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Actors

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.

What you’d do

  • Attend auditions and casting calls to audition for roles.
  • Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
  • Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
  • 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.
  • Learn about characters in scripts and their relationships to each other to develop role interpretations.
  • 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.

Skills that matter

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Speaking
  • Active Listening
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Critical Thinking
  • Coordination

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Actress
  • Comedian
  • Community Theater Actor
  • Voice Actor
  • Entertainer
  • Film Actor

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