Finding Meaningful Work Outside the Industry
A common problem I hear when talking with actors is the lack of fulfilment they feel outside of acting. All their eggs are seemingly in one basket. If they aren’t booking, they aren’t enjoying themselves. When they land a job its great, but when it’s quiet... its hell. So when we are in an industry where jobs are far outnumbered by the people trying to work we run into a few problems.
Quotes like this echo through the industry: “2% of actors are employed at one time”.
So unless we are one of the few lucky employed actors, chances are we find ourselves working in other industries to support ourselves. We spend a lot of our time working these other jobs. We have to pay rent. Cost of living is a nightmare. We feel like we are spending our lives waiting for something that just refuses to come. We start idealising a fantasy where we hand in our resignation after booking "the job" and are finally employed full time as an actor. There is nothing wrong with aiming big - but - we start getting desperate when it doesn't seem to be happening for us. We miss other wonderful things happening in our lives and instead focus on the fact that we just can’t seem to get that lucky break.
We double down on our efforts to book that next job. We have less sleep. We don’t see friends. We study harder, work longer and at the same time make sure we turn up to a job we don’t enjoy. We very quickly exhaust ourselves and burn out, finding ourselves in an emotional mess. Feeling more hopeless than ever.
My recommendation: Instead of "doubling down" on our efforts in auditioning, for the moment, lets have a look at the other side. The in-between work. The survival job. Why not find a job that both fulfils us & is flexible. One that fits perfectly in with our acting work. There are so many wonderful opportunities out there.
First, have a look at your values. Write them down. Then ask what jobs incorporate those values?
If you like the idea of caring for others, look at jobs in health or support.
Do you love connecting and sharing knowledge with others? Maybe teaching could be a good fit.
Like the idea of events organising? Do that!
If you adore nature, plants or animals, look at job opportunities in those areas.
Love travel? Work for an Airline.
Your chosen field of work may require some study, but hey, if you're in the biz of acting for the long run, study will be a blip on the radar.
Think outside the box. Don't settle. Don't just stay in a job that you feel "Meh" about. Find one that sings to you. Something you can get excited about in between the work you do on set.
Once you've found the work you enjoy, look out for fulfilment in other areas of your life. Perhaps you've said "No" to a great deal of things in the expectation that your acting career will be better for it.
Have you stayed clear of dating over the last while because it's "time consuming"? Go out there and look for that person. Have you traveled recently? Spend some money and go have a damn holiday. Haven't seen your friends in months? Have them over for dinner. Do something thats far more important than knuckling down and working. Go out and live.
That way you can enjoy all of your life and if acting work comes around (which it will) it's just a bonus. All this "other" stuff would likely boosts the quality of your work because you wouldn’t be operating out of desperation and a "need for the job". You'd be creating and working out of joy. That's why we are acting right? Because it's fun.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are you in a line of work that you love? What "in-between-gig" job has brought you joy? Offer some suggestions for flexible work by sharing in the comments section. You'd be likely helping other readers figure it out for themselves. Talk soon.
Lachlan is an Australian Actor who has been working within the industry nearing a decade. He’s worked in Film & Theatre.
Great read brother! The whole go out and live concept is unfortunately something that took me far too long to come around to as an actor. In acting school it was rather taught to me to knuckle down on one thing and develop tunnel vision but after a while you find that that idea is really only relevant for paths that include a blueprint and structural system (a career in the arts is definitely not that).
You reach burnout pretty quickly and it becomes easy to feel unfulfilled, unworthy jaded.
When it did finally click for me that it was okay to explore other things simultaneously it actually became a total game changer in life and in my acting work…