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.
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. The role is projected to grow 30% over the next decade (much faster than average). Entry typically requires a Some college, no degree, and shows low AI exposure (0.35 on a 0-1 scale) — the role's core work resists automation. The most in-demand skills for the role include be a role model in community arts, assess data collected to improve community arts programme, assess your competences for artistic coaching, collaborate with coaching team, manage participants' expectations in arts.
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Actors, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Fine Arts
- English Language
- Communications and Media
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Psychology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- Education and Training
What you'd actually do
- Collaborate with other actors as part of an ensemble.
- Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
- Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
- Perform humorous and serious interpretations of emotions, actions, and situations, using body movements, facial expressions, and gestures.
- Study and rehearse roles from scripts to interpret, learn and memorize lines, stunts, and cues as directed.
- Learn about characters in scripts and their relationships to each other to develop role interpretations.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Actors 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.
What is the job outlook for Actors?
The role is projected to grow 30% over the next decade (much faster than average). Current US employment is approximately 57,000 workers.
How do I become a actors?
The typical entry education is a Some college, no degree. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Actors need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include be a role model in community arts, assess data collected to improve community arts programme, assess your competences for artistic coaching, collaborate with coaching team, manage participants' expectations in arts, understand the emotional dimension of a performance. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Actors?
Our AI-durability model gives Actors a score of 0.35 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at low AI exposure — the role's core work resists current-generation automation. It's a comparatively AI-durable choice within its field.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Actors has moderate barrier to entry — moderately gated — a bachelor's degree or equivalent training is typically required.
Is Actors a stable career?
Actors is a lottery-shape career — the median outcome is modest but a small number of practitioners earn dramatically more. Success depends heavily on breakout events, not just competence. Plan for the median, not the mean.