Perhaps a warning that 男優 mostly is used for adult movie film actors and not male actors in general could be helpful 
24 Likes
This sounds like it has an interesting story behind it and I would like to hear it.
12 Likes
I’m sorry… what?
1 Like
Are you sure about that?
My Japanese friends also said that when I say 男優 they only think about porn actors…
4 Likes
Was just talking with friends about movies and used this word. Their reaction was a bit ^^. So not too interesting besides some laughters and some Japanese trying to explain when to use 男優 without using the word “adult movies” or similar ^^
In short, they suggested to only use 俳優 and 女優.
@plantron Actually, I do not know. Just checked Wadoku (Japanese-German dictionary) and it also translates it just as “actor”. Perhaps someone else can verify either one.
10 Likes
My wife had a good chuckle the first time I used this word around her. I had wanted to say, He’s my favorite male actor… …
19 Likes
Yeah. For me the conversation was like “what actors do you like” 
But now I am even more confused with the usage in Wikipedia articles on the other side etc…
4 Likes
My Japanese wife told me the same. lol
Haha yeah, in my case it was friends from Tokyo in a similar conversation.
I don’t wanna say that anecdotal evidence should be sufficient, but if several of us experienced this, it might be enough to constitute a warning.
2 Likes
In this case, it’s more likely that 男優 as a search term got associated with the AV industry due to cross linking and common usage followed.
3 Likes
Tagging @Mods, seems the vocab 男優 has specific meaning (actor in adult movie industry) that may need to be clarified.
11 Likes
So, I decided to take the risk and did a Google image search for 男優.
Yeah, definitely getting adult film industry vibes.
Don’t do that search at work.
42 Likes
Thank you for your sacrifice. You shall be remembered.
33 Likes
I had the exact same experience the first time I tried to say 男優 with a Japanese friend. They said that in principle it does mean “male actor” and should be correct, but because of euphemistic usage to refer to male AV actors, 俳優 has become the preferred term to refer to (non-AV) male actors.
Apparently, 女優 carries no such connotation and can be used freely to refer to a female actor/actress.
4 Likes
Your Japanese wife watches porn?
4 Likes
Only the weird tentacle stuff.
Yours doesn’t?
26 Likes
thanks for the head up.
I wonder which word should be used when talking about male actors in general :-s
It’s been mentioned a few times already. You most frequently hear 俳優
2 Likes
I heard the same thing about 女優, but when I search it in Google, only get AV女優
1 Like