What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called actor understudy, background actor, community theater actor and motion picture actor.
$81,670
Median pay a year
55,000
People do this work
6
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Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
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An Actor resume, filled in
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Entertaining the public
Studying scripts
Practicing athletic skills
Constructing physical objects
Writing material for artistic or entertainment
Informing audiences
Promoting organizations
Auditioning for roles
Performing music for audiences
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Actor
Summary
Actor portraying roles in stage, television, and film productions, using speech, gestures, and body movements to entertain and inform audiences. Collaborates with other actors and works with directors to interpret scripts and perform
Experience
Actor
Where you worked
Month Year to Month Year
Collaborated with other actors as part of an ensemble
Portrayed and interpreted roles using speech, gestures, and body movements for live audiences
Worked closely with directors and playwrights to find the best interpretation for roles
Studied and rehearsed roles from scripts to learn and memorize lines and cues
Attended auditions and casting calls to audition for roles
Performed humorous and serious interpretations of emotions and actions using body movements
Promoted productions through interviews about plays or movies
Skills
Working With People
Entertaining the public, Informing audiences, Promoting organizations, Auditioning for roles, Performing music for audiences
Core Skills
Studying scripts, Constructing physical objects, Practicing athletic skills, Writing material for artistic or entertainment
Education
High School Diploma Your school, Year
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What to put on an Actor resume
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Worked with other actorsPerformed roles for audiencesFollowed director's instructionsShowed emotions with body languageLearned lines and cuesAttended auditions for roles
becomes
On your resume
Worked with fellow actors to develop character interpretations and enhance ensemble performances
Portrayed diverse characters by using body language and gestures to convey emotions.
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Mention if you were part of any specific ensemble or production.
The line
Worked with fellow actors in a community theater group to develop character interpretations and enhance ensemble performances
Mention if you were part of any specific ensemble or production.
Pick one that fits
Part of a community theater groupInvolved in a school play ensembleMember of a local acting troupe
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In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Show what audiences felt or how they reacted to your performances.
The line
Portrayed diverse characters by using body language and gestures to convey emotions.
Show what audiences felt or how they reacted to your performances.
Pick one that fits
Audiences often laughed or cried during my scenesReceived positive feedback from directors and peersEngaged the audience with my emotional range
Or add your own.
In your wordsAdd it
Adding it to the line…
Added to your resume
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
What an Actor does
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Play parts in stage, television, radio, video, or film productions, or other settings for entertainment, information, or instruction. Interpret serious or comic role by speech, gesture, and body movement to entertain or inform audience. May dance and sing.
What it pays
How much does an Actor make?
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
25th percentile
$55,640
Median
$81,670
75th percentile
$138,080
About 55,000 people do this work in the United States.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish state figures for this work, so only the national numbers are shown.
Other names
Other names for this job
actor understudy, background actor, community theater actor, motion picture actor, movie actor, scare actor, television actor, tour actor, vaudeville actor, voice actor, actress, character artist.
More names for this work
character performer, comedian, comic, costume character, double, dramatic reader, elocutionist, ensemble member, entertainer, extra, illusionist, impersonator, mime, minstrel, monologist, movie extra, movie star, movie stunt performer, narrator, performer, puppeteer, ring conductor, role player, show girl, soubrette, stand in, standardized patient, stunt double, stunt driver, stunt performer, stunt person, stunt woman, theater team member, theatrical performer, theatrical trouper, thrill performer, ventriloquist, voice over artist.
What you can already claim
What you can already claim as an Actor
Below are the tasks an Actor job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
You can already claim 4 of the 9 tasks this job is made of.
What you have not done yet. Writing material for artistic or entertainment, Informing audiences, Promoting organizations
Your resume, already started
Actor
Entertaining the public
Studying scripts
Practicing athletic skills
Constructing physical objects
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This page is about the occupation Actors. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.