Took the stage as a substitute (5)
I believe the answer is:
acted
'took' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to bodily activities as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for acted that I've seen before include "Behaved in a certain manner" , "took part in simulation" , "Cadet (anag)" , "Behaved or performed" , "Behaved like thespian" .)