This PhD thesis is composed of two studies conducted using interpretative
phenomenological analysis (IPA) and focusing on detailed accounts of personal, lived
experiences that demonstrate both convergence and divergence. The main study was carried
out first to gain insights into the lived experiences of theatre actors. In this study, interviews
were held with ten professional male theatre actors. The aim was to explore what it is like to
be an actor and provide information about experiences related playing characters and the
psychological impact of acting, as well as obtain further insights into the inter-individual
differences between the experiences of theatre actors. The first theme to be discovered was
that acting was experienced as a calling, with theatre actors describing how becoming an
actor was not so much a decision as a realisation that it was their vocation. The second theme
related to actors’ attitudes towards identification with characters, whereby their identity
tended to be affected by the roles they played, but some actors had more control over this
than others. A third theme was the positive impact of being on stage, with the subthemes
revealing that acting was experienced as liberating and it had a transformative nature.
Furthermore, performance boosted confidence and was perceived as a collective experience.
Meanwhile, a fourth theme revealed that actors also experienced challenges and costs, with
the subthemes being a sense of being rejected; a sense of loss at the end of a run; the
possibility of substance and alcohol abuse; and the financial insecurity of the profession. The
study identified potential refinements to the theoretical models, especially through the finding
that profession-specific elements are necessary in theories about vocation. The most
important practical implication was the need for better support concerning the psychological
impacts of being an actor. The second study was conducted among acting trainers, which confirmed these
findings in the first theme: how acting trainers experienced the training career and the second
theme was how trainers perceived the career of acting, with the trainers recognising that role-blurring could be a problem for actors. Nevertheless, they thought acting simultaneously
provided positive experiences that could help actors to gain self-knowledge, develop more
empathy and provide experiences that enable personal growth. The trainers also
acknowledged the challenges facing actors, in terms of both the intense emotional
experiences and the insecure subsequent position due to the minimal job opportunities and
income volatility. While the trainers found the training career highly pleasurable as it helped
students to become professional actors, they also felt training to be a demanding and sensitive
role since they had to rely mainly on their experience and had limited explicit pedagogical
foundations that would allow them to help their students address the issues they faced. The
author argues that interventions are needed to provide a better offering in this respect and
stimulate changes to the harsh circumstances.