People say they want to be actors.
Usually they mean:
I want to act.
Fair enough.
Acting is important.
You should probably be good at it.
But one of the biggest surprises waiting for aspiring actors is that being an actor and acting are not exactly the same job.
A working actor may spend relatively little of a given week actually standing on a stage or in front of a professional camera.
The rest can involve auditions, self-tapes, submissions, headshots, websites, reels, social media, research, emails, travel, contracts, scheduling, networking, invoices, technical equipment, wardrobe, makeup, editing, voice work, and finding the next opportunity.
Sometimes it means Shakespeare.
Sometimes it means a commercial.
Sometimes it means recording an audiobook from a closet full of acoustic treatment.
Sometimes it means flying to Las Vegas around Halloween, putting on Frankenstein makeup, and working a corporate event.
That last one happened to Hickory Arts Artistic Director Jeff Hartman in 2025.
It was acting.
It was also business.
And that distinction matters.
How Much of Acting Is Actually Acting?
There is no reliable industry-wide statistic that says a working actor spends exactly 20%, 30%, or 40% of their time acting.
Careers are too different for that.
A Broadway performer under contract may spend much of the week performing.
A film actor between bookings may spend weeks auditioning.
A voice actor may record from home.
A theme park performer may work five shows a day.
A commercial actor may work one day and then spend weeks looking for the next booking.
But the larger point is well supported.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says actors can spend considerable time attending auditions and casting calls, and 23% of actors were self-employed in 2025.
Film and television actors interviewed by the Los Angeles Times described spending far more time auditioning than actually working on set.
Hollywood talent manager Wendy Alane Wright has offered an even more useful way of thinking about it: representation may account for only a fraction of the work involved in building a career, leaving the actor responsible for the overwhelming majority of everything else.
Her rule of thumb is roughly 80–90% of the career responsibility still belongs to the actor.
That is not a scientific time study.
It is, however, a pretty good mindset.
Because nobody should care more about your career than you do.
You Are an Actor
Let's start with the obvious one.
You still have to act.
That means understanding story.
Character.
Objectives.
Relationships.
Circumstances.
Behavior.
Listening.
Reacting.
Movement.
Timing.
Improvisation.
Text.
Camera technique.
Stage technique.
Audition technique.
You have to learn lines.
Make choices.
Take direction.
Adjust.
Repeat something when continuity requires it.
Change something when the director asks.
Stay emotionally available while somebody moves a light for twenty minutes.
Do another take.
And another.
And then make take eleven feel like it just happened for the first time.
The craft matters.
None of the business skills below can rescue an actor who cannot act.
But acting is the product.
A professional career requires figuring out how to get that product into the marketplace.
You Are Also a Small Business
For many actors, the easiest way to understand the career is this:
You are the company.
Your name is the brand.
Your face is part of the marketing material.
Your skills are the product.
Your reputation is part of the product too.
You have expenses.
Income.
Taxes.
Contracts.
Travel.
Equipment.
Training.
Marketing.
Professional relationships.
Deadlines.
Records.
And customers, even if the industry usually calls them casting directors, producers, theatres, production companies, agencies, corporations, studios, or clients.
Thinking like a business does not make the art less artistic.
It helps make the art sustainable.
You Are Often Your Own Casting Department
Even actors with representation cannot simply sit beside the phone waiting for someone to announce that Hollywood has finally discovered them.
Actors research opportunities.
Monitor casting platforms.
Read breakdowns.
Maintain profiles.
Submit.
Track deadlines.
Research projects.
Learn who is casting what.
Know which companies are producing.
Understand whether they are actually right for the role.
And decide whether the opportunity makes sense.
An agent can be extremely valuable.
A manager can be extremely valuable.
Neither one replaces the actor's responsibility for understanding their own career.
And before an actor has representation, much more of that opportunity-seeking work may fall directly on the actor.
You Are Your Own Audition Studio
The self-tape changed the job.
An actor used to walk into a room where somebody else largely controlled the environment.
Now the audition room may be your spare bedroom.
That means the actor may suddenly need to understand:
Lighting.
Camera placement.
Framing.
Eyelines.
Backgrounds.
Sound.
Microphones.
Readers.
Tripods.
File formats.
Uploading.
Editing.
Compression.
Slates.
Full-body shots.
Landscape versus portrait orientation.
Naming files correctly.
Following technical instructions.
And getting all of that out of the way so the technology does not distract from the acting.
SAG-AFTRA describes self-taping as a skill working actors should know. Their own guidance points out that performers may have to set up the space, record the audition, manage lighting and sound, and sometimes edit the result.
So yes.
Sometimes being an actor also means becoming your own camera department, lighting department, sound department, and editor for an afternoon.
You Are Your Own Marketing Department
You need a headshot.
Usually more than one eventually.
You need a résumé.
You may need a reel.
You need casting profiles.
You may need clips.
You may need a website.
You may need social media.
You may need a bio.
You may need production photos.
You may need different materials for stage, television, film, commercials, voiceover, musical theatre, or hosting.
And all of it needs to remain current.
The headshot from six years ago that barely resembles you is not doing you a favor.
Neither is the résumé with three missing credits.
Neither is a website whose last update says "Coming Soon in 2022."
Your professional materials should answer a simple question:
If someone hears your name today, can they quickly understand who you are, what you do, what you've done, and how to hire you?
That is public relations.
Congratulations.
You're the publicist too.
You Are a Relationship Manager
The arts are full of people.
Casting directors.
Directors.
Producers.
Actors.
Designers.
Crew.
Teachers.
Agents.
Managers.
Photographers.
Writers.
Musicians.
Choreographers.
Editors.
Engineers.
Clients.
People you worked with ten years ago who suddenly remember you when something appropriate comes across their desk.
Networking does not have to mean walking around a cocktail party trying to sell yourself to strangers.
Often it means much simpler things.
Be good to work with.
Show up prepared.
Communicate.
Answer emails.
Meet deadlines.
Treat people well.
Remember names.
Support other people's work.
Stay connected.
Be useful.
Do good work.
Then do it again.
A professional reputation is built long before somebody needs it.
You May Be a Voice Actor
Acting does not require your face to appear on camera.
Actors work in:
Animation.
Commercials.
Documentaries.
Audiobooks.
Video games.
Promotional announcements.
Trailers.
Corporate and educational media.
Dubbing.
Localization.
And other forms of recorded performance.
SAG-AFTRA's own voiceover resources cover all of those areas, including dubbing and a specific Netflix dubbing wage table.
That means the actor who says, "I don't really want to do voice work," may be voluntarily ignoring an enormous part of the profession.
Voiceover also introduces another technical education.
Microphones.
Acoustics.
Recording levels.
Interfaces.
Editing.
File delivery.
Remote sessions.
Suddenly, the actor is standing in front of a microphone, learning an entirely different version of the same profession.
You May Work Somewhere Nobody Calls a Theatre
Acting jobs happen in theatres.
They also happen on film sets.
Television sets.
Theme parks.
Cruise ships.
Trade shows.
Corporate meetings.
Training simulations.
Museums.
Immersive events.
Historical attractions.
Commercial shoots.
Convention centers.
Educational programs.
Holiday events.
Product launches.
Live character appearances.
Industrial films.
Role-playing scenarios.
And sometimes a hotel ballroom in Las Vegas where somebody needs Frankenstein.
That last job still counts.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics specifically lists theme parks among the places actors work.
Cruise lines hire performers for long contracts.
Corporations hire actors for training content, presentations, events, simulations, and live experiences.
The audience may be 2,000 people.
It may be twelve executives.
The job is still to understand what the event needs and deliver it professionally.
You May Become Your Own Makeup and Wardrobe Department
Not every actor walks onto a professional set and immediately sits in a makeup chair.
For auditions, self-tapes, smaller projects, live events, character work, content creation, and certain corporate jobs, actors may need to understand how they present themselves.
Hair.
Basic makeup.
Wardrobe.
Continuity.
Character-specific choices.
What photographs well.
What distracts.
What casting requested.
What absolutely was not requested.
Nobody needs every actor to become a professional makeup artist or costume designer.
But knowing how to arrive appropriately prepared is part of knowing how to work.
Sometimes the assignment is:
"Business casual."
Sometimes it's:
"Bring three wardrobe options."
And sometimes it's:
"You're Frankenstein."
Versatility helps.
You Are Your Own Travel Department
The job may not be where you live.
Actors travel.
That can mean:
Flights.
Hotels.
Rental cars.
Parking.
Call times.
Time zones.
Per diem.
Receipts.
Wardrobe.
Luggage.
Weather.
Transportation to set.
Figuring out whether the gig actually pays enough to make the trip worthwhile.
A three-day job can involve considerably more than three days of logistics.
If you're working regionally, touring, performing on a cruise ship, working an event, or accepting an out-of-town production, travel becomes another professional skill.
Miss the flight, and nobody cares how good the monologue was.
You Are Your Own Bookkeeper
Money arrives irregularly.
That alone changes things.
Actors may need to track:
Income.
Expenses.
Commissions.
Mileage.
Travel.
Equipment.
Training.
Memberships.
Casting subscriptions.
Website expenses.
Marketing.
Invoices.
Contracts.
Receipts.
Taxes.
Whether a particular expense is deductible is a question for a qualified tax professional.
But knowing that you need records in the first place?
That's your job.
You Are a Continuing-Education Department
Actors train.
Then they train again.
Technique.
Movement.
Improv.
Stage combat.
Dance.
Dialects.
Camera.
Auditioning.
Voiceover.
Public speaking.
Cold reading.
Self-taping.
Special skills.
A working actor may discover that the next opportunity requires something they did not know they needed six months ago.
That is not failure.
That is the career.
The profession keeps changing.
So should you.
You May Work Behind the Camera Too
Actors benefit enormously from understanding what everybody else is doing.
Lighting.
Sound.
Camera.
Editing.
Writing.
Directing.
Producing.
Costumes.
Makeup.
Props.
Set work.
Stage management.
The more you understand how a production functions, the easier it becomes to understand what the people around you need.
Some actors eventually work professionally in those areas too.
Others simply become better actors because they understand the machinery surrounding the performance.
Knowing why the sound department needs silence does not make you less artistic.
It makes you easier to hire again.
You May Create the Job Yourself
Sometimes nobody casts you.
So you make something.
Write a short film.
Produce a reading.
Start a podcast.
Record a scene.
Create a web series.
Mount a play.
Write a sketch.
Produce a reel scene.
Collaborate with another actor.
Develop a character.
Make the thing you wish somebody else had hired you to make.
Actors have more tools than ever for creating their own work.
That does not mean everybody needs to become a content machine.
It means the old model of waiting for permission is no longer the only option.
And Yes, You Still Have to Be a Good Actor
After all of this talk about business, technology, marketing, networking, travel, recording, editing, and self-promotion, there is a danger of forgetting the obvious.
When somebody finally gives you the job:
You have to deliver.
You have to know what you're doing.
You have to understand the script.
You have to listen.
You have to make choices.
You have to take direction.
You have to communicate.
You have to be prepared.
You have to know the lines.
You have to behave professionally.
And you have to be somebody people want to work with again.
That's why acting training matters.
But training an actor should mean more than helping someone perform one monologue well.
The bigger goal is helping someone understand how to function as an actor.
What Should Acting Lessons Actually Teach?
At Hickory Arts, acting lessons can include technique, scene study, character development, acting for the camera, audition preparation, improv, movement, voice integration, public speaking, and performance coaching.
But we're also interested in the rest of the job.
How do you find opportunities?
How do you choose a monologue?
What does an agent do?
What does a manager do?
How do you slate?
What should a self-tape look and sound like?
What belongs on a résumé?
What makes a useful reel?
Do you need a website?
What kind of headshot do you need?
What do you wear?
How do you submit?
How do you communicate professionally?
What happens after you book?
What other kinds of acting work exist?
How do you become someone who is increasingly capable of solving those problems without a teacher sitting beside you?
Because the goal isn't merely to create someone who can act.
The goal is to create someone who understands how to be an actor.
So, What Is an Actor?
An actor is a performer.
But a working actor may also be:
A business owner.
A marketer.
A researcher.
A salesperson.
A scheduler.
A networker.
A self-tape producer.
A camera operator.
A lighting technician.
A sound engineer.
An editor.
A voice artist.
A traveler.
A bookkeeper.
A publicist.
A content creator.
A makeup artist.
A wardrobe coordinator.
A collaborator.
A student.
And occasionally Frankenstein.
All of those jobs orbit the same center.
Tell the story.
Then figure out how to find the next one.
Hickory Arts offers personalized Acting Lessons in Hickory, NC for beginners through advanced performers, including acting technique, audition preparation, scene study, character development, on-camera performance, movement, improv, and real-world professional preparation.
Ready to get to work?
@national.training Frank tried his luck with the slots while we were in Vegas at the NTC National Training Conference last week. After turning $40 into $.26, Frank said “gambling bad!” #ntc #firebad #instructorfrank #nicetstudy ♬ Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
