Being an actor can feel like a one-man war against unemployment. But if you’re “resting” between jobs, don’t wallow in unwashed, biscuit-eating self-pity. Instead, take our advice, make like Missy Elliot and work it…
The only thing worse than having a job is not having one.
Being an actor can be really, really stressful. The late nights, the arguments, the alcohol, the adrenaline, the terrible (if any) money, the reviews, the gossip, the lost voices and forgotten lines. But not having those things can be infinitely worse.
Every actor, from Michael Caine to your mate Craig has had quiet times between jobs. Please try to remember that. Unless you work on a successful soap opera or as a dictator’s body double, it is extremely hard to work consistently and line up every single role to dovetail perfectly with the last. Which is why you’ll probably find yourself, in the middle of February, staring at an empty diary quietly wondering to yourself, “Will I ever work… again?”
Well, like a fairy dogmother I am here to snap you out of your stupor. Just because you’re “resting”, as they say in Hollywood, doesn’t mean you have to be restless. This is the perfect opportunity to, in the words of pet therapists across the world, “get shit done”.
Learn something
There are hundreds of actors – from James Franco to Holliday Grainger – who, between jobs, spend their days absorbed in the amazing world of academia. Of course, you don’t need to go full Franco and study two PHDs at once. I mean, what kind of idiot does that? But, there are lots of brilliant courses available through the Open University that you can study how and when suits you. Check out their website for more information.
Make your own work
Plenty of writers start out as frustrated actors, unable to get the parts. Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky because he couldn’t get any work (I can’t think why), David Nicholls wrote One Day because he “wasn’t getting any acting work” and even Shakespeare did a bit of playwriting on the side, apparently. If you have an idea for a great part, then write it. If it’s any good, get together a director, a producer, maybe some other actors and make things happen yourself. It will give you focus, give you insight, give you a great opportunity to work with other people and maybe, even, make you some money.
Go outside
For the love of crisps, just because you’re not working doesn’t mean you’re under house arrest. Hanging around in your dressing gown doesn’t make you Noel Coward. It doesn’t even make you Hugh Heffner. So, have a shower, eat something that isn’t beige, put on some shoes and get the hell out of your home. Even if you’re skint, there are hundreds of free exhibitions to visit, parks to walk in, books to read, sites to photograph, rivers to run along and buskers to heckle.
Get a new headshot
If you want to get cast, then you’ll need a good CV and a good headshot. Here at the IdeasTap spa we can help you with both. Sign up to the Spa group and you can come along to get your free headshot, a free CV clinic, not to mention networking events, Q&As with the Casting departments of many major theatres, audition masterclasses and the chance to chat to an agent. Well, it beats watching Loose Women, eating Ritz crackers with the curtains closed and crying into a sock, doesn’t it?
So there you have it. It might not make you rich. It might not make you famous. But it might just make you work.
Illustration by narcsville.
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