Job Descriptions for Movie Actors

Movie actors appear on the big screen and seem to lead lives of glamor off-screen with endless premiers, publicity parties and magazine covers. This royal treatment is reserved only for those at the top of their careers. For most others, acting is a job that demands skill and training. The job requires definable tasks.

Audition

To get their jobs, movie actors must audition by reading and acting a few pages of script in front of a casting director, film director and producer. He may need to go through several uncompensated auditions before he wins a role.

Research

To make her role more authentic, an actor researches how her character speaks and moves. For example, playing a 19th-century duchess involves reading books about Victorian England, studying with a voice coach for the correct upper-class accent, and consulting with a movement expert on the correct way for he character to walk.

Improvise

Rehearsals are infrequent for movie roles. The movie actor must be skilled at improvising a role. Unlike the endless rehearsing on stage, he may have as little as an hour's notice to turn in a credible performance.

Perform

Performing is the art of defining objectives, behavior and speech. By using a few lines of the script, the actor creates a character that is believable to watch. Unlike stage acting, the product of movie acting is permanently visible to both the actor and the audience.

Publicize

Actors must be able to handle critiques diplomatically, tactfully answer interview questions, and gracefully attend premieres as they are often required by studios to publicize their films.

Accept variable work

Though top movie actors receive millions of dollars for consistent performances, the average actor works in movies for only a few days or weeks out of the year. They can supplement their income by acting on stage and TV, teaching, or doing jobs unrelated to film.

References

• Job description of actors.