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DEFINITION AND NATURE OF
THE WORK
• To the audience acting seems like glamorous
work, but it is a profession that requires unusual
talent and years of training and study, offers a
minimum of security, and is physically and
intellectually demanding.
• However, most actors report a great deal of
satisfaction from their work, whether they act in
plays, in films, or on television..
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• Although very few actors become "stars," a
number of professionals are successful in that
they find steady employment.
• They may work in local and regional acting
companies, appear in commercial or industrial
shows, narrate films, read stories or plays for
audiobooks, or play minor parts in movies and
radio and television serials or commercials.
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• Some actors become dramatic
coaches, directors, or acting
teachers in schools, colleges, and
local theater groups.
• Many actors work at other jobs while
they seek their first roles or are
between acting engagements.
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• New actors often start in small companies
with small roles. They progress to larger
roles in other media or become
understudies to lead roles. If the lead
performer falls ill, the understudy will take
his or her place for that performance.
• Actors may also move from very small
experimental theaters or children's
entertainment to larger companies with
larger audiences.
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• An actor's success is usually the result of
hard work, self-discipline, patience, and
determination.
• Good actors often have some special
quality or talent that enables them—
through words and gestures, music and
dance—to make the audience believe they
are the characters they portray.
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• Being an actor requires learning lines and
stage techniques, putting on makeup, being
fitted for costumes, and attending
rehearsals and classes.
• Acting is often a team effort that requires
cooperation with many different people:
directors, designers, stage managers, fellow
actors, camera operators, and a variety of
backstage and production workers.
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• If stage actors are in a successful play, they may
repeat their performance many times over—
sometimes for more than a year.
• During this time, they may also have to attend
rehearsals if the director decides they are
becoming "stale" or if some cast members are
replaced with new actors.
• When the run—however long—of a given
production is over, they must seek work again.
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• Acting in motion pictures is different from stage
acting in that movie actors often perform only
small parts of their roles at one time.
• Each scene is usually filmed separately and often
out of sequence. In addition, film actors may
divide their time between studio work and on-
location shooting.
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EDUCATION AND TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS
• Formal training in acting is generally necessary, but
practical acting experience is the most common
requirement for success.
• Special training in the dramatic arts is available at
professional schools and actors' studios located
primarily in New York City, Los Angeles, and other
large metropolitan areas. In addition, more than six
hundred colleges and universities offer theater arts
programs and many have special drama schools.
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• Besides developing acting skills, aspiring
performers should study
speech, voice, pantomime, dance and
movement, period styles, improvisation, and a
variety of other skills like fencing, juggling, or
playing a musical instrument.
• A knowledge of theater history and of play and
film production is important. Courses in
psychology may also be helpful. In general, the
more training and practical experience an actor
has, the wider the range of employment
possibilities.
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WORKING CONDITIONS
• Acting is a demanding profession. After spending
many hours studying their lines, actors rehearse
their parts over and over, learning proper
movements and gestures, cues, delivery and
expression, and how best to project the
characters they are portraying.
• They work closely with other members of the
cast and the director—and sometimes the
writer—to perfect the performance.
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• Television and film performers often spend
hours waiting before they go "on camera."
The time allotted for learning parts and
rehearsing may be limited, so actors work
under a great deal of pressure. Since
filming may be done on location, they may
also work in a variety of climates.
