An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This contrasts with productions which develop and focus on certain main characters more than others. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on different characters in different episodes. In addition, the departure of players is less disruptive to the premise than it would be if the star of a production with a regularly structured cast were to leave the series.
Famous quotes containing the word cast:
“You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers,
We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate
hence-forward,
Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves
from us,
We use you, and do not cast you aside—we plant you permanently within us,
We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also,
You furnish your parts, toward eternity,
Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)