Arts, design, media and sports
Actor
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.
Median pay
$60,424
hourly × 2,080
Growth to 2035
0%
little or no change
Openings a year
6,300
Time to qualify*
12 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Actor: BLS publishes hourly pay only for this job.
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Some college, no degree
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Actor: 37% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
Also called: Actress · Comedian · Community Theater Actor · Entertainer · Film Actor · Motion Capture Actor · Role Player · Tour Actor
Outlook and AI
Actors held 67,500 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 67,500 by 2035 (0%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
Demand change, capital/labor substitution - share decreases as fewer domestic television, movies, and live theater are produced and as artificial intelligence (AI) reduces the number of commercial advertising opportunities otherwise available to actors.