The Sims 4 Actor/Actress Career

Ideal Moods, Career Unlocks, and Tips for Performing

The Actor Career in The Sims 4 Get Famous Expansion Pack
Actor is a new Career in the Get Famous Expansion Pack

The Sims 4 Get Famous features an Actor Career. It is an active one, meaning you are able to follow your Sim to work and have control over how well they perform at their job. In this guide, we'll look at the career and its unlocks, while I'll provide advice that will not only help you to get promoted, but also gain more fame from your performances. There is a separate skill for acting, which governs many of the career's success rates: Acting Skill Guide.

How to: Actor Career Cheats
Press Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now get promotions with careers.promote actor - you can also see all Career Cheats or visit a full list of Cheats in The Sims 4.

Finding Gigs

The Sims 4 Actor Career in Get Famous - finding a gig for my actor to make money
Gigs give you the audition time, gig time, pay, and recommended skill levels.

You join the actor career like any other, using either the phone or careers tab. Press 'J' to bring up the jobs screen, and you'll find a little button to the right that says, 'Check Open Auditions'. I'm sad to say that you can only sign up for one gig at once, which is very unfortunate as it would have been nice to emulate an actor's busy schedule.

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The Sims 4 Actor Career in Get Famous - preparing for roles means leveling your skills.
Preparing for a role means leveling your skills. This will help you to pass the audition phase. If you fail, try again.

Once you have signed up, there are two phases: the audition and the actual filming of the performance. The Audition goes down like a normal career. Look to the jobs panel to see what time it is. Get in a preferred mood and teleport off to ye old rabbit hole. When your Sim disappears, they'll be gone a few hours. Whether they did well in the audition or not is determined on a few things - their acting skill level and whether or not they completed the 'daily tasks' in this case, preparation for the audition.

Preparing for Roles and Actor Skills

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The Sims 4 Actor in a commercial on the set
Different Gigs require different skills. Using the costume takes some fitness, especially with all that dancing around.

In order to get an audition, you must be right for the part. They may need a dancer, singer, guitarist, or someone charismatic. Taking auditions when skills are too far out of range is foolish. You'll have a couple of days to prep, but will typically have tasks ahead like, "Reach Level 2 Fitness" or "Reach Level 3 Guitar". You have some time to do this, and can get the skill level you need early on in the career. Later it becomes much harder to get 2 levels within the 18-24 hours you have. In general this part of the career is nice. You see, you can specialize your actor and look for gigs each day that line up with their abilities, while in the meantime training up skills to expand toward different types of roles.

Off to The Set

Once you have got a role from a successful audition, check the jobs panel again to see what time the shooting takes place. This is also visible when you sign up for the gig in the first place. It's just hard to keep track of. You'll have the option whether you go with your Sim and take control, or else send them alone (and thus be able to choose things like work hard which is not visible during auditions (see Careers for more info)). You'll often have two daily tasks to complete before the shoot, which helps you prepare and improves performance - especially if you send the Sim alone.

When the time comes, try to be confident (you can use the mirrors at the studio to Psych Self Up). Even if confident does zilch for performance in the job, it does give you more acting skill gain. You have time while on the set, so you can stay confident the whole time using mirrors and other emotional manipulation techniques.

Getting Gold As An Actor

The Sims 4 Actor Career in Get Famous - getting into hair and makeup for a role at the studio

Getting a Gold Reward means a promotion in a single day for the most part, but you'll also gain more fame. In the top left corner, you'll have a to-do list like any other active career. Do the stylist and costume fitting list is my advice. Tasks like, "practice acting", "gossip with crew", "get notes from director", and others appear and are all super easy (I hate that part). Once you're an established pro, you can skip a lot of this and simply go in without worrying about gold to collect your pay check.

Going with good energy, hunger, etc. it is extremely easy for a seasoned player to get gold every. time. unless there has been a major event beforehand, like a fire.

Shooting Scenes

The Sims 4 Actor performing scenes during the movie shoot
The 'X' marks the spot - click the X to do a scene. Knock all of them out, and the commercial or movie shoot is done.

For every shoot, there are always certain tasks. Tell the director you're ready and get into costume/makeup. Once you've told the director you're ready, the stage lights up and you can choose which scenes to shoot. X marks will appear on the stage. You click these and can then begin filming. It's possible to relieve yourself or fix your mood in between takes, just pay attention to time. You have the option of doing Risky scenes. If you fail, you get 0 points for them, but passing gives double the points of 'safe' which can also be failed if you are in a horrendous mood or extremely below skill level.

Rewards and Fame

The Sims 4 Reward for an Acting gig - money and fame
Money and Fame are rewarded for a completed acting gig. Go get another right away if you want to advance quickly.

Finish all the scenes, and the job is done. The film shooting is over, and shortly thereafter you'll be notified of your reward. Even if you got gold, it doesn't mean you got the max reward. Pay is always the same, but it's possible to get 3 fame stars from a single shoot. Most often, I got 2 at low level but with high level acting and a shoot with many scenes it's possible to get Gold + 3 fame stars. More scenes to shoot, done in a risky manner, results in more fame but only if you can hit the break points (I don't know them, it's just either 2 or 3 if you go far enough with the 'points').

Better Gigs and Raising Celebrity Rank

You'll gain more fame with higher ranked gigs, because they tend to have more scenes as mentioned above. This will raise your celebrity level and allow you to purchase perks, such as the ability to skip auditions (established name). It is mentioned here because it's extremely relevant to the career itself. Raising your Acting Skill will give you access to better talent agencies. I'm not sure which is best yet but I'll come back to this. It's clear one is likely 'best' but true benefits of all of them aren't yet known.

Acting Career Levels

This job has ten ranks like nearly all others. There is a money bonus when you level up, and you unlock costumes and sets as you go. The Median Pay is just a relative payout for gigs that appear for that level. You can take lower level gigs if you want an easy ride. You'll notice that several ranks share the same median pay, but it doesn't mean that better gigs do not appear. It's just a relative metric. I think the idea is that you should be able to make this in a week, though you can certainly make much more if you keep your schedule full.

RankActor TypeMedian Gig PayPromotion $BonusReward for Promotion
1Uncredited Extra$640 per GigSign up for Auditions
2Background Actor$640 per Gig$200Voidcritter Stage and Costume
3Commercial Spokesperson$1,755 per Gig$250Family Home Stage, Camping Adventure Stage
4Guest Star$1,755 per Gig$350Pirate and French Court Costumes, Pirate Ship Wheel and Pirate Ship Stage
5Supporting Actor or Actress$4,010 per Gig$400Police Drama Stage, Hospital Drama Stage
6Sitcom Star$4,010 per Gig$600Apocalyptic Costumes and Apocalyptic Scene Stage
7Rising Star$4,010 per Gig$800Western Stage and Victorian Drama Stage
8Seasoned Thespian$9,800 per Gig$1200Medieval Costumes, Creature and Alien Costumes, Medieval Adventure Stage
9Superstar$9,800 per Gig$1500City Street Stage, Romantic Garden Stage
10Silver Screen Icon$9,800 per Gig$1800Super Hero Costumes, Sci-Fi Costumes, Super Hero Headquarters Stage
The Sims 4 Actor
You unlock a variety of costumes if you level the acting skill. Many 'costumes' are regular clothing, as it should be, when playing in a typical role although dozens of costumes exist.

That's all I have to say about actor, despite that this may be edited for some minor details. I know some of the viewers of my youtube channel were disappointed about the career, but at the same time others will love it. People who like silly animations and feeling like they are a Sim or telling a story will like it, while those who enjoy deep mechanics will perhaps be disappointed. When you combine acting + the career of the same name, it is deep enough for the average player. There are other ways to gain fame, and we'll talk about those as coverage of this pack continues.

Latest Get Famous Guides

New - Celestial Crystal Crown Effects and Quirk Removal
New - Fame Quirks
New - Media Production
Fame Perks Guide
Becoming a Star: The Celebrity Fame System Explained
Actor Career in Get Famous
Acting Skill in Get Famous
Get Famous Cheats



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Comments (21)

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New
Zxiby4says...
Can The alien and creature(lizard man?) custom be used as a normal outfit? Every guide I read does not show them as cas outfits.
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Not 100% sure. They are not in the Full outfits in my game so i suspect they are maybe Acting Career unlocks.
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New
Aaronsays...
those unlock at level eight Smile
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Thank you! :)
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New
Roselsays...

Hello~

It's been 4 years since this comment but I will reply anyway.

Every gig, my sim gets around 37k simeleons.

Idk how but I'll just say what I have in the game and you can compare it with yours

My agency is "well-suited"

I have the career-boosting fame perk (the one that gives you double the pay"

I have unlocked the perk that allows me to skip auditions and putting on makeup and clothes

I always pick the 'risky' actions

I always pick the highest-paying gig

My sim is at the peak of fame and is at the highest level for the acting skill.

I always do the prep tasks and make sure my sim goes to work in a positive moodlet

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New
Aaronsays...
I've been doing the acting career my sim is level 10 and my Fame is Five star but I've never had a gig pay more than 6800 even though it says the median pay is 9800 has anyone else had this issue thanks
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New
eggorkosays...
Same here. Also, there is a thread on sims official forum where a bunch of people reports the same problem. Hope they will fix it soon >_>
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Admin
Playlotsays...
It could be related to the do 'x action risky' as my sim regularly gets $9089 simoleons each work day but I always choose the risky option.
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New
Zarakinosays...
I also always choose risky, but only get the $6,800.00. Level 10 actress, level 5 fame, career boosting branch on fame points.
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Try a different agency :)
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New
Erik Dsays...
Anyone else have problems not being able to select stage marks? This leads to unfinished performances Sad
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Admin
Playlotsays...
They sometimes unlock in sequence (sort of) not all at once so that could be the issue? Also any mods or cc that you are using could potentially cause this so make sure to remove all, delete the localthumbcache.package file and test in a new game.
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New
Dogwolf12says...
There has to be the task for it in your taskbar. Have you told the director you're ready (you need to introduce yourself first)? Have you got the task? Is the mark glowing? If all of these are true, then it's the game's fault. Hope I helped!
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New
Simandsimandsimsays...

I found a couple of strange anomalies (I know this is an old thread, but it's happening to me in 2021) Checked my lot for things out of awry and I had about 5 bouncer doors??? removed them and everything went well.... except, next gig for next actor, there seems to be two "more choices" options. I clicked pause until I could find the one that reacted with the director, then I could get the ready to perform or get notes from director or both! Hope this helps. I have my sims maxed out in every level, but still have glitches. Just press pause and keep clicking. :D

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New
IronicBeautysays...
Had my sim join the acting career and have built her up to level 8. She is also level 9 in her acting skill. The gig she is currently on requires her to perform a dramatic scene with another sim or perform a dramatic monologue. I was think she needed to be a higher level in her acting skill but I saw the option pop up on the microphone and performed the monologue. Once the action was finished the option disappeared and I was thinking it might be tied to a specific mood. I normally keep her in a confident mood but noticed she also had an lesser inspired moodlet. I was thinking that it might have taken over as the predominate mood for the option to appear but then when she went back to confident it disappeared. Not sure if this is a bug or if anyone knows for sure. I'm attempting to recreate the scenario and but so far it has been difficult to get her into the right mood.
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New
IronicBeautysays...
Okay well apparently it isn't the microphone at all (think that might have been a bug) but the sim themselves. When in an inspired mood they'll preform a dramatic monologue under the 'Perform Scene' option. It would seem this doesn't truly unlock at a specific skill level (though it might also) but tied to the inspired mood. Still not sure what, if anything, is connected to the microphone but she did perform the first dramatic monologue on the one that is unlocked when you hit level 8 in the acting skill. Not able to get the option to pop up again though even when inspired.
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New
Heidisays...
Does anyone else have a problem with actors (your sim and otherwise) getting out of costume in the middle of filming? It's really grinding my gears, more of a pet peeve than anything, but I don't know how oen would go about stopping it either.
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New
Jinjinsays...
How to you rehearse a dramatic scene or read a dramatix monologue?
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Admin
Playlotsays...
The dramatic monologue is found by clicking on your actor sim Perform Scene>Perform Dramatic Monologue. It unlocks in the later stages. Rehearsing scenes can be done with another sim that has at least some acting skill levels.
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New
Csays...
You need to add a section of which gig is a commercial, tv, or film, for the Actress Aspiration. The expansion pack doesn't tell you which show is what type of gig, yet you need to know this for the Aspiration! :/
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Admin
Playlotsays...
If you read the gigs description you can tell what gig is what type.
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Senior
Briansays...
At what point do you get new agencies? I only noticed there was new choices after my sim was max skill and max career level.
Also the perk that lets you skip hair and makeup, and costume (established name?) comes in handy if you HATE the costume for your part. For example, the sci-fi movie role has a really stupid costume, I have my actress get the hair and makeup but put on a CC bodysuit instead of the dumb chicken costume they have.
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Admin
Playlotsays...
I'm not sure at which point new agencies unlock. I really didn't pay any attention to that as I was playing through! I didn't notice any new ones after he maxed acting skill and the acting career. He had 4 choices before and 4 choices after! AI Staffing, Everyday Extras, GRAN Talent and the Well Suited Tenant Agencies.
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New
Cherrysays...
My sim joined the acting career, got the gig, and did all the necessary preps, but it's not giving me an option to go to the place or wherever. It doesn't even say that it's time for the gig, just that it's at that specific time. Can someone help?
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Just keep playing and when the day and time roll around there will be a pop-up and your sim will disappear off the lot to go to the gig. Try to make sure your sims needs are high and they are in a confident mood.
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New
kimberlysays...
I am doung the gig Treasures of Aarbyville and it will not let me tell the director I am ready. It let me do 2 parts of the ACT and then that pooped up again and the option is not on the director amymore. Anybody else having an issue or know how to get pass it?
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Admin
Playlotsays...
You may need to chat to the Director a few times in a row (use friendly socials) for it to appear.
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New
MIXHIMICHI82says...
¿How to send Sim to audition if they cancel the "auto-go-to-audition" action?

I'm having a problem, when my Sims are ready for their audition and the time arrives, they sometimes stop the action and there's now way to send em to the audition anymore. Where is the "send to audition/work" button like the rest of the jobs have?
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Admin
Playlotsays...
Tere isn't one. It seems to me this is a major oversight, if your sim auto cancels going to an audition you just have to line another one up and take the hit. It's super annoying.
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New
daph567says...
When I became level 10 in the acting career every role I took did not have any prep tasks. The prep tasks all disappeared when I reached level 10 of the career. Is this because you don't have to prep at that level or is it a glitch?
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Admin
Playalotsays...
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New
Moebymsays...
My Sim who's reached the top of the Acting career only gets about 6500 max per gig. The Median Gig Pay is displayed as 4825. Has this been reduced since this article was last updated, or is something else going on?
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New
Moebymsays...
I forgot to add that she's signed with the Well Suited Talent Agency, and I always have her perform the risky scenes. She's never gotten anything less than Gold. I just hate to think that she could have been earning so much more, but didn't because of something I did.
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Admin
Playalotsays...
There is an element of RNG to the pay system. Completing all tasks and getting a gold will ensure your sim gets top dollar though. maybe try changing agencies although that is the one my sim was with and he was paid the top rate most times.
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New
ongoingwhysays...

My sim's median gig is 4825 as well. They probably have the fame perk, Easy Street, which doubles your income.

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New
Heathersays...

I just have a quick question. Does anyone know if played Sims from different households can become co-stars in the acting career? I have two Sims that I play as and I really want them to meet and fall in love on set but they never end up working on the same set.

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Admin
Playalotsays...

Sims from different households or even in the same household will never be each others co-workers. The game will spawn them their own set of co-workers etc every time you take each individual sim to work, that's just how the code is written.

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New
Alexsays...

So, whenever I do an acting gig, my romantic interest is always the same gender as me. Does anyone know a mod to fix this?

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Admin
Playalotsays...

Nope, it doesn't mean anything tho - it's just acting -and pixels

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New
tsays...

Anyone else have the issue of sin not going to their auditions? I’ve tried repairing the game, removing sim from career and placing back in. Nothing helps.

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Admin
Playalotsays...

This is a really finicky piece of coding, if you are micro managing your sim when the time comes for them to go to their auditions anything you direct them to do (i.e. go here, wash hands etc) will cancel the prompt to go to the audition. So try playing with extreme caution lol around the time the audition is due to start and hopefully your sim will go off to it automatically while you are watching and not directing them. Apart from that all you can do is make a Bug Report with EA

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New
Lauren0says...

I’m having an issue with my sim where everytime i complete the prep tasks and then travel to a different lot, the prep tasks change back into “not started”. When I join my sim to the set, the same problem applies and it acts like i haven’t done the prep tasks fifteen different times on different lots. Anyone else had this problem?

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Admin
Playalotsays...

This is a known bug. The best thing you can do is head over to the official Bug Forum and click the Me Too button and help bring this bug to the developers notice. Actor Prep Tasks Reset Bug Report

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New
Linnsays...

I have a sim in the acting career and when its time for her gig it doesn’t say “one hour until gig starts” and when its time for her to leave, time just moves on. It doesnt come up either if i want to choose to come with or let her go alone. I went to a gig once and after it just stopped working. How do i fix this issue?

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Senior
Playalotsays...

This is a known bug. There is a bug report and a work-around Bug Forum Link so head to the bug forum and leave a 'Me To' and hopefully the work-around suggested there will help you.

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Senior
Playalotsays...

This is a known bug, there is a report and a work-around on the Bug Forum Bug Forum link

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New
Adelesays...

does anyone else have problems with this career? My sims just don´t go to gigs sometimes. It doesn´t show that they have work in one hour. I don´t know what it is....

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Admin
Playalotsays...

Sadly that is just how this career works. The player has to really be mindful of when the gig is due and make sure the Sim isn't chatting or doing some other task that will stop the from auto going to the gig. Sometimes if it is starting to become very buggy as you play it helps to save, quit and then delete the localthumbcache/package file from your TheSims4 folder, then restart your game.

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New
owo2xsays...

How does the median gig pay compute your final paycheck? I'm not sure how I did it, but I managed to get a whopping 39k paycheck for a musical gig at Silver Screen Icon. I am currently maxed out on the celebrity level and just finished the World-Renowned Actor aspiration, so I guess it had something to do with that?

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Senior
Brian Zsays...

Wow! Yes all of those things contribute, and so does the Easy Street fame perk. Easy Street DOUBLES your paychecks! But yeah, 39K is more than I've ever seen, by a lot!

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New
Roselsays...

I get roughly the same amount xD

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New
Jamiesays...

I gotta say, this and University have been my favorite packs. But then, I'm a storyteller. I had fun making my Sim famous and moving her out of her dinghy house into a mansion in the big city. Now she's trying to get her 5-star celebrity restaurant to start turning a profit

Some things I would have liked to have seen was my Sim on my Sim's TV. Or at the very least to have unlocked the option to watch the movies and TV shows my Sim acted in (I understand the constraints of not being able to include every custom Sim in what's essentially a mini-cutscene)



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