Acting Description – If your area budding thespian, who craves the sound of applause, and maybe you already know the difference between upstage and downstage. If you’re waiting in the wings for the perfect career opportunity, then I think you’ve just found it.
If you tick some of the qualities above then you probably need to keep reading. Who knows? After reading this you may become the next Tom Cruise, Idris Elba, Mila Kunis or James Buckley.
Generally speaking, actors are performers that work across different media outlets, like television, theatre, radio and film. Actors also perform voiceovers for animated projects, act on TV commercials and do audiobooks recording.
The primary duty of an actor is to effectively communicate that character they are playing to the audience, using mediums like their voice, actions body, and reactions. They tell stories through their art engendering emotional reactions in their audience while making people think.
SEE ALSO: Job description and job specification
Acting is a very powerful profession; by pretending to be someone else, actors trick people into believing the character they play is actually real ones. Actors influence a lot in today’s world like emotions, trends, and critical discussion. Sincerely we at newbalancejobs.com think that without them, the world would be a very boring place.
Lots of performers function across various different aspects of the acting profession. For instance, lots of actors eventually make the crossover from TV to movie acting. However, some actors choose to concentrate on one area of acting. For example, lots of performers focus only on a career in theatre.
To be successful as an actor, you would require a certain amount of talent. However, you can’t solely rely on your talent alone. To do exceedingly well in this cut-throat industry, you would need to consistently rehearse, learn various lines, rehearse and thereafter rehearse some more!
Actors don’t just pull up and deliver those impeccable Shakespearean soliloquies on their first try, and then go chill in their dressing room eating salads for the rest of the day. Acting is a very tough, taxing, and strenuous profession, which needs lots and lots of hard work.
Indeed, an actor’s typical work activities extend beyond simply working on-set and performing on-stage. When the cameras aren’t rolling and the lights aren’t on, the action is all offstage.
Actors rehearse their roles, take speech and acting classes, conduct independent research and try their best to refine the character that they’re playing. Famous actors may also be required to promote the productions they’re working on by giving interviews to the press and making television appearances.
Obviously, actors need to find acting jobs before they can perform. Consequently, actors will need to spend a lot of time during the early stages of their career, searching for the right agent, attending auditions, and building up a network of industry contacts.
Once you’re finally working on a production, you will need to be on time, know your lines off by heart, and depict your character effectively. No pressure then!
Salary & benefits
There’s no annual average salary for actors and this is understandable as they are usually paid on a production-by-production basis and the salary received will be totally dependent on the kind of acting you would be doing.
Generally speaking, movie and television actors earn much more than theatre actors. Nevertheless, it is all dependent on the experience, reputation, and celebrity status of that individual actor. In an actors world it is all about the bums on seats. If an actor would be bringing in massive audience figures, then most likely that actor would be paid much more money.
Every theatre performer is encouraged to join Equity, which is the trade union for professional actors, and they’ve sets a minimum weekly salary of £420 a week.
But, joining Equity doesn’t guaranteed you would get gigs. This isn’t a traditional 9 to 5 job, with a set salary, holiday allowance with an accompanying benefits package.
Far from it! It’s true you would be earning £420 a week but might only be for two months which after m you might not earn a penny for ages. Actors frequently go for long periods of time without getting gigs. For this reason, an actor’s average monthly income is inconsistent.
Working hours
As earlier mentioned, acting isn’t a typical traditional 9 to 5 job. Actors have to work when the shooting schedule demands it, or generally when performances are scheduled. So therefore, Actors can be called to work anytime, doesn’t matter if it’s early in the mornings, evenings, late nights, weekends or national holidays.
Actors also acts in all types of locations. Actors working in theatre’s would most likely be working on stage as well as rehearsal studios. However, those working in television and movies, would find themselves in television studios, movie studios or acting on-set in different random locations.
If the production or set they’re working on is abroad, they may even have the opportunity to travel and act ‘on location’ in all manner of weird and wonderful places.
Entry
Factually speaking, there isn’t any formal entry requirements for becoming an actor, lots of prospective thespians take acting classes or complete their degrees in acting and the performing arts.
Taking part in a conservatoire, drama school or performing arts college is an excellent way to hone ones acting skills while building up a list of influential industry-specific contacts. If you happen to attend a top drama school, you might even access better audition opportunities once you’ve graduated.
Training & progression
In this line of work, training spans for the length of the actors entire career meaning training is continuous in the acting profession. Immediately actors have established themselves in the industry, it’s unlikely that they would attend acting classes. But, every day they spend acting will be a constant learning process. They often feed off the talent and creativity of each actor, director and producer they work with, refining their skills and perfecting their art.
Actors would have to consistently push themselves to try new things, take on new challenges, and step out of their comfort zone. After all, the more verse they are, the more gigs they would get, and consequently the more money they will earn. The greatest actors avoid getting typecast and they perform in a wide range of roles all through their career.
There really isn’t a set career path for actors. While some simply focus on acting itself while earning more bucks, growing their reputation and getting closer to fame and fortune, others simply just choose to branch out into other aspects of entertainment like directing, scriptwriting and teaching.
