How do we make a living as actors? As far as I'm concerned, the ideal job for an actor is, as I mentioned earlier, becoming a working actor. But, for those of us still slogging it out in the trenches, what do we do to make ends meet?
A full-time job is out of the question if you want to be a professional actor. All your time and energy is sucked dry, trying to make your boss happy while scuttling out to rehearsals in the evenings. I've had a 9-5 and been in shows before and it's very tough. The rehearsals are where you really want to be but the job is what you need to keep to get by. Unless, by some miracle, you find a FT job that allows you completely flexible hours, you can't make it to the auditions for professional, well-paid work because you're stuck in the office.
Working a part-time job isn't bad. Of course, then you're practically a parody of yourself, being a waiter and an actor or (if you're lucky) an actor by day, bar tender by night.
As far as I can gauge it, the best way to make a living as an actor is to have a marketable skill outside of acting; a skill that will pay well and one in which you can make your own hours. Being a Spanish tutor for private schools in a wealthy 'hood, for example, would be perfect in LA. A web designer would be a good one, too. Perhaps a stylist? Use your imagination. (I'm certainly open to suggestions.)
At this point, I'd just like to find something that pays reliably. It certainly takes the edge off, taking you out of the realm of "needy actor" and placing you firmly in the "self reliant actor" category. Who knows, maybe finding the right paying work, outside of acting, might actually enrich your craft. Stranger things have happened.
Happy Hunting.
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It's gibberish until I remember what it was I was actually trying to say.
