The social status of actors with bearing (5)
I believe the answer is:
caste
'the social status' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'actors with bearing' is the wordplay.
'actors' becomes 'cast' (I've seen this before).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'bearing' becomes 'e' (**).
'cast'+'e'='CASTE'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for caste that I've seen before include "Social class or rank" , "Social class in Hinduism" , "Hereditary social class among Hindus" , "Hindu determinant of status" , "Social station" .)