5 reasons you shouldn’t be a full-time actor
If you want to succeed as a professional actor — don’t act full-time.
In my first year out of college, I was lucky enough to work as a full-time actor, performing in professional theater while teaching between shows.
I had to move back home and work myself to the bone, but I’m getting paid to do what I love. This is everything I wanted — right?
I quickly realized that my success was destroying my life.
Here’s what I learned and why you should avoid pursuing acting full-time.
1. acting doesn’t pay
Only 10-15% of actors (about 5,500 - 8,250 people) earn a full-time income… yikes.
My first full-time acting job paid me $100 a week.
Three years and a degree in acting later, I only average about $11 an hour per job. While some acting gigs pay well, they’re rare, short-lived, and highly competitive.
Without a trust fund to fall back on, you can’t survive as a full-time actor.
2. less pressure to meet expectations
In acting, reputation is everything.
Repeat work is the key to working consistently as an actor.
Casting is always going to hire actors they know are reliable, respectful, and resourceful over an actor they’re taking a chance on. So, once you’re hired, every day is an audition to prove that you’re an artist they want to work with again. This pressure can often make us scared to take risks that result in our best work.
By removing your livelihood from the equation, you have the freedom to fail.
3. freedom to create what you want
The quickest way to burnout is to consistently take work that is uninspiring.
Balancing work that excites you and work that moves your professional career forward is essential to longevity. The issue is, most of us accept roles like we’re in a famine. When you have other work supporting you, can be more selective and create what truly inspires you.
The ability to create freely is the secret to a lifetime of acting.
4. you have a real life
Actors who revolve their entire lives around acting are boring.
Far too often I meet talented actors who lack artistry because all they know is acting. While I admire their dedication, I recognize that these actors are pawns more than they’re artists. If you want to have an opinion you need to become curious about the world. But the only way to act on that curiosity is to give yourself the freedom to explore.
Curiosity drives artistry, but the demands of the industry strip it away.
5. you can’t be taken advantage of
Someone will try to take advantage of your passion (if it hasn’t happened already).
Whether that’s paying you unfair wages, treating you disrespectfully, or asking you to do more work than you were hired for. Unless you have full control over the creation and distribution of your art, there will always be someone who wants to profit from your creativity.
When you’re not desperate, you can protect yourself from being undervalued.
When acting isn’t your sole income, you gain the freedom, creativity, and resilience to sustain a fulfilling and successful career.