About
The Actor was written by Robbie Williams, Brandon Christy and Craig Russo, and produced by Christy and Russo. It appeared on Rudebox in 2006 and reflects Williams’s experiences of life in Los Angeles during the early 2000s. Blending electronic pop with spoken-word interludes, the song explores the hollowness of ambition and the artifice of fame.
Williams described it as “about the people you meet in LA when everyone’s pretending to be something they’re not.” Its verses list a series of actors by name, turning Hollywood itself into a roll call of façades, while the chorus captures his fascination and cynicism toward the city’s obsession with image. The track ends with a prophetic twist on Andy Warhol’s famous quote: “In the future, everybody will be anonymous for fifteen minutes.”
Musically sparse and darkly comic, The Actor balances irony with empathy, acknowledging Williams’s own proximity to the world he mocks. Its minimalist rhythm and spoken sections foreshadow the tone of later songs such as “Bodies,” also co-written with Russo and Christy, suggesting a continuity between the satire of Rudebox and the introspection of his later work.
Lyrics
Act One is about to begin in 8 seconds.
First you can't act, now you can't stop,
(What's my motivation?)
I used to like you... a lot,
(I was the class nerd)
Exactly who I'm s'posed to be,
(I'm totally Strasberg)
You play a doctor on TV,
(What you're doing is SO brave)
Deep down you're dirty but you try,
(I'm a good person)
The truth would break you so you lie,
(I want my work to matter)
It's in the choices that you make,
(I want to inspire)
No talent, just fate.
I don't know where you begin,
I end, we start
Again,
They need, you love,
We all watch
The Actor Acting
Good from far but far from good,
(All I have is my instinct)
You love to act, I wish you would,
(It's not acting, it's re-acting)
Act like you're not from out of space,
(When I'm on stage I feel alive)
You know ambition isn't grace,
(For me it's the craft)
Made of Sex, Maida Vale,
(Would I do better in New York)
You are the Alpha Male,
(I'm just too pretty for that role)
You are the good, you are the great,
(The words have power)
Now let me fill you with my hate.
I don't know where you begin,
I end, we start
Again,
They need, you love,
We all watch
The Actor Acting
Monroe,
(Monroe)
Barrymore,
(Barrymore)
Mansfield,
(MANSFIELD)
D-d-d-d-Dame d-Dame d-Dame Judi Dench,
(Judi Dench)
Madonna Ritchie,
(Ritchie)
Ritchie, Ritchie, Ritchie.
Streep,
Close,
Hepburn,
Burt Reynolds.
Niven,
Danson,
Bundy,
BARDOT.
Joaquin,
Joaquin,
Joaquin,
Joaquin,
Joaquin,
(Joaquin)
Joaquin,
(Joaquin)
Joaquin,
(Joaquin)
SWANK.
I don't know where you begin,
I end, we start
Again,
They need, you love,
We all watch
The Actor Acting
In the future,
Everybody will be anonymous for fifteen minutes,
You are, we all are a test card,
The stars of CCTV,
We ARE the nature of the beast.
Credits
-
Vocalist
Robbie Williams -
Songwriter
Robbie Williams, Brandon Christy, Craig Russo