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Breaking character
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{{short description|Common theatre phrase meaning to stop acting}} {{Redirect|Break character|characters which break lines in text processing|Line wrap and word wrap|characters used to escape text formatting|Escape character}} {{Redirect|Corpsing|the band|Corpsing (band)|the novel|Corpsing (novel){{!}}''Corpsing'' (novel)}} In [[theatre]] (especially in the illusionistic Western tradition) and [[film]], '''breaking character''' occurs when an [[actor]] fails to maintain the illusion that they are the [[Character (arts)|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]]). [[British English]] uses a slang term, '''corpsing''', to specifically describe one of the most common ways of breaking character—when an actor loses their composure and laughs or giggles inappropriately during a scene.<ref name="Kohl_Page_25">{{cite book |last1=Kohl |first1=Herbert R. |author1-link=Herbert R. Kohl |title=Making Theater: Developing Plays with Young People |date=1988 |publisher=Teachers & Writers Collaborative |location=New York |isbn=9780915924172 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mm54xx5Bpf0C&pg=PA25}}</ref><ref name="Clayton_Page_132">{{cite book |last1=Clayton |first1=Alex |title=Funny How?: Sketch Comedy and the Art of Humor |date=2020 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=9781438478296 |page=132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrrrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA132}}</ref><ref name="Stewart_Page_327">{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Patrick |author1-link=Patrick Stewart |title=Making It So: A Memoir |date=2023 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=9781982167752 |page=327 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGmsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA327}}</ref><ref name="Tropiano_Page_148">{{cite book |last1=Tropiano |first1=Stephen |last2=Ginsberg |first2=Steven |title=The SNL Companion: An Unofficial Guide to the Seasons, Sketches, and Stars of Saturday Night Live |date=2024 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=9781493072613 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GC0eEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA148}}</ref> The British slang term is derived from an actor laughing when their character is supposed to be a corpse.<ref name="Tropiano_Page_148" /> From the American critical perspective, the British slang term can also carry a deeper secondary meaning: by breaking character, the actor has pulled the audience out of the dramatic work and back to reality, effectively killed the character they are attempting to portray, and figuratively turned the character into a corpse.<ref name="Kohl_Page_25" /> Thus, corpsing is "the worst thing" that an actor can do on stage.<ref name="Kohl_Page_25" /> An actor's breaking character often results in an abandonment of a [[take]] in recorded or filmed drama.
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