With reference to a radio production directed and documented by the author himself, the study sets out to demonstrate that in presenting a figure in the media (,acting') the central concern is the shaping of the emotional expressive potential of language. At the same time, emotional expression is the main arena in which director and actors engage with each other on the ,rightness' of the given role conception for the figure to being portrayed. This fact is also understood here as a reflection of the significance of emotional expression via language in everyday communication.