player vs play-actor

player and play-actor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
player	Yes	No	No	No
play-actor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, play-actor is a hyponym of player; that is, play-actor is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than player:

player (noun)	play-actor (noun)
a theatrical performer	an actor who travels around the country presenting plays
a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
someone who plays a music as a profession
a person who pursues a number of different social and sexual partners simultaneously
someone who takes part in an activity