15 of the Funniest Jokes About Actors and Acting

Acting is one of the oddest professions. You’re essentially being paid to lie, and the better you are at lying, the more you’re celebrated for it. But the reality is, we’re all actors in one way or another. Whether it’s at work, on dating profiles or to yourself, at some point, you’ve “acted.” Comedians, even though they occasionally cross the line to paid acting, are keenly aware of how ridiculous the industry and art form itself can be.

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Which is why we’ve gathered some of the best jokes and moments surrounding the world of thespians below...

15 Sir Ian McKellen on His Process

McKellen pulls back the curtain to show us the journey he must undergo for his roles.

14 Michael Caine’s Acting Masterclass

Peter Serafinowicz does his best Caine impression to showcase Caine’s method of acting for the camera. It has more sausages than you’d think.

13 Batgirl Auditions

On Conan, we got to see exclusive footage of the auditions for Batgirl. It’s a shame we never got to see it.

12 Roy Wood Jr. Is Fooled By Black British Actors

“Every Black person remember the day they found out Idris Elba wasn’t from Baltimore. That was a troubling day in the Black American community. That’s like finding out your daddy wasn’t your daddy.”

11 Henry Rollins’ Audition for Danny DeVito

On a spoken-word tour, Rollins discussed his audition for DeVito’s film Death to Smoochy. He decided that instead of being nervous to just go over-the-top. Did he get the part? Almost.

10 Calculon on ‘Futurama’

One of the best satirical takes on acting is the robot actor Calculon from Futurama. The subtext of a robot being able to convincingly convey human emotion in the future is the sort of nightmare that current-day actors are actually concerned about. That said, if most robot actors are like Calculon, their jobs are safe.

9 Patton Oswalt’s Offer to Audition for the Gay Best Friend

“I got an offer to audition for a romantic comedy, and they wanted me to audition for the (sings) gayyyy besttt frrrrriieeeeeeend (ends singing). It’s 2011; I might as well put on Blackface and tap dance.”

8 Ken Jeong’s Double Life

Like most actors, Jeong had a day job while pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. Unlike most actors, he had to give up being a doctor to do it.

7 ‘You Got Their Stunt Doubles!’

In Spaceballs, always check to make sure you got the correct actor you’re trying to capture after an action scene.

6 Clayface as Billy Bob Thorton

On Harley Quinn, Clayface got to disappear into the role of Billy Bob Thorton within the role of Thomas Wayne in a biopic of the philanthropist.

5 Jon Lovitz: Master Thespian

In one of his best recurring characters on Saturday Night Live, Lovitz used his bravado and enunciation to showcase the perfect acting blowhard.

4 ‘SNL’s Student Theatre

Theatre can be bad. Really bad. But student theatre can be the absolute worst.

3 Paul F. Tompkins’ ‘Magnolia’ Nightmare

Tompkins and various other comedians were considered for bit parts in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. What happened was a marathon of script mishaps that got him politely ribbed by his new acquaintance Tom Cruise.