Actor Overhaul Mod (Patreon)

Updated November 12, 2026 Free download · Tested in-game on patch 1.129.39.1030 Requires: Get Famous, XML Injector, Lumpinou’s Mood Pack and Maplebell Pie Menu.

Important update for returning players

Actor Overhaul has had quite a few changes since the original release! I've worked on the agent system, gigs, the Ward School, celebrity events and a bunch of smaller issues.

Here are the most important things to know before updating:

• Ward School enrollment is different. A scholarship now enrolls your Sim directly, and paying the school fee also enrolls them immediately. Everyone starts at class 1.

• Agents are more reliable. After you submit your information, expect a call within one Sim day. Keep your Sim’s phone off Silent. You have seven Sim days after accepting the call to arrange the meeting, and an agent who is already on your lot can be approached in person.

• Your Sim's current job matters. Joining the Ward School replaces your Sim’s current career. Getting an EA acting gig through your agent can also place your Sim in the game's acting career, making them leave their previous job.

• There is more to do. Find a Manager, Find a Publicist, updated school activities and additional production themes are part of the newer releases.

• Gigs and school activities have been corrected. Several gig outcomes, exam preparations, auditions, play resets and celebrity-event choices have received fixes.

Updating? Please remove your old Actor Overhaul packages and install the new v2.4.1 files. The download has six packages. Keep Base no matter which features you play with, and keep all six if you want the full experience. The Ward School requires both ActorActivities and Agent for graduation.

You can read the complete v2.4.1 changelog at the bottom of this post.

What is the Actor Overhaul Mod?

When I first heard that The Sims 4 was getting an acting career through Get Famous, I was so excited! But after replaying the career, I felt that there just wasn't enough depth to it. I wanted my Sims to have more ways to get started in acting, build up their careers and actually feel like they were working toward something.

That's what Actor Overhaul is for. It adds activities for actors and aspiring actors, even when they aren't ready to join the game's acting career. Your Sims can look for smaller acting roles, build their portfolios, find representation, take classes, attend an acting school and experience celebrity life.

Here is how everything works.

The Actor Dashboard

I've created a dashboard for actors and aspiring actors. Your Sim needs at least level 1 in the Acting skill to access it.

From the dashboard you can browse acting roles, sign up for the Ward School of Arts, attend local acting classes, prepare a headshot, resume and demo reel, submit to auditions and casting calls, find an agent, and hire a manager or publicist.

Browse Acting Roles

It never made much sense to me that your Sim could only find acting gigs by committing to the EA acting career. Maybe your Sim already has a job, or maybe they just want to try acting on the side.

With Browse Acting Roles, they can take on smaller jobs without signing up for that career. There are 34 roles, from behind-the-scenes jobs to acting and performance gigs. Some pay money, and the results can affect your Sim's fame, reputation or relationships.

Different roles look at different skills, such as Acting, Fitness, Comedy, Cooking and Writing. Your Sim's result depends on how prepared and skilled they are. A great performance can be rewarding, while a poor one might end badly. As they build their experience and rating, more opportunities can become available.

The November update also corrected several gigs so their outcomes and rewards better match their results.

Local Acting Classes

Maybe your Sim already works during the day but still wants to improve their Acting skill. I've added local evening acting classes for that reason.

Each class costs §100, and your Sim can go without enrolling in the EA acting career or attending the Ward School.

Headshots, Acting Resumes and Demo Reels

Actors need a way to show what they can do! Your Sim can prepare a headshot, acting resume and demo reel to help build their portfolio.

There are two studios:

• Bargain Shots, the less expensive option.

• Elite Exposure Studio, the more expensive option, with greater reputation benefits.

You can prepare the items you need through the dashboard. Once your Sim has all three, they can Submit to Auditions and Casting Calls for additional exposure. Submitting uses the materials, so you'll need to prepare them again for another submission.

These portfolio items are also important if your Sim wants an agent. Ward School students will need them later in their studies as well.

Finding an Agent

The next thing I wanted my Sims to have was an actual agent.

First, prepare a headshot, resume and demo reel. After you've collected those, go to the dashboard, choose Find an Agent, and submit your Sim's information.

An agent should contact your Sim within one Sim day, between 9 AM and 9 PM. Make sure the phone isn't on Silent the game declines the call if it is. If that happens, you can submit the information again.

If you aren't interested in an agent's offer, you can decline it. If you accept the call, Schedule Meeting With Agent will become available in the phone's MB Menu for seven Sim days.

The meeting can take place wherever your Sim is; it doesn't have to be at home. If the agent is already on your lot, the meeting option may be greyed out. In that case, go and talk to them directly.

When you meet, your Sim can learn about the agent's experience, their plans for your career and their commission before deciding whether to hire them.

What can your agent do?

Once hired, your Sim will have an Agent menu on the phone, as well as interactions with the agent in person.

You can ask for advice, ask your agent to find you a gig, discuss contracts, or fire the agent if things aren't working out.

Find Me a Gig uses opportunities from the Get Famous acting career. Your agent doesn't always find an offer; your chances improve with your Sim's Acting skill, fame and reputation.

Important: If your Sim gets one of these EA acting gigs and isn't already an actor in EA's career, the game will place them in that career. That means they can lose their previous job. You'll still need to choose an EA acting agency.

If a career gig is already booked, Find Me a Gig will be unavailable until that booking is no longer active. It's also not available to teen Sims or current Ward School students.

You can fire your agent and start searching for representation again, but don't assume the same agent will always be available to rehire.

Find a Manager

I've also added a Manager option. A manager costs §500 and provides a 25% payout boost for seven Sim days on gigs from Browse Acting Roles and the Ward School.

This boost is not for gigs in the EA acting career. When the manager's effect expires, your Sim can hire one again.

Find a Publicist

A publicist costs §750. Your Sim can choose a positive campaign to help their reputation or a negative campaign to push it in the opposite direction.

There is a waiting period between campaigns, so your Sim can't keep requesting them back-to-back.

The Ward School of Arts: Acting Department

Now let's get into the Acting Student Career, which is one of the bigger parts of this mod!

I'd describe it as a semi-active career. Sims still go to class through a rabbit hole, but they have plenty to do outside of it: auditions, exams, productions, papers, charity performances and gigs.

How to join the school

Start from the Actor Dashboard and choose Sign Up for the Ward School.

First, you can select Get Info to learn about the school. When you're ready, choose Audition and wait for the Ward Student Recruiter to visit your Sim's home lot.

When the recruiter arrives, use Start Auditions to begin the audition event. There will be goals for your Sim to complete, including a Sword Fight activity that uses an object from Build/Buy.

Your Sim's audition result and Acting skill determine whether they're turned down, admitted, or admitted with a scholarship.

This is different from the old version:

• Scholarship: your Sim enrolls directly.

• Admitted without a scholarship: return to Finances and pay the §23,500 tuition fee. Paying enrolls your Sim directly.

• Not admitted: your Sim can try again later.

Everybody begins at class 1, including scholarship students.

Important: The Ward School is a career. Joining it makes your Sim leave their existing job.

Classes and objectives

The school has eight classes, and each one has its own requirements. Along with Acting skill and preparation, your Sim has to pass a term exam and complete the activities assigned for the level.

Class 1 — Getting started Begin your Acting Student training and pass your term exam.

Class 2 — School production Perform in a school production.

Class 3 — History paper Write and submit your paper on the history of acting or theater.

Class 4 — Produce a show Plan and produce a school production.

Class 5 — Charity performance Volunteer to perform for a charity.

Class 6 — Acting gig Book an acting gig.

Class 7 — Actor portfolio Prepare a headshot, acting resume or demo reel.

Class 8 — Representation Hire an agent.

Exams are on Fridays. Your Sim can check the exam subject and rehearse for the test. Rehearsing gives the Prepared for the Exam moodlet for seven Sim days; the exam removes it.

I recommend paying attention to the class requirements before sitting the exam, especially in the final class.

Keep ActorActivities and Agent installed if you're completing the Ward School. Class 7 needs the portfolio features, and class 8 needs the agent feature.

Perform in a School Production

For one of the earlier school objectives, your Sim will audition to appear in a production.

The role they get depends on their Acting skill. After receiving a role, they can rehearse before the production. Practice matters, so make sure your Sim has spent some time preparing rather than just turning up on the day!

Paper on the History of Acting

Your Sim also has a paper to complete. This is done through the computer, where they can write, revise and research their work.

There are additional ways to improve the assignment, including research and interviews with actors or celebrities. Those aren't always easy to arrange, but they can make the project more interesting.

When your Sim is ready, they can submit their paper and wait for the grade.

Plan and Produce a Production

For class 4, your Sim gets to go behind the scenes and organize their own show!

The first step is to Select Theme. Once you've chosen a theme, the other production steps become available.

You can then run an Audition Process to cast Sims in the show. Just like in some of my other event mods, you can invite Sims you know or use Hire This Role to bring in Sims for the event.

From there, you can organize practice sessions, plan activities that help the cast build relationships and choose a date for the play. The newer versions have additional production themes to choose from.

After your Sim attends the play, the production's date, theme and preparation are cleared. That means you'll need to plan and practice again before staging another one.

Charity Performances

Another objective involves performing for a charity. The available organizations have different schedules, so choose one that fits your Sim's availability, attend the performance and complete the task.

Student Gigs

Ward School students can also book acting gigs of their own. These are separate opportunities that complement the regular roles available through Browse Acting Roles.

Graduating

Once your Sim has completed the class requirements and passed the final exam, they graduate from the Ward School.

Graduation ends the school career and provides a reputation benefit. Your Sim can then take what they've learned into the next stage of their acting career!

Celebrity Events

I've also added a collection of events for Sims who are already becoming celebrities.

This feature is accessed through the Celeb Events phone menu. Your Sim needs the Acting skill and at least one fame star to start seeing these opportunities. Each event has its own fame, day and time requirements, so more options appear as your Sim becomes more famous.

There are events such as:

• Film premieres and red-carpet galas

• Celebrity photoshoots and fashion shows

• Awards ceremonies and exclusive parties

• Charity galas and private screenings

• Luxury yacht parties, fitness retreats and other celebrity outings

These aren't just places to disappear for a few hours. During an event, your Sim may get a choice to make. Some outcomes can affect fame or reputation; others are smaller moments that add to the experience.

The newer version also explains why an event is unavailable when your Sim doesn't meet its fame requirement. Many choices that previously had no visible response now show a message.

Requirements and installation

What you'll need

• The Sims 4: Get Famous: required DLC.

• XML Injector: required to add the interactions.

• Lumpinou's Mood Pack: required for the mod's custom moods.

• Maplebell Pie Menu (maplebell_piemenu.package): provides the MB Menu folder on the phone. You only need one copy of this shared file.

Please use the current versions of the dependencies and follow the individual installation instructions.

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Download Actor Overhaul v2.4.1

The ZIP includes six packages:

1. maplebell_ActorOverhaul_Base.package

2. maplebell_ActorOverhaul_ActorActivities.package

3. maplebell_ActorOverhaul_Agent.package

4. maplebell_ActorOverhaul_Gigs.package

5. maplebell_ActorOverhaul_ActingSchool.package

6. maplebell_ActorOverhaulCelebEvents.package

Base must always stay installed. You can leave out optional feature packages you don't want, but keep all six for the full experience. If you want to complete the Ward School, you also need ActorActivities and Agent.

To update:

1. Close your game.

2. Delete all previous Actor Overhaul package files from your Mods folder and its subfolders. Avoid keeping duplicate versions.

3. Extract the v2.4.1 ZIP into your Sims 4 Mods folder.

4. Check that Get Famous and all three required dependency mods are present.

5. Delete localthumbcache.package from your Sims 4 user folder, if it exists.

6. Enable Custom Content and Mods in Game Options → Other.

Please do not install the old v2.2, v2.3 or v2.4 releases alongside v2.4.1.

Questions and concerns

The Actor Dashboard isn't showing up. Make sure your Sim has Acting skill level 1, that the Base package and XML Injector are installed, and that custom content is enabled.

I submitted my information, but the agent didn't call. Wait for the calling window, make sure the phone isn't on Silent and try submitting again if the call was missed. If the agent is already on the lot, talk to them in person.

Why can't my Sim find an EA acting gig through the agent? The agent doesn't always have an offer. Your Sim's Acting skill, fame and reputation affect the chance. An already-booked career gig also prevents another booking.

I paid the school fee. Why did my Sim leave their job? The Ward School is its own career, and enrollment replaces your Sim's previous job.

Why can't I graduate from the Ward School? Check your class objectives and term exams. The complete graduation path requires the ActorActivities and Agent packages.

Some of this doesn't work exactly like the real acting industry. I tried to research how different aspects of acting work, but some systems are simplified or intentionally adjusted to make them fit The Sims 4.

Can I report a bug or get installation help? Visit MapleBells Help and include your game version, which Actor Overhaul packages you installed and what happened in your game.

Detailed update history: v2.4.1 (November 12, 2026)

These changes build on the v2.4 feature update from October 31.

Agent fixes

• Agent calls can reach your Sim even if the selected agent is already on the lot; talk to that agent in person.

• Special Sims such as butlers and certain NPC ghosts are no longer chosen as agents.

• Agents who have aged into Elders can remain on the pending meeting list.

• A new caller is attached to the Sim who received the call, and the meeting opportunity lasts seven Sim days.

• Find Me a Gig now clearly explains when you already have a career gig booked.

• Several agent-related queue labels have been corrected.

Acting gig fixes

• Manager descriptions now specify which jobs receive the 25% bonus.

• Theatrical Treasure Hunt and Background Dancer can achieve Great Success with the appropriate skills.

• Several success and failure results have been corrected so fame and reputation change in the appropriate direction.

• Great Success and Critical Failure can produce the intended client relationship changes without needing Island Living.

• Browse Acting Roles now uses the correct career-panel information.

• The one-hour reminder refers to an acting gig rather than an odd job.

• Results for Method Actor's Assistant and Set Design Intern now display the appropriate text.

Ward School fixes

• Paying the fee or receiving a scholarship now enrolls your Sim directly at class 1.

• Prepared for the Exam lasts seven Sim days and is removed after the exam.

• Makeup and costume interviews no longer incorrectly count toward the history paper.

• Student audition roles are cleared when the Sim graduates or leaves the school.

• Attending a play clears the previous theme, date and readiness so a new production can be planned.

• Unavailable rows explain their requirements more clearly.

• Stage-kiss auditions no longer pair teens with adults or close relatives.

• Romance, Drama and Horror scenes are no longer performed autonomously.

• Several exam, admission and paper-result notifications have corrected sounds.

Celebrity Events fixes

• Events that require additional fame now explain that requirement.

• Numerous event decisions now display feedback rather than appearing to do nothing.

• The Celebrity Photoshoot's Seek Help choice now displays its outcome.

Text and general improvements

• Corrected several pronouns, grammar issues and text formatting problems.

• The update includes 66 added game-text strings and 20 changed strings.

• Other game languages currently display the English text unless a compatible translation is available.

Important things to remember after updating

• Agent-booked EA acting gigs may replace your Sim's existing job.

• Joining the Ward School replaces your Sim's existing job.

• Pending agent calls from older saves may no longer appear after the update; hired agents remain.

• Keep your phone off Silent while expecting the agent's call.

• The full Ward School graduation path requires ActorActivities and Agent.