Who's an Actor?
Love watching movies and shows? What about the people who play different roles in them? Do you ever wish you could be one of them? If yes, then consider acting as a career! As an actor, you would play a part in a film, television/web series, theatre/street play, advertisements or any other medium.
You could play a specific type of role (think action star or king/queen of romance) or a variety of different roles, depending on the projects you choose to work on. Usually, a director, producer or a talent agent would reach out to you for a role. While the role may be written for you, it is up to you to bring it to life and make the audience fall in love with the character.
What will you do?
Where will you work?
How do you get there?
What skills would you need?
Communication Skills
It’s harder than ever to get people’s attention, what with so much information being thrown at them. But, people cannot resist a good story. Every good marketing campaign has a story to tell their customers and relate to them on an emotional level. Marketers who tell great stories through their marketing campaigns are always in great demand.
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Attention to Detail
Working with eggs and embryos is a very tedious task. Every little detail matters when you are observing them. If you are good at giving attention to detail, then your job at the laboratory will be made much easier.
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Creative Skills
As a marketer, you need to get people hooked on your brand. This requires you to come up with fun, entertaining, and exceptional ways to engage your audience. There is a lot of competition in the market, and the only way to be on top is by constantly doing something new and innovative.
build this skillAdaptability
As a marketer, you will deal with different types of customers. You could be working with a manufacturing company that sells paper to businesses, or a company that sells chips to the masses. Your skill will be measured by how you deal with different consumers.
Social Skills
You will be working on a lot of cool projects and will be meeting a lot of potential clients and customers on the job. And so, a big part of your job will involve interacting with these people. You could be great at coming up with ideas, but that is only one part of your job. You will need to talk and meet people, build a rapport with them, to establish your credibility. Especially if you’re a freelancer, you will need to have certain social skills.
build this skillHow do you make it to the top ranks?
Amateur Performances
Descriptor: You can begin acting at the school and college level by taking part in plays and dramas. If your college has a dramatics club, become a member! It doesn’t matter what kind of roles you get at this stage, just grab the opportunities you get and work on improving your skills.
Uncredited Performances
While looking for jobs and trying to get noticed, you may end up working in advertisement videos, music videos or as extras in movies and shows. For instance, Nawazuddin Siddiqui worked as an extra on several films right from Sarfarosh (1999) to Aaja Nachle (2007) before gradually getting noticed.
Professional Acting Performances
After impressing in minor roles and in auditions, you may get offers for bigger roles for television, movies or theatre. These roles can gradually grow into lead-actor roles and also bring in offers from international productions.
Stardom
Some of these professional actors go on to become highly successful and achieve stardom. They become famous and are recognised and appreciated wherever they go.
Thinking of a career as an Actor? Take the Mentoria assessment test & talk to our career counsellors to get personalized step-by-step guidance for your future career path.
Pursuing your career locally VS abroad
If you want to establish your career in the Indian film industry, look at developing your skills and network right here. Even without a professional degree, you can start an acting career at the local level by acting in regional films or working as an extra. For professional training, you can apply to top institutes like National School of Drama (Delhi) or Film and Television Institute of India (Pune), they offer diploma courses in theatre and film acting. These courses can cost you anywhere between INR 8,500 to INR 2,25,000. The fees depend on whether you pursue the course from a government-aided institute like NSD or a private one like Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares. Acting courses last anywhere between six months and three years.
If you wish to become an international artist, you can look at pursuing acting abroad. There are good acting schools in various parts of the world, like the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, New York or the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama at the University of London. Studying in these schools doesn’t necessarily guarantee a career overseas but can definitely give you a better understanding of the art in that country, and help you form a great network.
An acting job overseas is not just dependent on your acting degree. Several factors play a role in your career, right from the network you build to the kind of roles available for you. You need to be prepared to work very hard for this, and be open to accepting smaller roles. Keep building contacts while working on your craft and keep auditioning.
How much would you get paid?
As an actor, your pay will depend on the popularity of the platform - films, TV, web, theatre, and advertisements - you work for.
What are your career options?
Theatre Actor
Theatre is considered to be the purest platform for actors. The biggest challenge here is to be so thorough that you can put up a flawless performance in front of a live audience. As a theatre actor, you will spend a lot of your time on rehearsals. Attending drama school is usually an advantage since theatre acting requires technical knowledge too. For example, Naseeruddin Shah is a prolific actor who continues to work in both theatre and films. He studied at the National School of Drama in Delhi before venturing into the world of theatre.
TV Actor
Television has been an extremely popular medium of entertainment and actors have been cast for roles on TV shows across genres. This can range from fantasy shows like Game of Thrones to crime shows like 24. Like films, here too, actors perform scenes in a set frame in front of the camera. The difference lies in the fact that they usually end up performing the role for much longer than those in films. For instance, actors on the hit TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S performed their roles over a decade before the show ended!
Web Actor
Technically, web actors are those who act in web series. However, today, the lines between TV and web, even films to some extent, are blurring. A host of TV, film and theatre actors are trying their hand at web series with innovative concepts and interesting storytelling formats. The shooting process of a web series is more or less similar to that of a TV show. For instance, Indian Netflix original series Sacred Games recently became very popular for its action-packed storytelling and great performances.
Film Actor
Despite the increasing popularity of other platforms, the most successful career you can hope for as an actor is in films. With a host of significant roles and movies in your kitty, you become much more than just an actor. Successful cinema actors become superstars, style icons and inspiration to their fans and admirers. Once you have gained some popularity, it also becomes the most financially lucrative of all acting options.
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