character actor vs actor

character actor and actor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
character actor	Yes	No	No	No
actor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, actor is a hypernym of character actor; that is, actor is a word with a broader meaning than character actor:

Other hypernyms of character actor include histrion, player, role player, thespian.

character actor (noun)	actor (noun)
an actor who specializes in playing supporting roles	a theatrical performer
	a person who acts and gets things done