Qualifications
If you want to be an actuary, you'll need to be a computer whiz, a math whiz, an economics whiz, a business whiz, and a project management whiz—you should really just be a whiz all over the place. You'll also need a degree in something like mathematics, statistics, or actuarial science.
But here's the really fun part. You'll need to pass seven or eight exams over the course of seven to eight years before you're fully certified. Fortunately, you may begin by taking the first exam or two while you're still in school, and you may be hired and continue to work through the certification process on the side so that you don't have to wait until everything is wrapped up in order to enter the work force. Still, these exams are super-toughies—it's generally recommended that you put in about 400* hours of study for each.
*Not a typo.