An Actor on the Expenses to Keep in Mind for Your Career

There is no definitive how to for actors. Every career evolves on its own unique timeline and many actors flame out not knowing what to do to reach their goals. One of my teachers, who’s taught some of the biggest names in Hollywood, says, “Acting is a beautiful hobby...it’s just a terrible business.” When I was starting out, people were so obsessed with getting their SAG card when the real goal should be getting experience. If you’re a young actor, reading Backstage as a way to help your career and you think of yourself as an artist, you’re only half-right. You need to be two people in one: artist and entrepreneur. 

For your art to become your career, you need to think of yourself as a small start-up, where the product just happens to be you, and find a way to make it sustainable. In order to make it sustainable, you need to have a plan and you need to think about something you probably don’t want to think about: money.

I’m not saying you need to drop out of scene study class and get your MBA, but you do need think about one simple concept: dollars in, dollars out. It’s that simple. How much are you spending every month? How much are you earning and saving? If you keep this simple balance-sheet concept in your head it can help you survive when your colleagues are forced into early retirement. I did my grinding in the mid-’90s in New York City and I’m sure many things have changed since then. Yet, this simple concept remains the same. You need to think of your necessary costs and keep them down as much as possible. When you spend, spend the lion’s share of your time and money on your craft and getting the word out about your product: you.

If you have access to a trust fund, God bless you. Stop reading and just go work on your craft. If you don’t, and you have to figure out how to feed yourself and pay your rent every month, consider what I'm telling you. Find a place to live that is financially sustainable while also being close enough to the creative fire of your city. Proximity is power, so you may pay slightly more to live in an area surrounded by fellow artists but those relationships could pay dividends down the road through collaboration and other benefits of being a part of the artistic collective. If you can’t afford to live in the artistic mecca, do what I did for a short period and commute into the city for a great class so you can begin to cultivate relationships with other artists and benefit from great teachers who may not be accessible in remote areas. 

Think about costs upfront so you can plan for them. These costs include classes, headshots, and access to acting opportunities through papers or website subscriptions (when I was coming up I paid for the Backstage weekly newspaper and that was how I found auditions before I had representation). This may sound contradictory, but don’t skimp. At the same time, don’t be an idiot when it comes to money. Translation: pay the extra $2/300 for a great headshot photographer or teacher, but don’t buy five extra rounds of margaritas for your classmates if you can’t afford it. Be smart and disciplined.  

One cost people grossly underestimate is the cost of working. Let me explain. When I used to bartend in NYC I’d earn a good amount of money from my shifts. But when I landed a gig, many times in unpaid black-box theaters or student films, I’d have to give up bartending shifts to do the gig. You need to do the gig because you need experience. So, in order to be able to afford to do the gig, you need to be smart about your spending when you’re earning money. Don’t spend it all. Have a plan so that you can draw from that pile of money, even if it’s not a big pile, when you’re getting acting experience. If you don’t do this, it won’t be long until you can’t sustain yourself. Even if you have goodwill and support around you from friends or parents, people will only help you for so long if you’re a sinking ship.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s break it down:  

1. Always be learning.
Attend scene study class and online courses, listen to podcast interviews, go to the theater or movies or museum, watch DVDs with director commentaries, etc.

2. Always be selling.
I don’t mean this in the literal sense. You don’t need to be the annoying pest who is constantly handing out postcards to your shows, but tell your story and your goals over and over. This solidifies them for you and lets others know what it is that you provide in case they may need it someday and hire you. Set yourself up so that you can do this for as long as possible even if no money comes in for your artistic services for years.  

The name of the game is who can last long enough to get their shot at the title. And who is going to be ready for that shot when it comes? Do you want to be fancy and frivolous now and never live your dream? Or do you want to be disciplined now and eventually get paid to do what you'd gladly do for free?  

The choice is yours.