salir del personaje
/saliɾ del peɾsonaxe/from spelling rules
In Spanish, "break character" is translated as salir del personaje.
The phrase salir del personaje is used to describe the act of stopping a performance as a fictional character and returning to one's real personality. This applies to both professional acting environments and casual situations where someone stops playing a role or a joke.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the verb salir (to exit or leave) and the noun phrase del personaje (from the character).
Which one should you use?
Salirse del personaje specifically emphasizes the act of accidentally or suddenly slipping out of character. Dejar de interpretar un personaje means to stop interpreting a character, and Dejar de actuar means to stop acting and can indicate breaking character in an informal context.
How does it change in a sentence?
Using the pronominal form salirse del personaje instead of salir del personaje can add emphasis to the fact that the person accidentally or suddenly slipped out of character.
How do you pronounce it?
/saliɾ del peɾsonaxe/
Did you know?
- The verb salir in salir del personaje is a cognate of the English word 'sally', as in 'sallying forth'. Both words share the Latin root salīre, which originally meant 'to leap'.
- The word personaje is used not only for fictional roles but also to describe a 'character' in the sense of an eccentric or odd person. An English speaker might call someone a 'character', and a Spanish speaker would call them a personaje.
- The Spanish word personaje shares the same linguistic lineage as the English word 'person', as both derive from the concept of personhood.
Examples in context
- Perdone, necesito dejar de interpretar mi personaje un momento.Excuse me, I need to break character for a moment.
- ¡Gracias! Pero necesito salirme del personaje por un momento para tomar agua.Thanks! But I need to break character for a moment to get some water.
- No puedes salir del personaje durante la obra.You cannot break character during the play.
- Es difícil no salir del personaje con este guion.It is hard not to break character with this script.
Example conversation
Two actors are discussing a rehearsal in a theater.
- JavierSofía, intenta no salir del personaje hoy.Sofía, try not to break character today.
- SofíaLo intentaré, Javier, pero es muy difícil.I will try, Javier, but it is very difficult.
- JavierSi sales del personaje, perderemos la escena.If you break character, we will lose the scene.
- SofíaEntiendo, me concentraré mucho más.I understand, I will concentrate much more.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries del, personaje, salir, CC BY-SA 4.0.
