About Acting and Modelling

Are you an aspiring actor? Take a step forward in the Acting & Modelling industry | Discover a scope of Courses, Specialisations, Top Institutes & so on.

Who is an Actor?

An actor is a professional who enacts, portrays, and interprets several characters to entertain the audience. Actors can perform in theatres, movies, daily soaps, other art venues such as photography, painting, etc. where visual art and performance are involved. They work in several different settings that include production theatres or also at a specific filming location. 

We see actors almost every day, portraying several characters in different mediums such as web series, online video portals, besides movies and TV. Professional actors often start with theatres and then graduate to movies and TV series based on their skillset and network. Meanwhile, some actors start their careers from commercials or as extras of films or television serials. 

The other work for being an actor is a hustler, a struggle, and it needs patience to make a career out of acting. While some actors make a successful career after waiting for years for that good role, others achieve unprecedented success very early in their career and acquire great fame. Actors need to sell their skills, acting, and performances, and as is the case with sales careers, anything is possible.

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Career Prospects

What are the Career Prospects of an Actor?

Actors in the job market face intense competition. Many may have to start their careers by working in guest or side roles. Furthermore, technical advancements and boom in social media platforms have introduced several job profiles and opportunities for actors. Earlier, job opportunities for actors were only limited to movies and televisions. 

A few popular career domains for actors are listed below: 

Bollywood Industry

Bollywood Industry is the second largest globally and has severed employment opportunities for people who want to establish their careers as actors. Although patience, hard work, aspiration, and positivity are of utmost importance here to get a peak in a career, the ultimate success can be overwhelming.

Television Industry

We all know how Indians are obsessed with the daily soaps, covering a huge part of our daily lives. The Indian TV industry is enormous, with daily new opportunities for those who want to start a career in acting from scratch. 

Motion Pictures

Motion Pictures, or movies, comprise a great part of the Indian Film and TV Industry, therefore bringing a plethora of various career options to aspiring actors. 

Stage Shows

Stage shows are conducted for different occasions, such as musical or local events. Actors or stage performers are often required in such shows to entertain and engage the audience.

Theatre and Play Companies

The theatre is a glorious part of Indian culture and theatre actors are acclaimed across the world for their brilliant and sensitive performances. One can get immense reputation and respect by being a theatre actor with a decent income.

Advertisements

The Indian Advertisements Industry is growing at a fast pace, bringing a myriad of career opportunities to the aspiring actors out there. Although it needs struggle and patience, one can have a successful and stable career in the long run.

Similar Careers

Jobs & Salary

TV Actor

TV Actors perform in a variety of daily soaps and sitcoms. Although they perform in smaller productions, the salary package offered to them is excellent, and they obtain a lot of recognition. 

Film Actor

Only a few actors make it up to such an outstanding acting level and get a chance in movies. Moreover, only a few actors achieve recognition in films and become a star. There are lead actors and supporting actors in the film, and both work on the big screen. The film industry is enormous and is further classified into art and commercial films. Hence, as far as film actors are considered, they get a lot of scopes to find a suitable role for themselves. 

Stage Actor

Stage actors act in theatres, plays, and perform in several stage shows held in the community. 

Narration/Voiceover Actor

Actors also do voiceover and narration work in several audiobooks, animated features, and several other electronic media. 

Drama/Acting Teacher

Acting and Drama teachers work to train all aspiring actors and enhance their skills and refine acting skill levels. Drama teachers teach students several acting techniques, theories, and the theory of dramatic arts. 

Secondary Artist

A few students who start their careers as actors often work on several extra roles to gain experience in the industry. Such actors do not have any lines to speak or memorise, they are just present in the scene to make it look more realistic. 

Talking about salary, similar to several other artistic professions, acting is a job where actors get work unpredictably. Their skills and the demand for their presence by the fans determine the volume of work they will receive. As a result, their salary is also based on it. 

Top actors get considerable payment even for a single appearance, whereas an extra in the film gets paid by the hour. The money earned depends entirely on their ability to find regular work. The average base salary of an actor in India per year is INR 1,35,000.

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Actors have several opportunities in their careers. They get to work on several different projects throughout their life, unlike other jobs, where an actor has to stick to one job profile all their life.
  • As an actor, you are recognised by numerous people worldwide; moreover, you will get a chance to work with new people and teams whenever you get a new project. Other available jobs do not offer this kind of job profile.
  • Actors also get a chance to get indulged in numerous social causes and help the needy. They also get an opportunity to address several global and environmental reasons.
Cons
  • Actors often suffer extreme criticism that they get from film critics. Moreover, the media also ruins their career.
  • Actors are public figures, and many people look up to them or take them as their inspiration. An actor's life is like an open book, and they have no space left in their personal life.
  • Media attacks are constant in actors' lives. This scrapes the freedom away from actors regarding what they want to share and whatnot. The media leave not a single moment they spend to cover. It keeps swarming them with cameras, asking plenty of questions.

Famous Personalities

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the leading Hollywood actors, reckoned for playing unconventional roles and characters in movies and dramas. Won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2016 and has a net worth of $260 million.

Shah Rukh Khan

Known as the “King of Bollywood”, he’s one of the powerful and wealthiest actors of Bollywood with a net worth of $600 million. With a bunch of Filmfare and other acclaiming awards in hand, including Padma Shri, he’s as popular in India as abroad.

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