more protagonists, instead of the standard one or two central protagonists. Referential acting is a key factor in executing this balance, as ensemble cast members "play off each other rather than off reality". [4]
Hollywood movies with ensemble casts tend to use numerous actors of high renown and/or prestige, instead of one or two "big stars" and a lesser-known supporting cast.[ citation needed ] Filmmakers known for their use of ensemble casts include Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and Paul Thomas Anderson among others.
Ensemble casting also became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on different characters in different episodes. In addition, the departure of players is less disruptive than would be the case with a regularly structured cast. The television series The Golden Girls and Friends are archetypal examples of ensemble casts in American sitcoms. The science-fiction mystery drama Lost features an ensemble cast. Ensemble casts of 20 or more actors are common in soap operas, a genre that relies heavily on the character development of the ensemble. [10] The genre also requires continuous expansion of the cast as the series progresses, with soap operas such as General Hospital , Days of Our Lives , The Young and the Restless , and The Bold and the Beautiful staying on air for decades. [11]
An example of a success for television in ensemble casting is the Emmy Award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones . The fantasy series features one of the largest ensemble casts on the small screen. [12] The series is notorious for major character deaths, resulting in constant changes within the ensemble. [13]
Ensemble casts are common in children's television. Children's shows make heavy use of non-human characters: the casting process is only involved when there is an occasion of humans interacting with non-human characters. Non-human characters are usually created from scratch by a team of writers, who then send their sketches to the creators for approval. In animated series, characters are created by writers, except for comic book and story book-based shows with currently existing characters. The Muppets that were intended for Sesame Street , and the title-character from Blue's Clues , were respectively created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Jim Henson, and Angela C. Santomero, Todd Kessler and Traci Paige Johnson, for edutainment purposes; Cartoon Network's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends consists of a large cast of many different imaginary friends, including protagonists Bloo, Cheese, Coco, Wilt and Eduardo, many of which were created by Craig McCracken; Nickelodeon's Rugrats features a variety of characters, mainly the eight leading protagonists: Tommy, Dil, Chuckie, Phil, Lil, Kimi, Angelica and Susie; Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Angelica were featured since the show's inception in 1991, while Dil, Kimi and Susie were introduced in the second season of the series and the first two installments of the show's film trilogy, respectively; two fellow Nickelodeon shows, SpongeBob SquarePants and The Fairly OddParents , consist of large casts of marine life and magical creatures, respectively, including respective leading protagonists, SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward, and Cosmo, Wanda and Poof; the first three seasons of Canadian cartoon series Total Drama consist of a large cast of characters, namely the show's hosts Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet, as well as a diversity of competitors commonly known as "Generation One": Beth, DJ, Gwen, Geoff, Lindsay, Heather, Alejandro, Duncan, Tyler, Harold, Trent, Bridgette, Noah, Leshawna, Katie, Sadie, Ezekiel, Cody, Sierra, Eva, Owen, Courtney, Justin, Izzy and Blaineley. Chris and Chef continued to appear as the hosts of every season, while many of the original characters only returned in a spin-off series, Total Dramarama (despite having yet to return to the game, they became the most well-known cast of the show); one other example of a children's show that involves human casting process and non-human character creation is Barney & Friends ; Other examples of shows that exclusively involve casting processes include Drake & Josh , iCarly and True Jackson, VP ; Other shows that exclusively involve non-human character creation include Tom Ruegger and Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs , Tiny Toon Adventures , and Freakazoid! , as well as Cow and Chicken , Hey Arnold! , The Proud Family and The Replacements.
A soap opera, daytime drama, or soap for short, is typically a long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious situation, facing a difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction or before a commercial break in a television programme. A cliffhanger is intended to incentivize the audience to return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.
Bellbird is an Australian soap opera serial broadcast by the ABC and written and created by Barbara Vernon, it screened for 10 seasons between 1967 and 1977, with the series centring around the residents of the small fictional Victorian rural township of the series title.
In a motion picture, television program or video game, the opening credits or opening titles are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. When opening credits are built into a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is a title sequence.
Morgan Fairchild is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since then.
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American actress recognized for her roles in both daytime and primetime television. In 1994, she was cast in the regular role of Annie Dutton on Guiding Light, which earned her the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1998. In 2002, she was cast as Kellie on The Drew Carey Show and in 2005 joined the cast of Lost as Libby Smith. Since 2019, Watros has portrayed the role of Nina Reeves on ABC's General Hospital.
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has 37 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.
Justin Scott Hartley is an American actor, television producer, and director. He has played Fox Crane on the NBC daytime soap opera Passions (2002–2006), Oliver Queen on the WB/CW television series Smallville (2006–2011), and Adam Newman on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless (2014–2016) which earned him a Daytime Emmy nomination. He also had recurring roles in the third season of the television drama series Revenge (2013–2014) and in the final three seasons of the drama series Mistresses (2014–2016).
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. Clip shows are also known as cheaters, particularly in the field of animation. Clip shows are often played before series finales as a way to summarize the entire series, or once syndication becomes highly likely as a way to increase the number of episodes that can be sold. Other times, however, clip shows are simply produced for budgetary reasons.
Alexa Carole Havins is an American actress. She first came to prominence in 2003, when she became the originating actress in the role of Babe Carey Chandler on the soap opera All My Children. Her role as the flawed but good Babe Carey earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2005 and recognition as being half of one of the show's most popular soap opera pairings.
Dichen Lachman is an Australian actress and model. She earned recognition starring as Katya Kinski in the soap opera Neighbours (2005–2007) and as Sierra in Joss Whedon's science fiction drama series Dollhouse (2009–2010).
Simone Russell is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. A member of Passions' Russell family, Simone is introduced as the youngest daughter of Eve Russell and T. C. Russell, and the younger sister of Whitney Russell. Her early appearances center on her love triangle with Chad Harris-Crane and her sister Whitney; the character later gains more prominence on the show through her experience coming out as a lesbian to her family, and her relationship with Rae Thomas. The network defended the show's treatment of Simone's sexuality as a serious commentary on the topic.
Roxanne McKee is a Canadian-born British actress. She is best known for playing Louise Summers in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2005–2008), Lou Foster in the BBC Three drama series Lip Service (2010), Doreah in the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2012) and Lady Claire Riesen in the Syfy apocalyptic supernatural series Dominion (2014–2015). She has also starred in films including Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines (2012), Vendetta (2013) and The Legend of Hercules (2014).
Allison Mills, also known as Alley Bean, is an American actress, known for her roles on television. She starred as Norma Arnold, in the coming-of-age ABC comedy series, The Wonder Years (1988–1993). In 2006 she began playing the role of Pamela Douglas, the sister of the late Forrester matriarch Stephanie Forrester, on the CBS soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. From 2022 to 2024, Mills also portrayed antagonistic Heather Webber on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series.
Chad Harris-Crane is a fictional character on the American soap opera Passions, which aired on NBC from 1999 to 2007 and on DirecTV in 2007–08. Developed by the soap's creator and head writer James E. Reilly, Chad was portrayed by two actors over the course of the show: Donn Swaby and Charles Divins. Swaby left the show to pursue roles outside daytime television and was replaced by Divins. The role was the first time that either actor had worked on a television series.
The first series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 12 January 1999, and concluded on 9 March 1999. The show was created by Mal Young and Tony McHale as a spin–off from the BBC medical drama Casualty, intended to follow the treatment of patients from Casualty as they were transferred onto the hospital's surgical wards. McHale served as the programme's lead writer throughout the first series, which ran for nine episodes. Young cast actors who were already established names in the acting industry, particularly from a soap opera background. Several cast members shadowed real surgeons and nurses in preparation for their roles to increase the show's realism. The series received mixed reviews from critics. It was compared favourably with Casualty, but received negative reviews in which it was contrasted poorly with the American medical drama ER. The series première attracted 10.72 million viewers, falling to 8.51 million by the series finale.
Himesh Jitendra Patel is a British actor and singer. He began his career portraying Tamwar Masood in the BBC soap opera EastEnders (2007–2016). This was followed by roles in the Channel 4 sitcom Damned (2016–2018) and the films Yesterday (2019) and Tenet (2020).
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera, police crime drama, political drama, legal drama, historical drama, domestic drama, teen drama, and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate a particular setting or subject matter, or they combine a drama's otherwise serious tone with elements that encourage a broader range of moods. To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict—emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline.
Days of Our Lives is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from 1965 to 2022 and currently streams new episodes on Peacock. The soap is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday since November 8, 1965. A co-production of Corday Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday. During Days of Our Lives' early years, Irna Phillips served as a story editor for the program and many of the show's earliest storylines were written by William J. Bell, who would depart the series in 1975 to focus full-time on The Young and the Restless, which he created for CBS in 1973. Following the 2007 cancellation of Passions, Days of Our Lives remained the only soap opera airing on NBC. On August 3, 2022, NBCUniversal announced that it would relocate the series exclusively to its Peacock streaming service beginning September 12 after 57 years on the network and leaving NBC as the only Big Three network without a daytime serial.
Mason Vale Cotton is an American actor known for his roles as M.J. Delfino in the ABC soap opera Desperate Housewives (2008–2012) and as Bobby Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2012–2015), the latter of which earned him a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2016. In 2015, he starred as Max in the film Russell Madness, reprising the role in the 2020 series spinoff Russell Maniac. In 2017, he voiced Arnold Shortman in the Emmy-winning animated Nickelodeon film Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie.
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