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Actors

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Play parts in stage, television, radio, video, or film 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.

Related: Choreographers Music Directors & Composers Musicians & Singers Poets, Lyricists & Creative Writers Talent Directors

Industries: Arts & Entertainment Professional, Science, & Technical Media & Communication

Summary
Details

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

Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.

Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.

Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
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.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
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.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
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.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

Education

Some college, no degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

U.S. Hourly Wage

23.33/hr

Currently Employed

870

Yearly Projected Openings

110

Artistic: People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules. They do well at jobs that need:

Cooperation
Persistence
Adaptability/Flexibility
Dependability
Initiative
Social Orientation

Camera tripods
Digital camcorders or video cameras
Digital cameras
MP3 players or recorders
Microphones
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Tablet computers

Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Instant messaging software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video conferencing software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Actors

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