How to Become a Famous Actor (vs a Working Actor)

Nobody can promise you fame. What you can build is a working acting career: training, representation, steadily bigger roles, your own work and a good reputation, which is where fame comes from for the few who get it. Here is what casting directors, managers and our experts told us about fame, followers and the long game.

Can you plan to become a famous actor?

Not really, and anyone who promises it is selling something. In our Success Path, SAS founder Kym Jackson describes the true A-list as maybe a thousand people in the world: actors almost anyone in an English-speaking country would know by name. Below that sit the known faces from TV shows, and below them the working actors who make up most of the industry.

What you can plan is a career. Fame, when it comes, tends to come out of one, often after many years. Casting director Risa Bramon Garcia told us the big careers people admire usually took decades to build.

Famous actor vs working actor: what is the difference?

A working actor earns from acting, job after job, often without being recognised in the street. Kevin E. West told us "making it" means something different to everyone: for one person it's an Oscar, for another it's working for 35 years, earning a pension and feeding a family.

Child acting expert Karen Workman put it plainly for parents: you are building a career, not just being famous, and success comes and goes. Defining success for yourself is the first step our mindset experts recommend, before anyone else defines it for you.

How do actors actually get discovered?

Through their work, usually in a room someone was already watching. Casting director Greg Apps said he has found talent everywhere, from remote communities to the stand-up comedy and improvised theatre scenes, because screen acting rewards spontaneity. Deirdre Bowen relies on word of mouth from agents she trusts, and on theatre. Lou Mitchell meets new actors at workshops, in theatre foyers and at drama schools' graduating plays.

Notice what's missing: nobody mentioned being spotted for their looks. Deirdre Bowen said the look matters, but you won't get a main part on looks alone.

How do you move up to bigger roles?

One rung at a time. Chris Roe, who has managed actors for 24 years, sums up the TV ladder as "co-star, guest star, series regular, super star." His advice: stop going out for co-stars only once you have enough guest star credits to justify it, and never stop doing guest stars, because even series regulars go back to them when a show ends.

Ben Whitehair described two valid approaches once you have bigger credits: audition for everything, or turn down smaller roles so the industry sees you at a higher level. Decide with your reps.

Do you need a big social media following?

Not to get representation or work. Chris Roe said a following doesn't affect whether he represents an actor, though casting offices do sometimes ask him for follower numbers. A social media expert in our library said networks look less at a threshold than at how well you use the platform, though a large, engaged following can count in your favour.

Kym's question is "enough for what?" A small indie film might be impressed by tens of thousands of real, engaged followers. Fake followers, likes or comments work against you. Our social media for actors guide goes deeper.

Can chasing fame online hurt your career?

Yes. A branding expert in our library warned that posts wildly off-brand for the roles you play can create confusion and cost you jobs. Chris Roe said he would think twice about representing anyone posting harmful or hateful statements.

For young actors, Karen Workman said internet fame can be dangerous but needn't be: fans start to treat a child as accessible, so a parent should oversee the accounts and what goes out.

What do successful actors have in common?

Our experts kept coming back to the same few traits. Anthony Brandon Wong noticed gratitude and a willingness to take risks in their work. Ben Whitehair listed persistence, kindness, constant growth and the grit to keep going. Kevin E. West said successful actors believe in their skills and in what they're selling.

And the work never stops between jobs. Anthony Brandon Wong said the actors who work a lot keep working on their craft even when they're not booked.

Should you make your own work?

It's one of the most reliable ways to get seen. Casting director Seth Yanklewitz pointed out that many comedy stars wrote and made their own material for years before anyone noticed them. "These are not overnight sensations." For more, see creating your own content.

If your content isn't catching on, one of our content experts said: keep creating, look honestly at the work, build a stronger team and apply to programs that can lift you to the next tier.

What does fame actually change?

More than people expect. Karen Workman told parents that success changes money, privacy (strangers wanting selfies) and how fast a child has to grow up, and that staying generous and humble matters because success doesn't last forever. Kym says success at the very top can feel isolating, because problems there still feel real.

Fame doesn't buy a pass on behaviour either. Casting director Scot Boland told us about an actor from a well-known acting family who struck him in the chest during an audition scene; Scot told the actor's agent exactly what happened.

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