The Pros And Cons Of Pursuing A Career In Acting
Fame, artistic recognition and wealth. These are all things many successful actors experience during their careers. However, it can be a seriously tough climb to the top and there can be several challenges along the way.
Before you put your heart and soul into pursuing a career in acting, it is wise to stop and consider all the pros and cons associated. This can help you prepare for what is undoubtedly a tough industry while also allowing you to focus on the incredible experiences it can bring.
Here’s our round-up of the top pros and cons of pursuing an acting career and why it’s worth considering.
Why Become An Actor?
Are you a passionate storyteller? Do you have a flair for the dramatic and love to entertain? While there are very few career paths where these skills are considered useful when it comes to acting they’re essential!
Acting provides a wonderful creative outlet that allows you to connect with audiences and enrich their lives through storytelling. Of course, there is so much more that goes into acting than simply a passion for performance.
However, if the idea of spending your life behind a desk makes you feel stifled and you yearn for a career that lets you express yourself, then acting could be the perfect fit.
Pros Of Acting As A Career
1. It Can Be A Lot Of Fun
Adopting entirely new personalities as different characters, transforming your appearance through hair and make-up, stunts, amazing locations and more. There are so many fun aspects to being an actor.
2. It Challenges You To Grow
Acting offers the chance to escape into different worlds and do things you may never normally do. With every role you take, you will be required to learn new things and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
This allows you to continually grow as a person and as an actor, for a fulfilling and satisfying career.
3. Variety
No two jobs are ever the same. So many career paths feature a lot of repetitive tasks and can feel like everyday mirrors the last. With acting, there is so much variety.
Each role requires you to inhabit a different character and step into their world. If you thrive on change and hate repetitive life/work routines, acting is an ideal career choice.
Many actors also diversify into other areas including directing, scriptwriting, producing and more allowing for even greater variety and career growth.
4. High Earning Potential
While your earnings, in the beginning, may not be high, acting has the potential to earn you a great salary as your career progresses. With serious dedication and a commitment to ongoing learning, acting can be a very lucrative choice.
5. Collaborative, Social Environments
Do you love working with like-minded individuals and collaborating on new projects? Acting exposes you to wonderfully creative environments and helps you form connections with those who love performance as much as you do.
Cons Of A Career In Acting
1. Lack Of Job Security
One of the major downsides to being an actor full-time is the lack of job security. The nature of most acting roles is that they usually have an end date when filming wraps up or the theatre run ends.
If you are not yet well known or in high demand, this can mean finishing one job without another lined up. Sometimes, it can feel like you are constantly chasing the next job.
2. Constant Auditioning
Further to the above, securing new roles relies on you to consistently audition for new roles, often while still on another job. Auditioning can come with a lot of rejection which can be hard to take.
Successful actors are those that handle rejection well and do not let it deter them from pursuing further opportunities. Acting is competitive and you have to be willing to put yourself out there and keep fighting for roles.
3. Low Initial Income
Established actors can earn a great income as mentioned above, however, this takes time. Many actors have to work side jobs to survive in the beginning, picking up shifts between auditions, acting classes and secured roles.
Don’t let this deter you though, even the most famous actors of our time often worked waiting tables to supplement their earnings while pursuing their craft.
4. Demanding Schedules & Environment
Beyond all the fun and creativity, acting also makes incredible demands on your time with long days spent filming and exhausting back-to-back stage performances.
These schedules require a lot of physical endurance, patience, dedication and more to uphold.
You need to be:
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- Physically fit
- Willing to re-do scenes over and over
- Patient while waiting for your scene
- Able to sit in hair and make-up for hours at times
- Skilled at memorising lines
- Happy to take direction
- Flexible to sudden changes and more
5. Lack Of Privacy
Fame can have its downsides. Should you become well-known or easily recognised, your ability to have a private life can become virtually non-existent. Famous actor’s lives are constantly under scrutiny and even a trip to the shops can become tabloid fodder.
While most actors accept that this notoriety goes hand-in-hand with fame and helps to contribute to their continued success, it doesn’t mean it is easy.
Ready To Take To The Stage?
If you’ve considered all the pros and cons and feel acting is the ideal career for you, then we’re here to help you succeed. At The Actors Pulse, we are the leading school for the Meisner Technique in the Southern Hemisphere.
Operating for over 25 years, we’re passionate about helping you hone your skills and learn valuable new ones, supporting you to become a sought-after talent.
With full-time and part-time courses available as well as online options, we make it easier for working actors to pursue their studies. Whether you desire to work in the film, television or theatre industries, the Meisner technique teaches you the necessary skills to pursue them all.
Create lasting friendships, make valuable network connections and invest in the success of your career, contact The Actors Pulse, an acting school in Sydney today at 0414 475 515.
Billy Milionis is one of the few Australians to have ever studied under the legendary master teacher, the late Sanford Meisner. Billy has also studied story structure and scene analysis techniques with John Truby and later at UCLA. He has also spent several years doing improvisation in Hollywood with the L.A. Connection. In addition, he trained in the technique of Stella Adler, Practical Aesthetics and Lee Strasberg’s method.