Launching a Successful Career in the Performing Arts: Acting

Although this section focuses on starting a career in acting, much of the information provided is applicable to starting a career in any performing art, including dance, music, and comedy.

A Hard Look at Reality

From community theaters to Broadway, and from public access cable channels to major motion pictures, more than 350,000 adults act every year in the United States, according to the American Theater Association. The vast majority are amateurs - performers for whom acting is a lifetime hobby or avocation. After all, the word "amateur" is from the Latin for "to act out of love," and many find great satisfaction in acting while doing something else to pay the rent.

The cliche of a struggling actor awaiting his or her "big break" is painfully true. According to Screen Actors Guild (SAG) statistics, in 1996 more than 85 percent of SAG's 90,000 members earned less than $5,000. The headlines are brimming with the talk of seven-digit movie deals, creating a false impression that all actors are highly paid. The reality is far less glamorous.

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics describes: Acting demands patience and total commitment, because there are often long periods of unemployment between jobs. While under contract, actors are frequently required to work long hours and travel. For stage actors, flawless performances require tedious memorizing of lines and repetitive rehearsals, and in television, actors must deliver a good performance with very little preparation. Actors need stamina to withstand hours under hot lights, heavy costumes and make-up, physically demanding tasks, long, irregular schedules, and the adverse weather and living conditions that may exist on location shoots. And actors, like many people who make their living in the arts, are episodic earners, facing the constant anxiety of intermittent employment and regular rejections when auditioning for work.

In spite of these challenges, the "passion to play," as Shakespeare called it, still motivates many to make acting a professional career. So, for spirited performers who will not be discouraged from traveling this path, this section provides some basic information that may prove helpful in launching an acting career.

What you need, and how to get there:

Advice on getting started
Talent Agents
Managers
Headshots
Resumes
Demo videotapes and audiotapes
Postcards
Your appointment book
A word on bookkeeping
Finding work
Tips for successful auditions
Trade papers and talent directories
Unions
Your rights as a performer with a disability
Tips for a successful career
Resources specifically for actors with disabilities
Books on the business of acting