The acting business might even be successful. Actors are paid to show up on set and give their all for every acting gig. Additionally, large cities like London and New York City provide acting jobs to people all around the world.
An excellent career that lets you meet new people and gain new abilities is acting. Simply said, actors can work in theatres, movies, television, and other public engagements (travelling and theatre groups). The Indian film and television industries are flourishing, and the future is promising for aspiring actors.
Being an Actor is more than just what the media shows us. To understand acting, it is really important to dwell deep into the life histories of such great actors! In this blog, we have tried to incorporate such stories while also giving you a glance into what exactly a career as an actor will involve.
After bagging a role, what are the duties of an actor, you ask? Shouldn’t it be to act? Of course! But that process has a lot going on in the background. Acting is about living the character truly and genuinely to experience their pain, excitement, joy, anger, and whatever else they are feeling. And it is an actor’s job to portray this convincingly to the audience.
This involves various stages which differ from actor to actor and the director’s perspective on the story. However, let’s see a general overview of what the process looks like for an actor. Note that these need not happen in a sequential manner:
As an Actor, the highest level that you can take your research process is to go and experience the character in real life. Ranveer Singh had to go around college campuses in Delhi to research his character for Band Baja and Barat. Ranveer used to introduce himself as “Bittu Sharma”, went to classes, bunked them to watch movies, and actually spent time with them.
For Biopics or films inspired by real life, actors usually talk to these heroes and try to observe them. Sushant Singh Rajput spent around a year trying to pick up the mannerisms of MS Dhoni by simply observing him. He prepared a set of 250 hypothetical MCQ questions in order to understand his instinctual response to those questions, providing him with a gateway to how Dhoni thinks.
However, talking to the characters is not always possible. Thus, you can turn to traits that are unfamiliar to you but affect your character. Joaquin Phoenix who played ‘Joker’ was told that the character was on several medications. These medications have a common side effect of causing extreme changes in weight. This is what led the character to be extremely thin and the actor was put on a strict diet.
Actors research the accent and often get trained by dialect coaches to get it right. Sometimes, a particular skill is required to make the character seem real. Hritik Roshan had to learn horse riding for his role as “Akbar” in “Jodha Akbar”.
Have you seen how Shah Rukh Khan just emotes with his eyes? That’s what you want to achieve.
Okay, so calling off this big misconception, an actor/actress is not only the one we see on the big screen. There are various opportunities for you to act, other than Bollywood. Some of the categories you can try out include:
Now depending on the medium of acting you choose, the following are the type of roles you can get a cast for:
There is no clear and single career path that you can choose to be an actor. However, there are certain things that you can do which will help you become one:
Step 1: Get Formal Training:
B.A. in Acting is the most common undergraduate degree that can be pursued to become an actor. It is a three-year, full-time undergraduate program. Essentially, this is a course in acting, dance, and drama. The purpose of this curriculum is to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to perform as actors at a high level in accordance with industry standards. It covers a variety of academic topics, including yoga, acting, cultural heritage, computer applications, acting specialization, etc. Anyone with 10+2 is eligible to take admission in this course.
Step 2: Prepare your headshots and acting resume:
After getting formally trained, it’s time to present yourself in different ways, depending on the role. Preparing Headshots and resumes are instrumental in making your first impression. So, create them efficiently.
Step 3: Get some experience:
Local theatres are a great place to begin as a fresher. Such experiences will teach you a lot about how to face an audience, the kind of synergy that is created between co-stars, the backstage chaos, improvising on the spot (since retakes are not a possibility during live performances), etc.
Additionally, you will get to know what other people (who are not acting but are very substantial for the play) do. Understanding the basics of say, lighting, costume designing, script writing, direction, etc. are some complementary benefits.
Step 4: Go to Auditions:
Once you have some amount of acting experience you can go around for auditions. Just be mindful that this process is tiring and will require a lot of hard work and patience. Information about Auditions usually comes through word of mouth and therefore it is important to connect with relevant people in your first few acting jobs.
Step 5: Hire an Agent:
As you move from your acting gigs to an actual job and have the resources to invest, you can hire an agent. These agents will help you in connecting with big production houses and better projects.
The most volatile industry in terms of pay is the acting industry. This is because a lot of the payment depends on the kind of role you get cast for, which production house it is, whether is it a new show or an ongoing show, how much budget the film has, and how much time you have spent in the industry.
On average, a fresh actor can make up to 3,60,000/ year. With a few years of experience, you can expect to get 5,00,000/ year. And once you have your place made in the industry, you know there is no cap.
TV Actors like Kapil Sharma earn around 1 cr per week. Hina Khan and other such actresses charge around 2 lakhs per episode. On the other hand, film actors like Akshay Kumar charge a whopping 135 crores per film. Thus, it depends a lot.
The ability to hear instructions, comprehend them, and follow them is crucial for actors. Giving people around you undivided attention when they are speaking to you is the first step in achieving this. Being prepared when another actor delivers your cue line or responding fast and successfully to a director’s directions might be helpful to you in your acting career.
Additionally, an essential step in the process is taking a direction that requires a lot of listening skills. It’s inevitable that a director will offer you a note to adjust your performance once you’ve developed your character and made your own decisions to land the job. Keep in mind that they are the ones in control of the ship and being flexible to their vision is the key.
Communication is a key ability for actors, whether it’s on the set or during an audition. A large portion of an actor’s employment also requires communicating through email or phone with a number of persons, including an agent, manager, director, and producer regarding details like scheduling, costume, and rehearsals. Just the off-camera hustling goes like that.
Acting itself is communication at the end of the day. For both the audience and a possible scene partner, you must be a great communicator in order to artistically portray the tale you are acting out. Communication requires both talking and listening. A pro tip is to engage in activities outside of acting like giving speeches or running a podcast, taking a class on effective communication, etc. that will help in improving your communication skills
It is up to you as an actor to bring the screenplay to life, whether the character you are playing is in one scene or controls the entire production. As a result, memorizing lines is among the most crucial abilities an actor requires. Memorizing your lines beforehand keeps production on time, enables the creative team to make modifications if there are problems with the script, and guarantees that other cast members can give their finest performances in your scenes with them. Additionally, actors who have better memories and are better able to memorize lines and recall stage blocking have more time to focus on delivering a strong performance.
As we saw in the previous section, examining the script is one of the crucial aspects of being an actor. Breaking down the script is the actor’s first step to understanding the character- be it the audition, or performance on a set or a stage. Obviously, this comes with practice and therefore it is important that an actor asks the five basic storytelling questions- who, what, why, when, and where.
Rajkumar Rao in an interview with “Mashable India” said that once he got serious about acting, he gave up his attitude of being the troublemaker because if something happened to his body or face during the fight, he would not get work. That’s how important the body is. And even more important is how you control that body on-stage/ on-camera.
Mastering the art of manipulating the vocal range and physicality works wonders for adopting different characters. For example, we all know how Bhoomi Pednekar gained so much weight for her role in “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”. And it’s not just about weight gain or loss. Having control over your body will also help in dance choreography or action sequences.
Voice Control is also significant for an actor- be it a stage play or on screen. In terms of play, it is important for you to modulate your voice in such a way that even the audience in the last seats is able to feel the emotions. For on-screen actors, dubbing involves a lot of voice modulation. For example, do you remember Priyanka Chopra’s voice as Kaa in The Jungle Book?
Being physically, mentally, and emotionally resilient is crucial to the work. It’s critical to have the perseverance to see things through to another day because of the demanding work schedules on set, the intense emotional effort required to bring a character to life, and the many blows of rejection.
Actors would also require resilience in order to live the character throughout the 4-5 months of shooting. Sometimes actors go into such painful parts of the character that it becomes difficult to have them come back to real life. For instance, when Sirius Black dies in “Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix”, Daniel Radcliff (the actor who plays Harry Potter) screams so loudly that his scream had to be muted in the film. Other Actors like Emma Watson also cried on set.
Obviously, such depth into the characters gives amazing performances but as an actor, you require the resilience to come back to reality and carry on with other characters your way.
Other than these, some of the other good-to-have skills include:
The acting business might even be successful. Actors are paid to show up on set and give their all for every acting gig. Additionally, large cities like Mumbai and Banglore provide really good acting jobs.
Additionally, it is an excellent career that lets you meet new people and gain new abilities. Simply said, actors can work in theatres, movies, television, and other public engagements (travelling and theatre groups). The Indian film and television industries are flourishing, and the future is promising for aspiring actors.
And talking about movies in general, we all need that entertainment. So it is very unlikely that there is going to be a recession in this industry.
The most obvious answer to the industry that hires actors is the acting industry- be it regional, national or international. However, there are a few other areas where an Actor can find jobs. This includes:
Some of the top production houses in the country are:
Enrolling in a few online courses by Alison, Udemy or any other vocational course providers will allow you to see if Acting is the correct choice for you or will also help you up-skill. With the help of such courses, you may more rapidly determine your preferences. Additionally, there are no prerequisites for these courses, so you can enrol in them after your tenth grade as well:
| Course | Duration |
| Acting Industry Basics | 1 Hour |
| Acting 101 for adults | 7 Hours |
| The Complete acting course | 5 Hours |
| How does the acting industry work | 1.5-3 Hours |
| How to book acting jobs | 3 hours |
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There is no mandatory subject or degree that is required to become an Actor. However, when you are in school or college try joining competitions that provide you with an opportunity to be on stage- maybe like an open mic or a drama team. Such experiences in the initial stage are helpful in analyzing whether you like the space or not.
Though there is no compulsion to a degree, it but great actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Manoj Bajpayee, Amitabh Bacchan, etc. of them have gone to Acting schools. Thus getting formally trained is a good way to start your acting career.
You can opt for a conventional college degree or a degree from an acting school. The name of the degree might be the same. However, the environment of education parted will differ. Names of the courses that you can check out include:
| Undergraduate Course | Duration |
| B.A. in Acting | 3 Years |
| BMM (Bachelors of Mass Media) | 3 Years |
| Bachelors of Fine Arts | 3 Years |
| B.A. in Mass Communication | 3 Years |
Some of the Master’s courses that you can try out include
| Post-graduate Course | Duration |
| M.A. of Performing Arts (MPA) | 2 Years |
| M.A. in Theatre Arts | 2 Years |
| Master in Fine Arts | 2 Years |
Similar to the case in India, the degrees abroad are also the same. Some of the courses include :
These courses take 2-4 years to complete. Their duration and name might differ depending on which country you apply to.
Masters courses would also include M.A. Acting (International), MFA Acting, M.A. in Screen Acting, and the like. These courses are also 1-2 years long.
Entry into these courses will require you to give language proficiency test scores of IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, SATs, etc along with an SOP (Statement of Purpose) and LORs (Letter of Recommendation). Want some help with SATs? We have got you covered. Read this blog to know more!
You can literally watch any movie that is made and get some acting tips. However, do not just passively watch it, try to analyze it from an Actor’s perspective. Some of the top movies include:
Some of the Bollywood actors who prove to be great acting schools in themselves include:
Acting is a serious job. Everyone who aspires to be an Actor is deeply passionate about their art. Though it is misunderstood to be a glamorous profession, it does require a lot of patience and hard work. I hope the information provided will help you to make a choice about your career.
Despite the wide range of jobs, the average career lasted 28.4 years. Actors’ film careers lasted between 20 and 40 years in 46.5% of cases.
In a variety of media, including television, movies, theatre, and internet platforms, people can pursue acting careers. Candidates can choose the media based on their area of interest. Students interested in acting can receive instruction at a number of institutes and institutions in India.
A communication Degree or a degree in drama, film, musical theatre or costume design are the most common ones.
A career as an actor can be extremely difficult, and actors frequently experience rejection. But that does not imply that it cannot be done. It is undoubtedly feasible to become a professional actor if an actor works diligently, is committed to learning, and is persistent enough.
They employ objects to serve as reminders of what they must say in a given situation. A specific prop tied to the scene will serve as a reminder for an actor if they forget their line. They connect words with actions and gestures in a similar way.
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