Learn English – What does “dust actor” mean

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From movie Hail, Caesar!. Josh Brolin's character says it about an actor who's dumb and who can't play in serious drama.

"Hobie Doyle? He's a dust actor! He hardly knows how to talk!"

The official Russian dub translated "dust actor" as "He only plays in westerns" and I'm not sure if it's correct.

Best Answer

The term "dust actor" in 30's Hollywood parlance signified an "action" player, apposite to the "rug actor" whose strength was love scenes. Producer Joel Silver uses both terms here in a W Magazine article from Feb., 2007.

In an article from the June 13, 1987 issue of the Arizona Republic, Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying:

"In the old studio days there was the rug actor and the dust actor. The rug actor was in a suit the Cary Grant type. The dust actor was the Western hero. The war hero. Like Gary Cooper. Then if they switched parts, and the rug actor became the dust actor, the audience quit going. I don't want that to happen to me."

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