What is acting? What does it mean to be an actor? As Sanford Meisner stated, “acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Luckily for actors, theatre is something that can be enjoyed by just about everyone, just about everywhere. According to the Occupation Outlook Handbook between 2014 and 2024 the projected percent change in employment of actors is 10%. Which is faster than the average for all other professions which sits at 7%. Numerically this means that approximately 6600 more jobs will be available for actors. Currently the number of available jobs sits around 69,000.
Acting is one of those odd professions where a formal education isn’t required. In fact, the majority of famous actors don’t have a college degree. Despite …show more content…
In a desk job, important skills might include organization, being able to prioritize work, and having good technical skills. Working in the theatre requires a completely different skill set. First and foremost an actor must be creative. Creativity is what helps actors bring to life their characters and to portray the array of emotions. Secondly, an actor must be able to read and interpret scripts. Scripts provide important information about character development, whether it be from stage directions or how others describe the character. Being able to read between the lines is key for understanding the character and creating a believable portrayal. Additionally, being an actor requires strong speaking skills. This seems as a given. Actors must be able to project their voice so that even the person in the back of the balcony can clearly hear all of the action. A key word there is “clearly”; actors must have impeccable diction and must enunciate each word properly so that the audience doesn’t hear a string of nonsensical syllables. Finally, an actor must have physical stamina. However, the stamina being referred to is slightly different from that of football players and other athletes. Actors must be able to “endure the heat from the stage lights and the weight of heavy costume and makeup” (Summary). Not only must they endure it, they have to make it look effortless, something hard to pull off, especially during big dance numbers and fight
Acting is one of those odd professions where a formal education isn’t required. In fact, the majority of famous actors don’t have a college degree. Despite …show more content…
In a desk job, important skills might include organization, being able to prioritize work, and having good technical skills. Working in the theatre requires a completely different skill set. First and foremost an actor must be creative. Creativity is what helps actors bring to life their characters and to portray the array of emotions. Secondly, an actor must be able to read and interpret scripts. Scripts provide important information about character development, whether it be from stage directions or how others describe the character. Being able to read between the lines is key for understanding the character and creating a believable portrayal. Additionally, being an actor requires strong speaking skills. This seems as a given. Actors must be able to project their voice so that even the person in the back of the balcony can clearly hear all of the action. A key word there is “clearly”; actors must have impeccable diction and must enunciate each word properly so that the audience doesn’t hear a string of nonsensical syllables. Finally, an actor must have physical stamina. However, the stamina being referred to is slightly different from that of football players and other athletes. Actors must be able to “endure the heat from the stage lights and the weight of heavy costume and makeup” (Summary). Not only must they endure it, they have to make it look effortless, something hard to pull off, especially during big dance numbers and fight