What does it mean to be a successful working actor?

Everyone has an image of what it’s like to be an actor.

We see actors everywhere. We see them in our favorite films and TV shows. We see them on talk shows and posters. We see them on red carpets — and on their Instagram posts, showing us how they glammed up for the red carpets. We see them win awards. We read their memoirs.

Unlike the hundreds of other jobs in Hollywood that are often so seamlessly tucked behind the scenes that they’re invisible, the job of an actor is hyper-visible.

It’s the job — professionals say — that everyone thinks they understand. But do we?

Hollywood is made of expert storytellers, and it’s not only the fiction on screen that sells. We’re also always consuming the perfectly crafted nonfiction of celebrities, who are usually there to promote their latest project.

As a result, we often conflate the reality of an actor with the fantasy of a celebrity.

“Acting is so misunderstood,” said Rodney To, actor and USC assistant professor of theater practice. “It’s a lot of ‘Oh, you’re not famous? So therefore you must suck at what you do. You must not have ‘made it’ yet.’ ”

We don’t often get to read stories about the hundreds of thousands of actors who are not household names. They don’t get interviewed when they get their SAG-AFTRA card; when that popular commercial they booked gets them a manager; when they find their community of supportive actors; when they finally make enough money to quit their day job; when a fan still recognizes them from their role on “The A Team” in 1983 — or any of the other wins along the way that add up to a successful acting career.

The majority of actors are “what we call ‘working actors,’ ” said Behzad Dabu, whose credits include “How to Get Away With Murder” and “The Good Place.” “They can go to the park and grocery store without getting stopped or mobbed. They bought a house. They raised children. They have a car. And they can afford all of that by being an actor.”

So here are eight actors, in various stages of their career, whose stories and definitions of success might change how you think about what it means to be a successful, working actor.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Everyone has an image of what it’s like to be an actor.

We see actors everywhere. We see them in our favorite films and TV shows. We see them on talk shows and posters. We see them on red carpets — and on their Instagram posts, showing us how they glammed up for the red carpets. We see them win awards. We read their memoirs.

Unlike the hundreds of other jobs in Hollywood that are often so seamlessly tucked behind the scenes that they’re invisible, the job of an actor is hyper-visible.

It’s the job — professionals say — that everyone thinks they understand. But do we?

Hollywood is made of expert storytellers, and it’s not only the fiction on screen that sells. We’re also always consuming the perfectly crafted nonfiction of celebrities, who are usually there to promote their latest project.

As a result, we often conflate the reality of an actor with the fantasy of a celebrity.

“Acting is so misunderstood,” said Rodney To, actor and USC assistant professor of theater practice. “It’s a lot of ‘Oh, you’re not famous? So therefore you must suck at what you do. You must not have ‘made it’ yet.’ ”

Actor and USC assistant professor Rodney To uses the Martha Graham quote “There is only one you for all time … if you block it, it will never exist and it will be lost” in all his classes.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

We don’t often get to read stories about the hundreds of thousands of actors who are not household names. They don’t get interviewed when they get their SAG-AFTRA card; when that popular commercial they booked gets them a manager; when they find their community of supportive actors; when they finally make enough money to quit their day job; when a fan still recognizes them from their role on “The A Team” in 1983 — or any of the other wins along the way that add up to a successful acting career.

The majority of actors are “what we call ‘working actors,’ ” said Behzad Dabu, whose credits include “How to Get Away With Murder” and “The Good Place.” “They can go to the park and grocery store without getting stopped or mobbed. They bought a house. They raised children. They have a car. And they can afford all of that by being an actor.”

So here are eight actors, in various stages of their career, whose stories and definitions of success might change how you think about what it means to be a successful, working actor.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)