Acting

[Grafixboy]

Why are actors told to break a leg before they go on stage?

[Postdog]

I think it has something to do with olden theatre, where at the end of the play or whatever, the actors took a bow (Obviously something they'd only do if the audience appreciated the performance) and in doingg so they'd bend their leg at the knee - so breaking a leg. I guess it's just a way of saying "I hope you get to take a bow"

[jno]

Actors are superstitious (allegedly), so if you tell them 'It's going to be a hit' they'll immediately say you've hexed the show. So you imagine the worst thing that can happen, and they hope this will encourage good luck instead.

http://www.theatrecrafts.com/glossary/pages/mo rebreakaleg.html

[Big Al1st]

Found this

The general consensus is that the phrase originated hundreds of years ago. Theater folk were suspicious and superstitious types. Because their work as actors was to "practice the art of lying," they thought that if they wished a fellow actor good luck, the opposite would happen. Consequently, we say the reverse. The phrase "break a leg" is rumored to have begun because someone did just that after being wished good luck. Some have suggested that the practice came from "the evil eye," an eastern European idea that cautioned never to tempt fate by wishing for good luck.