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Career

Actors

Typical education: High school diplomaLower pressure

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.

Kinds of work

  • Artistic: Creating, designing and expressing ideas through art, writing, music or performance.
  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.
  • Enterprising: Leading, persuading, selling and starting new projects or businesses.

Lower pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $60,424 Median per year · $29.05/hr

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • 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.
  • Read from scripts or books to narrate action or to inform or entertain audiences, utilizing few or no stage props.
  • Tell jokes, perform comic dances, songs and skits, impersonate mannerisms and voices of others, contort face, and use other devices to amuse audiences.
  • Write original or adapted material for dramas, comedies, puppet shows, narration, or other performances.
  • Work with other crew members responsible for lighting, costumes, make-up, and props.

Job outlook

United States
About the same number of jobs by 2035, little or no change · about 6,300 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Self-employed (their own business)23.0%
  • Theater companies and dinner theaters9.8%
  • Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping, and payroll services8.2%
  • Amusement parks and arcades7.4%
  • Colleges, universities, and professional schools3.1%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: None

Some people start through an apprenticeship: paid training on the job, often with classes. Search apprenticeships on Apprenticeship.gov (opens in a new tab) ↗

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: High school diplomaExperience before this job: NoneEntry-level

Actor is an entry-level career: the typical education is a high school diploma, and no prior work experience is usually needed, so you can start auditioning right after school. Getting regular work often takes years of building skills, a portfolio, and connections.

  1. High school diploma with drama or theater classes

    4 years

    Acting classes, school plays, and speech or debate build the voice, movement, and confidence you will use on any stage or set.

  2. Actor

    Varies; many start right after high school

    You begin by auditioning for community theater, student films, local commercials, and small roles, and you build a demo reel and résumé as you go.

Where it can lead

  1. Talent Director

    2-4 years of experience first

    Talent directors (casting directors) find and hire actors for productions, which means working on the other side of the audition table and knowing many performers and their strengths.

  2. Producer and Director

    2-4 years of experience first

    Directors shape how a whole production looks and sounds and lead the cast and crew; it usually takes stage management, assistant directing, or film set experience and often a bachelor's degree.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take theater, drama, and speech classesThese teach voice, movement, scene work, and how to perform in front of an audience.
  • Join the school play or musicalBeing in productions gives you real stage experience and a chance to learn from directors and other performers.
  • Try a debate or public speaking clubSpeaking clearly and thinking on your feet help with auditions, interviews, and reading a script with confidence.
  • Volunteer or work backstage at a community theaterYou'll meet working theater people, learn how productions run, and get noticed by directors.

In college

  • Take acting, voice, and movement coursesFormal training in scene study and body work builds the skills casting directors look for, and a theater or drama major provides it in depth.
  • Audition for campus productionsCollege shows give you a range of roles, a stronger résumé, and experience working with directors.
  • Join a student theater or film groupStudent groups let you make your own short films and performances, which you can use to build a demo reel.
  • Get a campus job or internship at a theater or studioWorking as a stage hand, box office staff, or production intern teaches you the industry and helps you make useful contacts.

Tips for getting started

  • Start performing now in any setting you can find, such as school plays, community theater, youth groups, or short films made with friends, and keep a simple video of your best work.
  • Learn about auditions by reading local casting notices and asking drama teachers how audition calls work, so the process feels familiar when you need it.
  • Pair acting with a backup skill like writing, editing, or a job in a theater or film crew, since acting work is often irregular.

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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