Careers / Actors

Actors — Career Decision Dashboard

United States

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Median annual wage

Not published

Employment

Not published

Typical education

Not recorded

Job Zone 2

Skills identified

35

10 related careers

Career overview

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.

O*NET code
27-2011.00
Job zone
2
Experience required
None

Typical tasks

  • Prepare and perform action stunts for motion picture, television, or stage productions.
  • 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.

Choose a location

No location in the current BLS dataset matches that filter for this occupation.

Salary analysis — United States

Salary data is not available for this occupation/location in the current BLS dataset.

Most important skills

  • Speaking4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Active Listening3.9
  • Social Perceptiveness3.6
  • Critical Thinking3.1
  • Coordination3.0
  • Time Management3.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making2.9
  • Active Learning2.9
  • Monitoring2.9
  • Writing2.8
  • Learning Strategies2.6

What skills do you need?

Select the skills you already have

Skills listed are those O*NET rates at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation. Set your own level on the same 0–7 O*NET scale.

Skill coverage

0%

0 of 7 identified skills

Matched

0

Missing

7

Your selected skills cover approximately 0% of the skills identified for this occupation in O*NET. This is a coverage measure of listed skills only — it is not a qualification, hiring or interview outcome.

Skills to develop

SkillImportanceRequired levelYour levelGap
Speaking4.04.0Not selected4.0
Reading Comprehension4.04.0Not selected4.0
Active Listening3.93.8Not selected3.8
Social Perceptiveness3.63.8Not selected3.8
Critical Thinking3.13.1Not selected3.1
Coordination3.03.0Not selected3.0
Time Management3.02.9Not selected2.9

Ordered by required level gap multiplied by O*NET importance. No prediction or recommendation is implied.

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Career transition paths

Compare the skills of a career you hold today with Actors to see shared skills, target-only skills and skill overlap.

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0.

Figures are periodic published survey snapshots, not real-time market rates.