I want to pursue professional acting, but it's a financial risk! Any advice?

fridge_raider

I'm sorry that I have nothing more to offer than this, but it seems to me that the acting route is not for you at all. You say you want a stable job, but you do think about acting. Why not keep the acting for a hobby, a passion on the side? Amateur/community drama is something you have done before and could be a good thing to get into.

You don't seem like you're fully committed to it enough to make it a career.

BrassicWoman

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/just-one-actor-in-50-makes-more-than-20000-per-year-survey-shows-9448922.html

kingslayer

BrassicWoman wrote: »

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/just-one-actor-in-50-makes-more-than-20000-per-year-survey-shows-9448922.html

Wow, thanks for the link. That is very interesting, and quite shocking. It seems that to get into acting now, you need financial backing. I remember reading on one of the acting forums a while back that a very large % of students in drama schools are from wealthy families.

I just wish there was another route into professional acting, other than 3 years at drama school which is financially draining for students who don't come from well off families. Professional agents won't even look at you without having trained for 3 years at an accredited drama school.

unlikelyheroine

I had some minor acting roles when I was younger on TV. That was fine when I was a student and could be available for a couple of random days here and there. It was not a financially viable career in the long-term because only a minority of people get consistent work. The dedicated types sleep on couches while they do national tours, wait tables all day and go on stage at night etc. Whether you get work in acting can very much depend on two things: 1. How you look - I don't mean you have to be good-looking. I mean for most roles the casting director will have an idea of looks and half of the audition process is whether you have that look (so before you even get called in they are looking at your picture. Seeing you from all angles they may decide you're a no!) 2. Who you know - without contacts (including the right agent, to be fair), you will not get anywhere.

I would never discount the value of a dream but my personal view is that anyone who tells you to "go for it" at the risk of personal expense or not having a realistic, established career with genuine progression is not doing you any favours. Acting is notoriously difficult to make it in. The chances are that you will not make it because most - 90 per cent plus - don't. I was at a youth theatre where hundreds of kids went over the years (an after-school thing, not a proper stage school). The number of people who have made it to TV roles of any notability is, I think, two. They have decent IMDB credits, but I don't think most people would recognise them on the street.

You don't sound particularly determined or hungry enough to be able to push yourself on through all the rejection that acting demands (you will "fail" most auditions because everyone does). As someone said above, there are amateur acting groups that can provide an outlet while you have a day job.

Noting all this, a family member is a wannabe actor despite all the risks. No proper TV or stage roles as yet. No other career and no house, kids or car in his mid-thirties, crashes at friends' places to fulfil roles or go for auditions. He is going for it, but that is his lifestyle, and he mostly works as an extra / background artist.

paddyrg

Forget 'burning desire' - actors NEED to act. They need to be another person enough that they'll do it with or without drama school.

Forget getting an agent just by going to drama school for 3 years - you get an agent by getting work. Agents and producers/directors don't give a damn if you went to drama school, the ONLY thing that counts is if you're right for the role. That means you look right, say the right words in the right order with the right intonation, and don't walk into the furniture.

The right look is something you can't change - there are roles for all looks.
The right words - they're written on a bit of paper, you just have to say what you're told to.
Intonation - the director will tell you how they want lines delivering, do what they say.
Furniture - don't waste peoples time, get in and out fast, be professional.

If you do that, if you start getting paid work, you'll get an agent. Agents want 15%, if you bring in work and they get 15% of you, result for them. Once you've got enough profile that people actually start searching for you on IMDB, you'll start getting better offers - but all along, nobody will care if you went to drama school or not.

Still unconvinced? Which drama schools did the following go to?
Jason Statham
Monica Bellucci
Cameron Diaz
John Travolta

Don't know? Did they even go? Isn't that the point - nobody knows or cares.

Oh, and +1 for doing a bunch of extras work - plenty of 'actors' do extras 'in between' 'proper' jobs. Fact is, it's £90/day for turning up and getting experience and finding out just how tedious life on set is.

melysion

I'm going to share a bit more on my prospective on things. I've always wanted to be a novelist. I was always writing stories as a child. But, being a novelist is one of those "pipe dream" careers in the same way as acting. Very few manuscripts ever see the light of day, and even if you do get published, even fewer reach the dizzying heights of J.K Rowling.

I listened to people who told me my dream was stupid and more or less fell into a career in science research. Until recently, I was a postdoc research fellow for 8 years. But I wasnt happy and I could no longer ignore the book burning away inside my head - so left research behind, with its long hours, weekend working and insecure short term contracts for a much lower paid permanent 9-5 job in publishing. Its the best move I could have made. I really love my job. I get to edit and write and am still in touch with science. And the best thing? I don't take my work home with me. I go home the same time every day, cook my tea and then write.

And I think that is what you would have to do if you want to act. Find a job that you would enjoy doing, but not one that would stop you pursuing your dream and go for it. At least that way you do have some stability while working towards your ultimate goal.

And talk to people in the industry, if you can. I am part of a writers group and have been to a couple of "meet the author" events now. These are first time authors, who, after years juggling their day job with their dream job have finally made it and are writing full time. There was one case of someone taking ten years to write her first novel, but she got there in the end.

It can be done, but it does require focus and determination.

soolin

Have you checked out the details on radiography as a career

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/radiographer/

You will need a degree, see here (it can be done with a diploma but that seems to take as long and will be less valuable career wise)

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/radiographer/entry-and-training/

Then this one tells you which universities offer the different degrees. You are going to need very strong A levels though and almost certainly one of them as a science.

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/courses/

unlikelyheroine

melysion wrote: »

I'm going to share a bit more on my prospective on things. I've always wanted to be a novelist. I was always writing stories as a child. But, being a novelist is one of those "pipe dream" careers in the same way as acting. Very few manuscripts ever see the light of day, and even if you do get published, even fewer reach the dizzying heights of J.K Rowling.

I listened to people who told me my dream was stupid and more or less fell into a career in science research. Until recently, I was a postdoc research fellow for 8 years. But I wasnt happy and I could no longer ignore the book burning away inside my head - so left research behind, with its long hours, weekend working and insecure short term contracts for a much lower paid permanent 9-5 job in publishing. Its the best move I could have made. I really love my job. I get to edit and write and am still in touch with science. And the best thing? I don't take my work home with me. I go home the same time every day, cook my tea and then write.

And I think that is what you would have to do if you want to act. Find a job that you would enjoy doing, but not one that would stop you pursuing your dream and go for it. At least that way you do have some stability while working towards your ultimate goal.

And talk to people in the industry, if you can. I am part of a writers group and have been to a couple of "meet the author" events now. These are first time authors, who, after years juggling their day job with their dream job have finally made it and are writing full time. There was one case of someone taking ten years to write her first novel, but she got there in the end.

It can be done, but it does require focus and determination.

You are not wrong, but writing is not a good example for this as it is very much something you can do in your own time if you work around it and keep focus, and maximise your time. I do this myself. Acting you CAN pursue professionally in your spare time (and to add to the examples above I know of a doctor who acts on the side and takes her annual leave to do so), but it's not as easy as say pursuing written or visual arts in your own time off from a job.

melysion

Shrug. I was just sharing my experiences on pursuing what a lot of people would poo poo as a unrealistic idea. I wasn't suggesting it's exactly the same thing.

pinkshoes

In a citizenship lesson with Y7, I got them to research their "chosen" career. Loads of them wanted to be actresses, and we're thrilled to find the average salary was £36k!

I then explained what an average was, and on further research, they then discovered that most actresses also have a second job to pay their rent when they have no work!

Some people can earn a living from acting, but most need alternative financial support.