Actor 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.
Actor is Also Know as
In different settings, Actor is titled as
- Actor
- Actress
- Comedian
- Comic
- Community Theater Actor
- Ensemble Member
- Narrator
- Performer
- Tour Actor
- Voice-Over Artist
Education and Training of Actor
Actor is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Actor
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Actor
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Actor
- Bachelor in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Bachelor in Acting
- Associate Degree Courses in Acting
- Masters Degree Courses in Acting
- Bachelor in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Associate Degree Courses in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Masters Degree Courses in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Bachelor in Musical Theatre
- Associate Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Masters Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Bachelor in Comedy Writing and Performance
- Associate Degree Courses in Comedy Writing and Performance
- Masters Degree Courses in Comedy Writing and Performance
- Bachelor in Theatre and Dance
- Associate Degree Courses in Theatre and Dance
- Masters Degree Courses in Theatre and Dance
Training Required for Actor
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Actor in different industries are
- Musicians and Singers
- Choreographers
- Talent Directors
- Music Directors and Composers
- Producers and Directors
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
- Dancers
- Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
- Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
- Writers and Authors
- Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
- Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance
- Costume Attendants
- Special Effects Artists and Animators
- Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes
- Art Directors
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
- Models
- Film and Video Editors
- Self-Enrichment Teachers
What Do Actor do?
- Study and rehearse roles from scripts to interpret, learn and memorize lines, stunts, and cues as directed.
- Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
- Learn about characters in scripts and their relationships to each other to develop role interpretations.
- Collaborate with other actors as part of an ensemble.
- Perform humorous and serious interpretations of emotions, actions, and situations, using body movements, facial expressions, and gestures.
- Attend auditions and casting calls to audition for roles.
- Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
- Work with other crew members responsible for lighting, costumes, make-up, and props.
- Sing or dance during dramatic or comedic performances.
- 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.
- Write original or adapted material for dramas, comedies, puppet shows, narration, or other performances.
- Prepare and perform action stunts for motion picture, television, or stage productions.
- Tell jokes, perform comic dances, songs and skits, impersonate mannerisms and voices of others, contort face, and use other devices to amuse audiences.
- Introduce performances and performers to stimulate excitement and coordinate smooth transition of acts during events.
- Manipulate strings, wires, rods, or fingers to animate puppets or dummies in synchronization with talking, singing, or recorded programs.
- Dress in comical clown costumes and makeup, and perform comedy routines to entertain audiences.
- Perform original and stock tricks of illusion to entertain and mystify audiences, occasionally including audience members as participants.
- Construct puppets and ventriloquist dummies, and sew accessory clothing, using hand tools and machines.
Qualities of Good Actor
- 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.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- 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).
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Tools Used by Actor
- Digital still cameras
- Digital video recorders
- Laptop computers
- MP3 digital voice recorders
- Personal computers
- Photography tripods
- Tablet computers
- Wireless microphones
Technology Skills required for Actor
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Email software
- FileMaker Pro
- Linux
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Motion capture software
- TikTok
- Web browser software
- Website development software
- Word processing software
- YouTube
- Zoom