Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play.

Most early sources in the West that examine the art of acting (Greek: ὑπόκρισις, hypokrisis) discuss it as part of rhetoric.

Definition and history

One of the first actors is believed to be an ancient Greek called Thespis of Icaria. An apocryphal story says that Thespis stepped out of the dithyrambic chorus and spoke to them as a separate character. Before Thespis, the chorus narrated (for example, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said that"). When Thespis stepped out from the chorus (year 12 BC), he spoke as if he was the character (for example, "I am Dionysus. I did this"). From Thespis' name derives the word thespian.

Acting requires a wide range of skills, including vocal projection, clarity of speech, physical expressivity, emotional facility, a well-developed imagination, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also often demands an ability to employ dialects, accents and body language, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, and stage combat. Many actors train at length in special programs or colleges to develop these skills, and today the vast majority of professional actors have undergone extensive training. Even though one actor may have years of training, they always strive for more lessons; the cinematic and theatrical world is always changing and because of this, the actor must stay as up to date as possible. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a full range of training involving, but not limited to, singing, scene-work, monologue techniques, audition techniques, and partner work.

The Tonight Show

The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show broadcast from the Rockefeller Center in New York City and airing on NBC since 1954. It is the world's longest-running talk show, and the longest running, regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States. It is the third-longest-running show on NBC, after only the news-and-talk shows Today and Meet the Press.

Over the course of more than 60 years, The Tonight Show has undergone only minor title changes. It aired under the name Tonight for several of its early years, eventually settling on The Tonight Show after the seating of long-time host Johnny Carson in 1962. In later decades, network programmers, advertisers, and the show's announcers would refer to the show by including the name of the host; for example, it is currently announced as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In 1957, the show briefly tried a more news-style format. It has otherwise remained a talk show throughout its run.

The Tonight Show began broadcasting in 1954. It has had six official hosts, beginning with Steve Allen (1954–57), followed by Jack Paar (1957–62), Johnny Carson (1962–92), Jay Leno (1992–2009, 2010–14), Conan O'Brien (2009–10), and Jimmy Fallon (2014–present). It has had several recurring guest hosts, a practice especially common during the Paar and Carson eras.

Jimmy Fallon

James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and as the host of late-night talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and raised in Saugerties, New York. He grew up with an interest in comedy and music, moving to Los Angeles at 21 to pursue stand-up opportunities.

He was commissioned to join NBC's Saturday Night Live as a cast member in 1998, fulfilling a lifelong dream. Fallon remained on SNL for six years between 1998 and 2004, co-hosting the program's Weekend Update segment and becoming a celebrity in the process. He left the program for the film industry, starring in films such as Taxi (2004) and Fever Pitch (2005). Following his film career, Fallon returned to television as the host of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC in 2009, where he became well known for his emphasis on music and games. He transitioned from that program to become the sixth host of the long-running The Tonight Show in 2014.

Taraji P. Henson

Taraji Penda Henson (/təˈrɑːdʒi/ tə-RAH-jee; born September 11, 1970) is an American actress and singer. Henson studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest-roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in Baby Boy (2001). In 2005, she starred in Hustle & Flow and played Queenie in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2010, she appeared in the comedy Date Night and co-starred in the remake of The Karate Kid. In 2012, Henson was in the large ensemble cast film Think Like A Man and reprised her role in its sequel.

Henson has also had an extensive career in television, having been a regular cast member on series such as The Division, Boston Legal and Eli Stone. From 2011 to 2013, she co-starred as Detective Jocelyn Carter in the CBS drama Person of Interest. She starred in the leading role of Tiffany Rubin, in the Lifetime Movie Network film Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. As of 2015, she stars as Cookie Lyon on the FOX drama series Empire, for which she won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2016, and for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Dakota Johnson

Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress and model. She played the lead role in the short-lived Fox sitcom Ben and Kate (2012–2013) and has appeared in films such as The Social Network (2010), Beastly (2011), 21 Jump Street (2012), Need for Speed (2014), Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), appeared in Chloe and Theo (2015), co-starred in the Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass (2015) and the thriller A Bigger Splash (2015), and had a leading role in the romantic comedy How to Be Single (2016).

Early life

Johnson was born in Austin, Texas, to actors Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson. On her mother's side, she is a granddaughter of advertising executive and former child actor Peter Griffith and Golden Globe-winning actress Tippi Hedren, and half-niece of actress Tracy Griffith and production designer Clay A. Griffith. Her former stepfather is actor Antonio Banderas. She has six half-siblings; four on her father's side and two on her mother's side.

A third-generation Hollywood actress, Johnson attended Aspen Community School in Aspen, Colorado. She later attended the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California, for her freshman year of high school before transferring to New Roads School in Santa Monica, California. She was an avid dancer as a child. She became interested in modeling at age 12 after a photo shoot with children of other celebrities for Teen Vogue.