are static mesh assets considered actors?

tl;dr no

In Unreal Engine, static mesh assets are not considered Actors. Static mesh assets are simply a type of asset that can be used to create Actors, but they do not have any inherent functionality or behavior.

Static mesh assets are typically used to represent the visual appearance of objects in the game world, but they do not have any collision, animation, or interactivity on their own. To add interactivity or behavior to a static mesh asset, you would typically create an Actor that uses the static mesh asset as its visual representation, and then add components or scripts to define its behavior.

So while static mesh assets are an important part of creating 3D objects and scenes in Unreal Engine, they are not Actors themselves. They are simply a tool used to create the visual appearance of the game world.