Actor taking unusual pains with an article (8)
I believe the answer is:
thespian
'actor' is the definition.
(I know that actor can be written as thespian)
'unusual pains with an article' is the wordplay.
'unusual' indicates anagramming the letters.
'with' indicates putting letters inside.
'an article' becomes 'the' (the definite article).
'pains' with letters rearranged gives 'spian'.
'spian' enclosing 'the' is 'THESPIAN'.
'taking' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for thespian that I've seen before include "cast member" , "Player" , "Stage-player" , "Dramatic actor" , "Actor - neat hips (anag)" .)