lets say you have a character who is an actor, and the first time you see him on screen, he's working.  How would you go about describing him?

Say his name is Joe and he's playing a character named Phil.  We dont know he's Joe yet though.  So intro the character within a character of Phil, then when it is revealed he's acting, introduce him as Joe?

Confusing?

Depends on your intent.

Is this just Joe playing Phil for whatever reason, or are you trying to pull a "surprise" reveal?

For the former, go with the dreaded "unfilmable" for the sake of clarity:  This guy is JOE, but he is an actor, and for the current scene, his name is PHIL.

For the latter, introduce him as PHIL.  Then, later:  "OMG, this isn't Phil at all!  It's JOE!"

Some variation of those, of course.

And please use "Screenwriting Class" for such questions.  "Questions or Comments" is for things related to the working of the SimplyScripts site itself.

thanks, i willl in the future.