Actress, say, removing soft coat (5)
I believe the answer is:
layer
'coat' is the definition.
(layering is a kind of coating)
'actress say removing soft' is the wordplay.
'actress say' becomes 'player' (actress is a kind of player).
'removing' suggests deleting specific letters.
'soft' becomes 'p' (musical abbreviation for piano, 'soft').
'player' with 'p' removed is 'LAYER'.
(Other definitions for layer that I've seen before include "See 22" , "Single thickness, tier" , "One supplying eggs" , "(Separate) level" , "Stratum; chicken" .)