Rejection, Nepo Babies, And Living Paycheck To Paycheck: Making It As A Working Actor

In this week's TFC, Chelsea sits down with Sam of the One Broke Actress podcast to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly of making it as an actor in Hollywood when you don't come from wealth or connections.

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[samvalentineLA]

I am so honored to be included in TFD's work, thank you so much for having me and sharing the stories of what it's really like!

[pGHz]

This is WEIRDLY similar to the experience of first generation academics. Like I would never think a physicist and actor have so much in common. In both it's all hush hush inside knowledge, so much due to connections, if you can't afford to go to the big event and meet people who could hire you, too bad you're probably not gonna make it, there's a huge cost in trying to make it look like you belong there --getting fancy upper class people food and drinks, keeping a website, paying your own professional memberships, etc--, your jobs are contract (until you're like 40 if you're lucky) and you feel like you're always gonna be unlucky next round, the public doesn't get where the money comes from and that its a few weird pools with every scientist pulling for them which just makes it hard to explain, you're probably paid less than most people would think (still thinking of those hilarious tweets from tech bros thinking new researchers make over 50K or professors make like 150-200K), constant rejection and the expectation that you never take it personally on all your school and job applications and the funding apps you spent literal weeks on with no feedback, pushing back your work, and finally it being a field that your family is just not understanding, even if they are supportive they just don't get if/why you're in school, when your out, how you get jobs, which ones you're qualified for, people managing you who can act out of your interests even if well meaning,

[monideun]

I'm a scientist, and I know many people here will not believe me when I say this: but an artists and scientists career are very similar financially and emotionally. I've been saying this for years (knowning many artists) and this just makes me more confident in the comparison.

This conversation plays out exactly like every convo I have with my scientific friends about our career choices. The constant rejection and criticism (aimed at your ideas and intelligence, rather than your looks, although as a women this also happens), the nepotism, the moving from the job to job with little financially security, the idea that if you leave you aren't a scientist, constant thoughts and plans on how to get out if the money is pulled from under you, no one talking about it and pretending nothing is wrong. It would be interesting if you could have a chat to a postdoctoral researcher about this.

[Fabdanc]

So much better than those minimalism bros because she is not answering every question like she is on a TedX stage.

[kaw]

I'm a stay at home mom and I have been asked so many times, "so what do you do?" And I'm like "wipe a butt and pick up toys" I've even had a friend suggest I work from home with my 15 month old, who just learned to climb. People need to respect motherhood and back off.

[pGHz]

Million points to her for acknowledging the privilege of no or very little debt!

[FaivenFeshazion]

I’m a debt-free actor in NYC and my other job is freelance event captain. I do agree that most of us don’t feel like we “made it” unless we are a series regular (full-time, a main character) on a show and can afford to quit the other job - regardless of how many smaller TV/film/theater credits we have

[innerblackbeauty]

One of the reasons Viola Davis choose Julliard w/ because she got an agent after graduating from acting school. Back in the day, Julliard made a point of connecting their actors to agents upon completion of degree. To be successful in entrainment industry--- one has to be very strategic, have decent budgeting ($) skills, and be business minded. Kerry Washington was substitute teacher in NYC while auditioning during pilot season. Speaking of pure creative expression, I know a lot of people who step away from L.A. & go back to doing regional theater from time to time.

[modelno]

My acting career in Los Angeles lasted 3 years, and I left. Just like Sam, I moved there without university debt, and I still found it difficult to fund all of the things she mentioned to even get close to being seen by casting teams, much less find a rep. I joined the actors union a few months before I left LA, and I’ve found another niche market outside of major film/tv that is finally more forgiving for performers. The Los Angeles market is TOXIC.

[bethanybsoprano]

The opera industry is even worse-we have to pay application fees to apply for an audition, and often we aren't even granted that audition. Sometimes we pay $300+ on making up to date quality video/audio "prescreening" recordings, that many companies don't even watch (Hello, we can see the views on YouTube). In addition to all the money we spend on voice lessons, attire, advanced degrees (most of us have a masters), and on top of it all the opera industry has found a loophole to pay singers less than minimum wage as part of a "young artist program" where they can legally provide housing and a stipend and that's somehow ok. Meanwhile, singers live in places like NYC, San Francisco, Chicago, etc., and have to try to sublet their places or end up paying rent anyway. The opera industry is a HUGE scam.

[itsthedeek]

So true about the pressure on women to both have kids and to in no way seem like they have had kids once they do. Their bodies are still treated as existing for the sexual interest of the world at large, even if they've just gone through the trauma of birth. And they're expected to not have to but anything else on the backburner in order to become a parent, but simultaneously to make their kid their whole world or else they're a terrible mom.

Great interview; I had no idea about all that BS around the contracts, 12-hour workdays, etc. It's good that they have the union to at least offer some basic protections, but there should be a much higher floor on how badly entertainment workers are allowed to be treated.

[LG-zgmw]

Well done talking about the hard topics such as nepotism. Denying they are privileged and got an advantage in the business is gaslighting and dishonest!

[YourSwollenToe]

Hi Chelsea and the TFG team, please be aware there has been a crazy inundation of spam in the comments section of this video (and other videos as well). I’ve had to report 2-3 already, and the video hasn’t even been up for an hour.

[antiantipoda]

I am a woman in Brazil. I actually worked as a photographer for a while, while also working as a programmer. At one point I thought I might make it a go of being a full time photographer. So I opened a spreadsheet and calculated two years of expenses, living and business to open a studio and do fashion photography. It was a very optimistic estimative of what it would cost to get it up and running for just two years until I got enough work. It was an untenable sum to save up and a very unwise sum to finance.

I made up my mind then and there that photography would be a hobby and not a job. Years later I gave away and sold all my photo equipment, because I realized that while I love to produce and shoot, I hate to post produce images (I am also pretty lousy at it, maybe both go together).

[dazedneptune]

Woof. Gonna strap in for this one as a person who once wanted to be part of the industry. It’s so infuriating how many misconceptions there are about an acting career and how many people mock it. This capitalist culture has such a love/hate relationship with artists in general. I think the acting industry reflects capitalism overall in a nutshell. Not to mention, actors from marginalized identities have it even harder. Not just because there’s far less roles, but they’re also less likely to have as many resources to start out with.

[sarahwatts]

Okay wait wait...So an actor gets paid $1000 and $200 goes to their manager and agent, but the actor still pays taxes on the $1000....Do the manager and agent not pay taxes on that $200 income or is the government collecting twice?

[julie]

I'm only 10 minutes in, but already see so many similarities between this and my own career as a classical singer. I often joke that you've got to be rich to be a classical musician, since the cost of voice lessons, coachings, courses and masterclasses, making professional recordings for audition pre-selections and marketing, travel for auditions (I live in Northern Europe and often have to travel out of my country for auditions), concert attire, sheet music, etc etc etc. Not to mention the competitiveness and very meager pay. As singers, we are also prone to cancelling because of illness, since a simple cold can knock us out. I graduated in May and don't have tons of work yet, but I'm making ends meet. One of the next steps for me now is to find a side hustle that allows me to save for the months when I am not getting enough singing work. It's hard though to find a job that will give me the flexibility to go off and sing sometimes for weeks on end in another country. Any ideas would be appreciated lol...

[oxigen]

It's funny you mentioned Tom Cruise because just recently I fell into a rabbit hole of ex-scientologists "whistleblowers" and oh boy, Tom Cruise is NOT just like you and me.

[micheleogle]

Acting is similar to being in the music business. The nepotism, sexist and financial stranglehold to make it. Think the female group TLC and how they were getting Grammies but were broke. Being on top has a cost. It's so much harder than people think.

[wanr]

Whoever thinks going to entertainment industry means easy money, they will be horribly mistaken. Easy money is the last thing that should be expected. Not only in Hollywood but anywhere in the entertainment world.