As in "classically trained Shakespearian actor." These actors (male and female) are pretty serious when it comes to playing their parts. They'll avoid unnecessary comedy.

So called because these actors will often have done Shakespeare on stage or screen, often major roles such as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, King Lear, Desdemona (from Othello), Romeo or Juliet. That's not a requirement, though and doing Shakespeare does not make one a true Shakespearian Actor (look at BRIAN BLESSED, who while having done Shakespeare on many occasions, always plays the "bigger" parts).

Of course, this won't necessary be all that they do. It's entirely possible for these people to do comedy, appear in major action movies and even enter Large Ham territory at times.

Because these actors will be critically acclaimed (they can be popular as well), they are more likely than most actors, if they're British, to succumb to the K-strain of Knight Fever, i.e. getting a knighthood.

One of the litmus tests for being a Shakespearian actor is to have played a major/lead role for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The RSC is probably the most prestigious theatre company in Britain, performing (almost) exclusively Shakespeare. (The closest North American equivalents are probably the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.)

Note that the fictional version doesn't tend to get much respect.

Real examples:

Timothy Dalton — the fourth cinematic James Bond, and his background can be seen in the way he played 007. He also appears in Flash Gordon, a Nazi spy in Disney's The Rocketeer, and as a medium-sized ham in Hot Fuzz.
Dame Judi Dench. M in the last half-dozen or so James Bond films.
Sir Derek Jacobi. Has entered the Large Ham zone by playing The Master in Doctor Who on two occasions (although one is non-Canon).
Patrick Stewart — his classic training has allowed him to dodge being type cast by either Star Trek or X Men
William Shatner: Performed at the Stratford Festival in the 1960s.
Christopher Plummer.
Sir Ian McKellen.
David Tennant, the current Doctor in Doctor Who. There will be no regular 2009 series as he is playing Hamlet for the RSC.
Catherine Tate did small parts in her youth for the RSC.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, the Operative from Serenity. Has played Othello, if this troper recalls correctly.
Alan Rickman
Alec Guinness aka Obi-Wan Kenobi: Spoke the very first lines at the Stratford Festival (namely, "Now is the winter of our discontent").

Fictional examples:

Alan Rickman's character Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest.
The character of Henry Albertson in The Fantasticks.

Double Acts And Groups

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