How To Become An Actress: What It Is and Career Path

What is an actress and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Tim Threlfall

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an actress. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.44 an hour? That's $48,747 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 4,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an Actress?

Tim Threlfall

Head of MDT, Professor, Brigham Young University

I am guessing that live theatre will take a while to return to the incredible level it was at before the pandemic. The Broadway musical really is (was before March) in a 'platinum era' with more Americans than ever enjoying musicals with mega-hits such as WICKED, BOOK OF MORMON, and HAMILTON, in the last decade or so. Musical theatre stars are also becoming recognizable actors in a way they really have not been before.

Even though I think live theatre will take a while to return (the base audience demographic remains in the senior citizen category, and they (we...me!) may be a bit more hesitant to return to a packed performance, the majority of theatre practitioners will be more than eager to return, as soon as possible, and will help get the theatre back on its feet.

ScoreActressUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,747

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.1

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.21%

Asian 6.29%

Black or African American 13.72%

Hispanic or Latino 15.80%

Unknown 6.58%

White 57.40%

Gender

female 91.96%

male 8.04%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress Level

4.1

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an actress

Explore actress education requirements

Most common actress degrees

Bachelor's

63.0 %

Associate

13.9 %

High School Diploma

11.8 %

Start to develop specific actress skills

Skills	Percentages
Music Videos	15.51%
Photo Shoots	10.18%
On-Camera	8.08%
Improv	6.18%
Body Movements	6.10%

Complete relevant actress training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New actresses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an actress based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real actress resumes.

Research actress duties and responsibilities

Check the appearance of costumes on stage or under lights to determine whether desire effects are being achieve.
Learned and perform various improv games.
Edit actor's videos with iMovie.
Teach children fundamentals of drama and theater.

Prepare your actress resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your actress resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an actress resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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