Fifth wall

The "fifth wall" is a convention in fiction. A derivative of the "fourth wall" concept, which dictates a boundary of reality separation between the actors who are participating in the acting-out of a fictional world on stage (or on screen) and the viewing audience, the fifth wall is meant to distinguish between potentially conflicting continuities, or otherwise irrelevant fictional universes, and the characters who participate in such universes. It dictates that two or more characters from separate fictional universes are not supposed to be the same person or to refer to each other, even though the characters may actually be played or voiced by the same actor.
Background and meaning
The fifth wall has become proliferant mostly in the era of film, television and video games, which usually feature characters which are played or voiced by actors who have taken on roles in other, less recent works of popular visual fiction. It is relatively common for typecast actors, such as William Shatner and Adam West, to break the fifth wall (willingly or not) in a more recent work and make references to their more-famous characters in earlier works, usually as a form of brief fan service.
Examples
This other wall was "broken" by comedian Bob Newhart in the final scene of "" series finale of Newhart; playing his lead role as Dick Loudon until he was struck unconscious by a wayward golfball, he suddenly woke up as Dr. Robert Hartley, his character in his earlier sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, alongside his The Bob Newhart Show co-star Suzanne Pleshette (in her role as Emily).
A similar, more recent example of "breaking the fifth wall" is when actor William Shatner, in his role as Denny Crane in Boston Legal, makes references to his earlier, more typecasted role as Capt. James T. Kirk in Star Trek when Denny's colleague, Alan Shore (played by James Spader), mentions "kling-ons". As Crane, Shatner also has a ringtone on his cellular phone that is the sound of a communicator from Star Trek: The Original Series. In one episode, when listing his leadership experience and notable qualities, Crane notes that he once "captained own space ship."
In Man on the Moon Danny DeVito plays Andy Kaufman's agent George Shapiro, even while other members of the cast from Taxi re-enact their performances. In one scene, Danny DeVito is seen overlooking the cast, leaving the audience to wonder for a brief moment if he is in the role of George Shapiro or Louie De Palma (his character on Taxi). Immediately, we witness him being called "George" giving us our answer.
NCIS has frequently used it, with DiNozzo saying "" than terrorists do of infiltrating the Navy and Gibbs saying that Ducky resembled Illya Kuryakin in his youth.
During the first episode of Andromeda, Seamus Harper breaks the fifth wall when describing Dylan Hunt (played by Kevin Sorbo, formerly of Hercules): "I'm telling ya. The guy is huge. He's like...some kind of Greek God or something."
In an episode of Mad About You, Paul Reiser's character was asked if he had ever seen any of the Alien movies. He quickly replies "Only the first one!" Paul Reiser had a role in the second movie in the series, Aliens.
In the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action, DJ mentions that he was a stuntman for Brendan Fraser (DJ is played by Fraser) in The Mummy.
Also in an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Maddie, London, Zack and Cody are performing scenes from highschool musical. Maddie makes a comment about her looking like Ashley Tisdale who plays Sharpay in the Highschool musical trilogy
It also happens in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back when Ben Affleck talks about how amazing Ben Affleck was in other movies.
The television series Chowder constantly refers to the show's production.
In Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, among many examples of breaking the fourth wall, the citizens of Rock Ridge get into a major brawl with a band of bad guys led by the railroad construction foreman, Mr. Taggart. During the fight, the camera zooms away to show a large portion of the Warner Brothers Studios campus, after which the viewer is brought into a different movie set showing a filming of a song and dance number. The fight from the Rock Ridge set eventually breaks through the side wall of this second set, causing the director therein to complain that "this is a closed set!" Angered, Taggart responds that he is "working for Mel Brooks", and punches the director in the stomach.
In the TV show Scrubs, the Janitor, played by Neil Flynn, makes regular references to his life before working as a cleaner in the hospital. He claims to have appeared as a cop in The Fugitive, a typical early role played by Flynn. Since the Janitor has no name and Neil Flynn often improvises his own dialogue for the show, it could be argued that Flynn is not acting the part but simply playing himself.
In Jolson Sings Again ,Al Jolson, played by Larry Parks, is introduced to Larry Parks played by himself - Jolson is told Parks will play him in a movie (The Jolson Story).
In a guest appearance on George Lopez, Barbara Eden states that she wishes she could "just cross arms, close her eyes and make things happen" in referance to her role on I Dream of Jeannie.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu