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BitLife Movie Star Update Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the Movie Star Update

Candywriter has finally released it, and BitLife players can now check out the Movie Star Update, which, much like the Pop Star Update before it, makes the acting career track separate from all the others and gives you a bevy of ways to take your Bitizens from struggling actor to bonafide Hollywood star.

That means you can now star in movies and television series, interact with directors, fellow actors, and agents, choose whether to accept a role, turn it down, or negotiate for more money, and do a wide range of things in this newest special career introduced to the game.

bitlife movie star update guide

It’s been a long time coming, and it won’t be the only new special career getting added to the mix this year — Entrepreneur, Model, and Street Hustler are all coming soon, and we can’t wait to see how those career tracks work once they’re separated from the Jobs menu, or in the case of Street Hustler, introduced to the game.

As this is quite a substantial update and the first one for BitLife in a very long time, you may need several playthroughs to figure things out and experience virtual movie or TV stardom to the fullest. But we’re already ahead of most of you in this regard, and with that said, this BitLife strategy guide focuses on the Movie Star Update and tells you all you need to know about this much-awaited new set of features.

You Can Now Choose Acting As A Special Skill And Take Acting Lessons

Unfortunately, BitLife’s Movie Star Update does not allow you to become a child star just yet — you’ll have to wait until you graduate from high school before you can audition for a movie or television role under the Special Careers section. However, you can fast-track your way to movie stardom, first by selecting Acting as a Special Skill if you have God Mode enabled.

This, of course, speeds up your progress as your acting skills improve over time, though if you don’t have God Mode, you’ll know if your character has a hidden talent in acting if you see random lines pop up after hitting the Age button that hint at an interest in movies, TV, or actors.

bitlife special talent acting

Regardless whether you have God Mode or not, you will be able to take acting classes from the age of 8 onward. The Acting Lessons option can be found under Mind and Body in Activities, and if your parents allow you to take acting lessons, take full advantage of it while you’re still in school and not yet of legal age — these will cost you $3,000 per session from the age of 18 onward.

If you chose Acting as a Special Skill, you should completely fill up your Skill bar by the time you reach the age of 15 or 16, assuming you start at 8 years old and take three lessons per year. Taking more than three lessons may be counterproductive and result in a slight decline in your Skill level.

Also, if you don’t have God Mode and don’t have any hidden acting abilities, it may take you quite a while to fill up the bar — if you ever fill it up. That might require taking a part-time or full-time job to pay for those lessons, though if you’re still at around 80 percent by the time you’re in your early 20s, it may be time to give up the ghost and settle for what you’ve got.

bitlife acting lessons

Unlike how it is for musicians, where you need to have your Skill bar at 90 percent or more in order to have a decent chance of getting signed by a record label, you can actually audition for roles as an extra even if your acting Skill bar is completely empty. Just don’t expect to get anything beyond bit parts in movies or recurring roles in daytime soaps if that’s the case!

Should You Hire An Agent Before Accepting Any Roles?

After going to the Special Careers section and choosing Actor for the first time, you’ll be asked if you wish to hire an agent to represent you. Take note that you cannot choose from a list of agents at the moment — you will first have to pay $1,500 to run the search, then you’ll be presented with a random agent and their profile.

You will see their age, the number of years they’ve been working as a talent agent, the percentage commission they’ll receive for each paycheck you get for your roles, and their most famous client, who would always be a real-life celebrity.

bitlife talent agent

This may or may not be the case, but we would suggest using your best judgment — if the celebrity they’re representing is still very relevant and famous, then they’re worth hiring, but if their career has seen better days at this point, you might want to run another agent search.

Lastly, you’ll see their Reputation bar at the bottom of the window — the fuller it is, the more likely they are to be a great help to your career. (And with that said, avoid agents with red or orange Reputation bars at all costs!)

Talent agents can simplify things in a number of ways — when offered with a contract to play a certain character, you can ask them to negotiate for a bigger paycheck. Or you can simply ask them to secure an audition for you if there’s a specific role you wish to play. They may or may not be able to get you the audition or successfully negotiate for better pay, and as we hinted above, this will all depend on their Reputation.

firing an agent in bitlife

So if you’re looking to get ahead quickly in show business, make sure to hire the best agent possible — you can always fire them as your career progresses and it becomes more important than ever before for you to get quality parts in films with good scripts and high blockbuster potential.

Acting On The Small Screen Is A Good Place To Start If You Don’t Have Great Acting Skills

Of course, this is not to say that this is the case in real life — there are countless actors best known, or exclusively known for their television careers but can still be considered great talents. But television offers an easier path to success than movies in the real world, and in the BitLife universe, that definitely applies as well.

What does this mean in the light of the Movie Star Update and your characters’ showbiz career prospects? It means that if you didn’t (or couldn’t) choose Acting as a Special Skill and aren’t able to fill up your acting Skills bar through lessons, your best bet won’t be to audition for a movie role. Instead, you may want to see what television roles are available to you in the sub-menu of the same name under Audition.

bitlife television roles

When looking through TV roles, you will see a list of shows, all of which are parodies of existing series from the past and the present, arranged from most popular to least popular; click on any one of the shows and you’ll see the role you can potentially play (with character name, gender, and age), the type of role (lead, regular, ensemble, recurring), the show’s genre (crime, drama, action, sitcom, etc.), the company producing the show, and the number of years that it’s been on the air.

Below this, you’ll see three bars indicating the show’s popularity, the quality of its script, and your fit for the role — for example, you’ll be a bad fit if you’re a 30-year-old male auditioning to play a 50-year-old female, but if the character is also male and in the same age range, you should be a great fit. You’ll want to evaluate these three metrics, as well as the type of role, before choosing one on your own — these could play a major part in determining your popularity as a famous actor!

After choosing a role to audition for, you’ll go through the audition process, with the rate of success depending on your skill as an actor, your overall Fame, and your Reputation, which we shall be discussing later on in this guide. If you get the job, you will then be given three choices — accept the role with the current compensation per episode, ask your agent if they can negotiate for a higher rate, or turn it down.

Auditioning For Movies Works Similarly, But With A Few Key Differences

While the small screen is a great place to start if you’re not a natural born actor, the big screen is where it’s at for those who’ve completely filled up their Skills bar as an actor. If that’s the case, you can instantly audition for movie roles the moment you kick off your acting career — no need to start out on TV or worse, sign up as an extra. The process works similarly when it comes to choosing films to star in, but there are a few differences worth noting that we shall be discussing below.

bitlife audition

The Movie Roles menu, once accessed, will show you a list of films you can audition for, arranged from best script quality got worst script quality — naturally, you want to avoid the films where the Script Quality bar is red or orange, unless your acting skills aren’t on the up-and-up and you’re hoping to make the transition to the big screen by starting out with smaller projects.

Otherwise, by all means, aim high and go for the films that have a good quality script or better, as these are likelier than most to get critical acclaim and improve your chances of winning some awards later down the line. Similar to the TV roles, you will also see the type of role next to the name of the project — you can either play a bit role, supporting role, or lead role.

Click on any of the films and you’ll see some basic information on your role (again, that would be your character’s name, age, and gender), the role type, the name of the film, the genre (comedy, drama, thriller, horror, etc.), the rating (G, PG, R, etc.), the director’s name, the production company, and the budget. The film’s budget is probably the most important of these basic details, as a higher budget, naturally, increases your chances of getting consideration when awards season rolls along, and impacts your odds of getting good reviews for your performance.

bitlife contract offer

Small budgets, after all, can only go so far. Below the basic details, you’ll see the Script Quality bar once again, plus another bar indicating your fit for the role. These are again important things to consider, as you may end up getting limited by a poor script, while a poor fit means that all the acting talent in the world might not be enough for you to make the most out of the character you’re playing.

If you successfully nail your audition, you’ll be presented with a contract, which shows your compensation for the film role, the name of your character and the type of role, the film name and rating, the director’s name, the producer, and the budget. The same thing applies when it comes to your options — you can accept the part, have your agent do the talking if you feel you should be earning more for the part, or turn it down.

No Skills? No Experience? Try Working As An Extra!

So you’re a regular schlub with no acting skills and no acting experience, or perhaps a similarly unskilled and inexperienced individual who happens to be famous for something else — you may, for instance, be a famous athlete looking for something exciting to do now that your playing career is over. You still can enter the world of show business through BitLife’s Movie Star Update, but in such cases, you may be better off trying to get your foot in the door by looking for available opportunities as an extra.

bitlife extra

Obviously, by the term alone, you shouldn’t expect any of the glitz and glamour movie stars get to enjoy on a daily basis — you won’t be credited, you won’t be given any lines, you won’t be asked to do anything special on the TV show or movie. You shouldn’t expect a lot of money either, as you’ll typically get a few hundred dollars for your tiny little part.

bitlife extra role

And there’s no guarantee there will be any movies or series willing to cast you as an extra. But appearing as an extra could give your acting resume a bit of a boost, and possibly lead to bigger things such as a bit part in a film or on a TV show.

You Can Do A Number Of Things On Set Once Accepted For A TV Or Movie Role

After accepting a TV or movie role, you will not be able to accept any other role on the side — the BitLife universe works differently than the real world, so you won’t end up as one of those actors juggling multiple roles at the same time. You will, however, have a wide range of things to do, regardless whether you’re acting on the big or small screen.

Under the Job section, you’ll see some basic info on the role you’re playing, including your character’s name, the type of role, and the age and gender of your character — you’ll also notice a corresponding avatar for your character, which may look different from your default appearance. Below that, you can see the TV show or movie’s basics, including script quality and popularity/budget.

bitlife acting jobs

However, the real fun starts when you explore the options below, starting with Cast and Crew, which allows you to interact with other people starring in the project, as well as your director, if you’re a movie star.

Develop Character lets you do random things in public while staying in character, and this could improve your potential performance, as well as boost your Reputation, which can be seen underneath the basic stats and determines your likelihood of getting good roles. Filmography simply shows you a list of all the films and TV series you’ve appeared in, and Practice lets you run through your lines to help you improve your odds of a good performance in the film.

Next on the Job menu for actors is Publicity Stunt, which may cover entering contests or promoting your project on a podcast or a Reddit AMA — this helps improve the chances of the movie earning big money at the box office and receiving awards consideration. Lastly, you can storm off the set by entering Quit, though doing so could take a huge hit on your Reputation.

bitlife reddit ama

At the end of the day, most of these different options are worth looking into as you rise from bit player to regular leading man/woman, but there is something else that could play a part in enhancing or damaging your Reputation…or more like a specific group of choices responsible for your Reputation’s improvement or decline.

Expect Your Director To Ask You To Do Random Things, Including Drugs

As long as you’re assigned to an acting project, hitting the Age button will launch a series of dialog boxes that all put you in random situations involving your director or any other people currently working on the movie.

These situations are very important, as answering in the affirmative, especially when speaking to your director, could earn you a huge boost in Reputation. Answering in the negative, on the other hand, could result in anywhere from a minor or substantial hit to your Reputation — sounds fair enough, right? Unfortunately, that’s not exactly the case in all instances.

Granted, many of the actions you may be asked to do in these scenarios are benign and harmless. If your director asks you to fly to another country to shoot the film or TV show, then agree, by all means. Unsure of how to react to a castmate who keeps flubbing their lines? Choose the option that allows you to help them out.

bitlife ritalin

That’s all fine and dandy, but there may be occasions where your director will, in the interest of keeping things authentic, ask you to take some drugs. Or you may be asked to consume exotic foods or worse, stuff that isn’t actually edible, such as glue. Saying no to these questions would normally be recommended, as potential addiction works the same way as it does when consuming drugs and alcohol in the club.

If asked to eat some weird food, you can go for it, as food poisoning is the worst that can happen to you in most cases, but when dealing with someone who’s offering you illegal drugs, just say no — keeping your reputation immaculate wouldn’t be worth the risk of getting addicted, or worse, overdosing.

Dealing With Castmates

One way to ensure the TV show or movie you’re starring in keeps running smoothly and does well in the box office and with critics is by fostering friendships, or even merely positive relationships with your castmates. Interestingly, BitLife’s Movie Star Update has made it hard for NPC actors to act like prima donnas or jerks like real actors sometimes do, as there aren’t any options to spread rumors or play pranks.

Instead, most of the options you have at your disposal generally lead to positive outcomes. You can ask them out in hopes that the two of you make the next Hollywood power couple, simply befriend them, give them compliments, have conversations with them, give them gifts, hook up with them, insult them, rehearse lines with them, or spend time and do everyday things with them.

bitlife co-star

Obviously, Insult will always have a negative outcome and damage your Reputation a little bit, while Hook Up may also hurt your Reputation if the person you’re trying to hook up with rejects your advances. There’s nothing much to worry about if the actor doesn’t want to go on a date or be friends with you, but other than that, everything’s designed to help you build strong relationships with your castmates, even if the show has been cancelled or the movie has already been shot.

More Awards Means Better Roles

As a famous actor, you can still do the usual things that you can do as a famous person in BitLife — you can get your social media accounts verified, publish autobiographies, pose for sexy photoshoots, do commercials, or, if your Fame is at a perfect 100 percent or thereabouts, appear on talk shows. However, there is one specific thing unique to the Movie Star Update that can also boost your Fame stat while also opening things up for better roles that could pay you more money, and making you more attractive to the studios with big budgets and talented scriptwriters.

bitlife movie success

That specific thing is awards, as the update comes with its own BitLife equivalents to the Emmys (for TV shows) and Golden Globes (for movies) — unfortunately, it would seem that there isn’t any Oscars equivalent at the time of writing.

While the Emmys and Oscars/Golden Globes have tons of different awards, BitLife keeps it simple with the Movie Star Update, and both have only two — Best TV Show/Best Picture, and Best Actor/Actress. If you’re nominated for the latter award, you will be given the option to attend in person, attend via video call, or no-show the event — obviously, the first two options are much more preferable than the last one, unless you’re trying to make your character the ultimate prima donna actor.

bitlife silver globe award

Winning Best Picture or Best TV Show honors could give your Fame a bit of a boost, and could also improve your Reputation stat. But the bigger boosts come from the Best Actor/Actress Awards, as these make it clear that you’re a bankable star and someone the studios can rely on for most given roles.

The game determines who gets Best Actor/Actress mostly based on your Performance in the project, though critical reception, popularity (for TV shows), and box office success (for films) will also influence the game’s choices — it’s very rare, after all, for people to win Best Actor awards for box office and/or critical flops!

bitlife acceptance speech

Should you win Best Actor or Actress, you will then be asked to work the sliders to determine what type of speech you wish to make while accepting the award — you can play around with the Smugness, Gratitude, and Length sliders to see what works the best, but generally speaking, crowds would be most receptive of a combination of high Gratitude (but not too high), reasonable Length, and minimal Smugness at the very most.

Your performance in the speech may positively or negatively affect your Reputation, so once you’ve found the type of speech that works for you the best, go use it, or try a small variation of it if you win multiple Best Actor/Actress awards.

Sam

Monday 31st of July 2023

I find that, if you have high fame and acting skill and an agent to negotiate the pay, as long as you get a lead role the script quality and such doesn't matter all that much.bin fact the only times (I believe it was 3) I have won the Bitty was when acting for a very low quality script (close to red quality) show. Also Shows are a LOT easier to successfully audition for. I have never successfully auditioned for a movie (granted it was always early on before I get famous) and I have gone through (technically) 3 generations of actors.

Luk

Tuesday 3rd of January 2023

How do you retire from this?

Sam

Monday 31st of July 2023

@Luk, (for shows, idk for movies) you go to the show, scroll down, and select "quit role"

Eddie

Tuesday 11th of October 2022

As of the time I write this comment, there *is* now an Oscars equivalent-- the Bitcademy Awards.

Eddie

Sunday 9th of October 2022

Most of my movie actor's roles are box-office sensations but critical flops. Any idea what I can do to change that?

Shawn

Monday 11th of April 2022

Question: Should one visit the optometrist and the barber (hair colorist) to look like their role? I've noticed it changes for every role, and so far I DO this, but I'm not sure if it matters... Because my actress just landed a new role... But the role has gray hair... I can't get gray as an option... Lol .. I went with platinum blonde. The glasses are tricky to match the right color, but it will come eventually.

Oh... and you are VERY correct about drugs... I had an actor straight up DIE immediately after the director asked him to take Oxycodone for a shoot. I continued the game as my child. Now, you'd THINK I would be able to sue the murderous director... But no.

I instead opted to "follow in my fathers' footsteps," (albeit, drug free) to get revenge for my poor poor father! The child is already a famous award winning movie star... And she knows Jiu Jitsu.

Let me find that director.