Luvvies: Difference between revisions
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"Luvvie" is a slang word for actor originating in British theater, from the tendency of stage actors to call each other "love" and "darling" (apparently because when you're going from job to job it's easier than remembering people's names). The people it refers to tend to be posh and classically trained, and it connotes a certain amount of [[Small Name, Big Ego|pomposity]], [[Large Ham|effusiveness]], [[Rant-Inducing Slight|sensitivity]], and/or [[Nostalgia Filter|sentimentality]].
As you might expect from that description, "luvvie" itself is a generally derogatory word, and this trope is double-edged: the existence of people like this in show business is obviously [[Truth in Television]], and some actors will take huge offense at this perception of their profession, [[Not Helping Your Case|inevitably displaying all of the above qualities in the process of denying it]]. On the other hand, this trope is easy to overdo, especially in conjunction with an unfair portrayal of the whole art of acting as a self-indulgent sham requiring no
Expect to hear [[Continuity Lock Out]] nicknames and references, long-winded stories about working with stars from the previous generation, [[Compliment Fishing]], fits of rage and depression over bad reviews, catty remarks about some colleagues and gushing praise for others, obsession with who wins awards (while pretending not to care), and constant soul-searching and navel-gazing. A luvvie trying to function outside the context of work is often a sad sight to see. He may consider himself a a [[Sad Clown]], [[Blessed with Suck]] for being so very talented in a world that doesn't understand. He may actually ''be'' that
Compare [[Shakespearean Actors]], [[Large Ham]], [[Classically-Trained Extra]], [[Wag the Director]]. A particularly unsympathetic portrayal might make them [[Nice Character, Mean Actor]]. They live in the same world as the [[Prima Donna Director]] and [[Caustic Critic]]. Luvvies are [[Always Camp]], even the women.
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* Both parties in the above example were in the Cambridge Footlights together, and each had a sketch in their revue where they played this type of character (him as a host of an acting masterclass show dispensing idiotic "wisdom" to a student played by Hugh Laurie, her as an actress obnoxiously receiving an award).
* Later, in ''[[A Bit of Fry and Laurie]]'', there was a sketch where Laurie was a luvvie claiming he used to know "absolutely everyone" in the business, and Fry was an interviewer who got annoyed and started asking about various made-up people with [[Unfortunate Names]] ("Fenella Hahahahahaha!spuit?"). Laurie kept pretending he recognized them, until the punchline: "[[Dick Van Dyke]]?" "You just made that up!"
* ''Inside the Actors Studio'' is often accused of
* The Nigel Planer character Nicholas Craig, star of ''Nicholas Craig -- The Naked Actor'' and ''The Nicholas Craig Masterclass''.
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