Actor, not quietly, portraying chicken? (5)
I believe the answer is:
layer
'chicken?' is the definition.
(I know that layer is a type of biddy)
'actor not quietly' is the wordplay.
'actor' becomes 'player' (synonyms).
'not' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'player' with 'p' taken away is 'LAYER'.
'portraying' is the link.
(Other definitions for layer that I've seen before include "One producing eggs" , "plate?" , "Stratum; eg, hen" , "(Separate) level" , "See 22" .)