Difference Between Acting and Lying

Acting and lying have some similarities, that’s why people get confused with the usage of these two words. Lying is pretending and being untruthful. We all start on the practice of lying in our childhood though we are always taught the importance of the virtue of truth. Acting, as we all know is about a person trying to pretend like the character he is playing on screen. In a way then, acting is much like lying. Both try to convince the audience, spinning a falsehood, and leading people into a trap. Both acting and lying take the performer into a position where he is not in control of himself and not exactly himself. But there are striking differences between acting and lying also, that we will understand through this brief discussion.

An actor is a fantastic liar while a liar is a fantastic actor. But the actor lies for the sake of the character he is playing while the liar lies for himself. Acting is an art, and though both the actor as well as audience knows that the actor is lying and just portraying the character, they are led into believing that the actor is really the character on screen. The actor uses all his skills and acting talent to convince the audience that he is the character being portrayed and the lines he is speaking are coming straight from his heart. He makes the audience laugh when he laughs and cry when he cries. He can make the audience mourn when he dies on screen. If an actor can do all this, he is a terrific liar. At the end of the film, audience realizes about the lie in which they were trapped and they appreciate the creativity and talent of the actor.

If a kid is late in reaching school, he lies and pretends about the circumstances that made him late to his teacher. Here, he is also doing the same thing an actor does in a film. The only difference is that a lie takes place in real life, whereas acting is done purposefully to play a character. The real difference lies in intent. When we go to see a film, we know that the actor is lying and only pretending to be what he is not, but we are prepared for this and even pay to see the actor lying. An actor is a professional and we pay his wages when we go to see a movie. On the other end, lying takes place in real life situations and there are no settings, costumes and the director to make people lie.

The other notable difference is that in the case of acting we know that the actor is lying but we accept the fact and even pay for it, whereas in the case of lying we are unprepared and take the liar on face value.