Profession of an actor: features, pros and cons

Today, young people are given the opportunity to study any profession, both free of charge and on a contract basis. But due to the availability of training, people are increasingly faced with the problem of choosing a suitable profession, unfortunately, not everyone is making progress in the chosen direction. Recently, creative professions have been very popular, one of which is the actor.

Someone chooses acting because of the opportunity to become a celebrity, gain fame and money, while others just want to embody their creativity on stage. In this article, we will get acquainted with the profession of an actor, consider its pros and cons, the necessary skills and career opportunities.

The profession of an actor is deeply rooted in history; this art has come a long way from antiquity to modern times. Even the ancient peoples created some kind of performances, but acting acquired the status of art only in Ancient Greece, where the first actors performed performances. Their main attributes were masks made of wood or clay, as well as various colorful outfits. It was very prestigious to be an actor, they were respected and revered. But earlier, only men could participate in this business, even female roles were given to the stronger sex.

And also comedians faced many problems and obstacles. For example, in the Middle Ages, people involved in this art were beaten, imprisoned and even executed.

But the next stage, the Renaissance, became an uplifting one for this art. And until the twentieth century, acting was at the same level, then this art was poorly studied, and therefore stereotyped images and superficial acting prevailed on the stage of the theater.

A real breakthrough occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavsky, who founded the famous Moscow Art Theater, made changes to acting that made it possible to get used to the role as much as possible and reflect not only the appearance of the character, but also his inner world. This method was called the Stanislavsky system, it is actively used today, allowing novice actors to understand the essence of art and acquire basic skills and knowledge.

Who is an actor? This is a person who plays various roles on the stage of a theater or cinema. Many people consider this profession simple and interesting, but this is not always the case - in order to succeed in this area, you need to work hard and have a number of qualities, which we will consider below.

The main task of an actor is to transform into a given character. There are two ways.

• External changes - this is the creation of an image with the help of costumes, sometimes masks, make-up, the acquisition of new habits, intonation, facial expressions, gestures, gait and posture.
• Internal change force an actor or actress to understand the inner world of his character, his thoughts, to study his history. Some actors even try to live the life of their hero for several months before playing a movie.

But more often a combination of these methods is needed, creating an image of a given character. The actor has a great responsibility if he plays in a large theatrical production, because he must convey the character of his character, make him live, and not just a picture from a book. Therefore, it is very important add your own features to the character so that he seems to be a real person. This is the psychology in the profession of an actor.

Having familiarized yourself with the profession, you need to know about its pros and cons in order to look at it soberly and understand whether you are ready to go for certain difficulties or not.

Let's start with the pleasant things - the pros of acting.

• An interesting and varied job awaits you: you will be able to live several lives, playing the roles of different characters. You will be able to be what you could never become in reality.
• You will be able to make many useful acquaintances, and to constantly be in the company of creative and interesting people.
• There is a possibility, albeit small, that you can become famous person, gain fame and become rich.
• Due to the fact that acting troupes often tour, you will have the ability to travel.
• And just one feeling is valuable that you can influence the views of the viewer, touch him and evoke feelings, emotions. What is valuable is that you can somehow influence the culture of the theater.

Let's not be silent about the cons.

• A busy schedule awaits you, because the actor does not have days off and work hours. In addition to learning scenes and performances, you will have constant self-improvement in this area.
• To be successful in acting, you need a lot of time and effort. You can even say that you will have to devote your whole life to this. Therefore, there may not be time left for starting a family.
• Right from the start, you may face a big obstacle. - perhaps someone from the family will not want you to try yourself in this field, because often the profession of an actor is ungrateful.
• In order to learn acting, you it will not be enough to take special courses, but you need to fully master the material in one of the higher theatrical educational institutions. It is best to choose popular institutions in big cities, but it is difficult to get there, because often there are no more than 50 budget places, and contract studies are not cheap.
• After becoming a popular person, you have to constantly monitor your appearance, so that every exit to society is appropriate for your status.
• You need have a number of qualities, many of which are simply impossible to acquire, including talent.
• Prepare for what will be needed constantly memorize texts in large volumes and reproduce them without hesitation.
• Movie actors who signed a contract forced to work for months and literally live on set.
• There is a risk of injury, not always dangerous stunts are performed by stunt doubles. In addition, shooting conditions may not be entirely comfortable.
• Even famous actors there are stagnations in workwhen they cease to be in demand. This can lead to psychological problems.
• Let's not hide that salaries for young actors are low, it even often happens that they work in the theater for free. But do not think that everything will change over time, because only a few achieve what they want. In addition, in order for you to be noticed and continue to work with you, you need to stand out from the crowd, have your own zest.

Education is not an absolute guarantee of being in demand and highly paid work. There are many famous actors and actresses who have not received the appropriate education. Still, there are advantages to learning. Training in acting helps to develop the necessary qualities and skills. Let's divide them into several groups, since not all abilities can be developed.

Physical:

• absence of speech defects;
• lack of flaws in appearance;
• working capacity;
• resistance to physical and emotional stress.

Personal:

• self confidence;
• concentration;
• good memory;
• activity;
• striving for improvement;
• determination;
• propensity to communicate;
• openness;
• hard work;
• a responsibility;
• observation;
• patience;
• stress tolerance;
• energy;
• abstract thinking.

Innate abilities:

• talent;
• creativity (for literature, music, choreography and others);
• artistry;
• stage charm;
• charisma;
• imagination;
• creativity.

Knowledge and skills:

• clear diction;
• the ability to reincarnate;
• knowledge of genre-role specifics;
• knowledge of psychology;
• lack of stage fright;
• oratorical skills.

Physical qualities and innate abilities cannot be changed, but you can work on your character, knowledge and skills while studying at a university. To enter a higher theater institution, you need to take two compulsory subjects - Russian language and literature. In addition, your speech, vocal and dance skills, and acting skills must meet the requirements of the commission.

Newbie actors often start out playing small roles in theater productions. If you want to act in films, then you must constantly attend various auditions, as well as play small roles in extras. Perhaps then you will be noticed and called for a larger role. Actors do not always work in a theater or film studio, but can work in advertising agencies, on television, in a circus, participate in the creation of clips, and also work as animators.

Often, having achieved some kind of success in acting, people can master the profession of a director, producer or screenwriter and perform other tasks. And also you can become a dubbing actor.

Finally, we will share with you some interesting facts related to this area.

• The phonogram appeared in ancient Rome. When the playwright, who played roles in his own works, pulled out his voice, then the person standing behind him spoke for him.
• The ancestors of the series are the monthly performances that took place in Sicily. Then parts of one play were shown every evening.
• In the Roman theater, accused people were often killed at the end of a performance for entertainment, ending with the famous words "Finita la Comedy".