actor

Compared meaning: someone who acts in plays or films (noun).

比较义项：演员（n.）。

• actor 本词

  The everyday, neutral word for someone who acts in films, television, or theatre; used in ordinary conversation and professional contexts alike.

  指在电影、电视剧或戏剧中表演的人，是日常和专业语境下最常用、最中性的说法。

  The actor rehearsed her lines every night before the premiere.

  这位演员在首映前每晚都练习台词。

• player

  An old-fashioned or literary word for an actor, mainly used in theatre history or formal writing; rare in everyday modern speech, and elsewhere usually means an athlete or game participant.

  指“演员”时是较为古雅或文学化的说法，主要用于戏剧史或正式书面语中，现代日常口语中很少见；在其他语境下通常指“运动员”或“游戏玩家”。

  The travelling players performed the old comedy in village squares.

  这个巡回剧团的演员们在各个村庄广场上演这出古老的喜剧。

Actor and player both can mean someone who performs on stage or screen, but differ: actor is the everyday, neutral word used in ordinary contexts. Player is old-fashioned or literary, mainly found in theatre history; in modern speech it usually means an athlete instead.

这两个词在“表演者”这个意义上意思相近，但player是较为古雅、多用于戏剧语境的说法，现代日常口语中更常用actor；这里不比较player作“运动员”或“游戏玩家”等其他常见意义。