ELI5: Why are tv actors rated less (in terms or acting skill or typecast) than that of movie actors?

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ELI5: Why are tv actors rated less (in terms or acting skill or typecast) than that of movie actors?

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  1. stupefyme Avatar

    what rating ? if u ask anyone from the industry they will tell you

    theatre > tv > movie

  2. _Connor Avatar

    Rated less in skill according to who exactly? Tons of actors get recognition for great TV roles.

    Brian Cranston in Breaking Bad, Matthew Mcconaughey in True Detective, etc.

    Perhaps you’re thinking of shows such as CSI, Law and Order, etc that are much longer running and much more limited in their story telling. But that’s a shortfall of the show itself and not the actors.

    It’s harder for an actor to have a stunning performance on a show like CSI versus a show like Ozark for example.

  3. ShankThatSnitch Avatar

    It may have used to be like that because shows were simple, but TV has changed drastically, and it is big budget these days, with A list actors.

  4. CynicalBite Avatar

    Used to be true, not so much anymore. TV has evolved as did their budgets.

  5. Paganidol64 Avatar

    That idea is a remnant of older Hollywood in response to the threat of television.

  6. phiwong Avatar

    If you’re discussing the US, this is probably a very old (50-60 years or so) attitude. Nowadays, there is far less dichotomy.

    And historically, this seemed inevitable. “Serious” actors performed in live theatre. Movies came about in the early 1900s. TV did not become common until the 1950s. So there would have been some resistance to these new formats leading to the idea that TV actors are somehow not “serious” actors in the early days.

  7. Pithecanthropus88 Avatar

    You’re starting with a faulty premise. Show us examples of people saying TV actors are rated less than movie actors. If you can find any, examine the metric by which they are judged. It will always come down to opinion, because acting chops cannot be quantified.

  8. This-Bath9918 Avatar

    It’s changed now thanks to premium tv like Breaking Bad or Severence but historically tv shows were more formulaic and less intense with stock characters and action.

    Tv meant procedural cop shows, soap operas, basic sitcoms, corny drama and action etc while movies could be “deep” with beautiful cinematography and style. Movies were big budget art and tv was kind of disposable.

    Movies would show the actor’s face 20ft tall while delivering a 5 minute teary monologue so seen as “important” while TV rarely had big acting displays like that. It was a big deal for example if a sitcom had a “very special episode”. Tv actors were more celebrated for longevity and dependability.

    Like I said, it’s much more equal now thanks to high budget streaming shows