There are many ways to get into character and actors often research the jobs, hobbies, or activities of the characters they play so they are able to put themselves in that frame of mind. Physical appearance can be important in creating a character as well, and actors will often lose or gain weight, or change their hair colour to physically create the character they are playing. An actor’s workplace will vary depending on the type of production involved. Some film and television shows, as well as most advertisements, will be filmed in studios and on sets. This can be quite exciting in itself, seeing how a location can be created by set designers and made to seem real. Other film and television shows are filmed on location and might involve a lot of travel – sometimes to distant and exotic places.
Theatre productions take place on a stage and have very different considerations than filmed performances. Performances will be in front of a live audience – in theatres and in studios for some television shows. Other performances do not have an audience and the feedback from these performances is not instant. The workplace is highly varied, and actors need to be flexible with regard to where they work and the type of environment they work in. Actors and actresses perform, creating new worlds on the stage or in front of a camera. Actors and actresses can be the celebrities you see walking the red carpet at the Oscars, or the people who perform in a small independent play at a community center.
