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Career Description

Play parts in stage, television, radio, video, motion picture productions, or other settings for entertainment, information, or instruction. Interpret serious or comic role by speech, gesture, and body movement to entertain or inform audience. May dance and sing.

What Job Titles Actors Might Have

• Actor
• Actress
• Comedian
• Performer

What Actors Do

• Collaborate with other actors as part of an ensemble.
• Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
• Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
• Perform humorous and serious interpretations of emotions, actions, and situations, using body movements, facial expressions, and gestures.
• Study and rehearse roles from scripts to interpret, learn and memorize lines, stunts, and cues as directed.
• Learn about characters in scripts and their relationships to each other to develop role interpretations.
• Attend auditions and casting calls to audition for roles.
• Sing or dance during dramatic or comedic performances.
• Work with other crew members responsible for lighting, costumes, make-up, and props.
• Tell jokes, perform comic dances, songs and skits, impersonate mannerisms and voices of others, contort face, and use other devices to amuse audiences.
• Read from scripts or books to narrate action or to inform or entertain audiences, utilizing few or no stage props.
• Promote productions using means such as interviews about plays or movies.
• Prepare and perform action stunts for motion picture, television, or stage productions.
• Write original or adapted material for dramas, comedies, puppet shows, narration, or other performances.
• Introduce performances and performers to stimulate excitement and coordinate smooth transition of acts during events.

What Actors Should Be Good At

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Memorization - The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Actors Should Be Interested In

• Artistic - Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

What Actors Need to Learn

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.