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Boston Career Explorer

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

Actors

Play parts in stage, television, radio, video, or film productions, or other settings for entertainment, information, or instruction. Interpret serious or comic role by speech, gesture, and body movement to entertain or inform audience. May dance and sing.

Also called: Actress, Comedian, Community Theater Actor, Entertainer, Film Actor, Motion Capture Actor

Median pay in Greater Boston
Not published
Jobs in Greater Boston
510
Massachusetts 2024–2034
Not published
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Some college, no degree
plus Long-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
Not publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot published

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Attend auditions and casting calls to audition for roles.
  • Work closely with directors, other actors, and playwrights to find the interpretation most suited to the role.
  • Portray and interpret roles, using speech, gestures, and body movements, to entertain, inform, or instruct radio, film, television, or live audiences.
  • Study and rehearse roles from scripts to interpret, learn and memorize lines, stunts, and cues as directed.
  • Collaborate with other actors as part of an ensemble.
  • Learn about characters in scripts and their relationships to each other to develop role interpretations.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure48 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 51
  • Language-model AIOE 61
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 33

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

Actors have moderate AI exposure, and observed AI use is still limited to some. AI tools can help with studying scripts and with some commercial work, but live and on-camera performing, working with directors, and acting as part of an ensemble rely on people. Federal projections note that fewer domestic TV shows, movies, and live theater, along with AI in advertising, may mean fewer acting opportunities.

Likely to change

  • Script study and line-learning support
  • Commercial and advertising acting work

Still relies on people

  • Live and on-camera performance
  • Working with directors and ensemble

What federal projections say

“Demand change, capital/labor substitution - share decreases as fewer domestic television, movies, and live theater are produced and as artificial intelligence (AI) reduces the number of commercial advertising opportunities otherwise available to actors.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

29 programs near Boston (plus 2 graduate)

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