Actor

Career path and progression

During your acting career you may move between roles in theatre, TV, film or radio.

There are also opportunities to work in new fields like online content or voice acting for games.

Agents

As an actor you're likely to work freelance through an agent who will put you forward for auditions and castings.

Agents usually take a fee of about 10% to 25% from your earnings.

Working in other areas

You can transfer acting skills to many other fields, especially where creativity, team working, communication and presentation skills are important.

You could also train to move into directing, scriptwriting, drama therapy or teaching.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

• knowledge of the fine arts
• the ability to work well with others
• persistence and determination
• the ability to use your initiative
• a good memory
• to be flexible and open to change
• knowledge of English language
• knowledge of media production and communication
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Related subjects

Most relevant

• Drama - Actors use the core skills taught in drama – rehearsal techniques, character development, improvisation, and stage presence – in every role they take on. Understanding dramatic structure and performance conventions helps them interpret scripts and bring characters to life convincingly.
• English Literature - Actors analyse scripts in much the same way students analyse plays and novels – looking at themes, subtext, character motivation, and the writer's intentions. A deep understanding of literary texts, especially plays by writers like Shakespeare, Miller, or Priestley, is essential for interpreting roles with depth and nuance.
• English Language - Actors need excellent control of spoken language, including tone, pace, emphasis, and clarity. Understanding how language works – from accent and dialect to persuasion and rhetoric – helps them deliver lines convincingly and adapt their voice for different characters and audiences.

Also relevant

• Music - Actors often need to sing, especially in musical theatre, and many roles require a sense of rhythm and timing. Understanding musicality also helps with the pace and flow of dialogue, and being able to read music opens up a wider range of performance opportunities.
• Dance - Actors use their bodies to express emotion and tell stories, and many roles – particularly in musical theatre and physical theatre – require movement skills and choreography. Dance training builds body awareness, coordination, and stamina, all of which support strong stage performances.
• Film Studies - Actors working in film and television benefit from understanding how cinema tells stories through camera angles, editing, and mise-en-scène. Knowing how a close-up captures emotion differently from a wide shot, or how a scene will be cut together in post, helps them tailor their performance for the screen.
• Media Studies - Actors work across television, film, radio, online content, and video games – each with its own production processes and audience expectations. Media Studies helps them understand how these industries operate, how content reaches audiences, and how to adapt their approach to different formats.
• Psychology - Actors draw on an understanding of human behaviour, emotion, and motivation to create believable characters. Knowing how people think, react under pressure, and relate to each other helps them portray complex personalities and make their performances feel authentic.
• History - Actors frequently perform in period dramas or plays set in specific historical contexts, from Elizabethan England to wartime Britain. Understanding the social norms, events, and daily life of different eras helps them portray characters in a way that feels true to the time.