This can be a very depressing life I’ve signed myself up for.
Oh yes, poor me, I get paid to pretend. To remember some words and speak them on cue, sometimes more than once. Perhaps I’ll have to run, or juggle, or learn to play a harmonica, they’re all things I do for which I could get paid.
When I actually have a job that requires those things. The reason actors get paid well (aside from the emotional connection an audience forms to a pretty face that allows marketing companies to sell shoes) is that the work is never guaranteed, and opportunities can be few and far between. Sometimes the phone doesn’t ring that often, and you can’t live your life staring at a piece of technology trying to will it into giving you human interaction.
Keeping positive in the down time is the name of the game, and there’s only so many different ways you can reassure yourself that your current bout of unemployment has nothing to do with you. My current favourites are that May/June is always a quiet time in the industry, and the strength of the dollar is keeping more big projects from starting up.
True, but a little sad that these are the thoughts the get me through the day.
And although it is possible to watch two seasons of Entourage in one day, before long you start to dream of living the Chase boys’ free and easy lifestyle despite their invisible morals and shallow existence and the highly unrealistic depiction of industry life – I’ve never been to LA professionally, but I can’t believe anyone in the world is like those characters.
So what do I do? Say yes to as much as possible, to keep myself active and interesting.
For instance, this time last week I had no plans of any kind and I ended up making money. Some came from a last minute offer to teach, as I have spoken of before, some from working for a friend as a singing telegram. Not the most glamourous work, but I’ve done stranger things in public for less money, mainly for these guys.
Now, the teaching work came from actress M I’ve worked with onstage. It was after graduating from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts that I was first associated with her company, working with director T who also studied at WAAPA some years before.
I heard of his auditions from a mutual friend of ours C, who once worked in the same building as me, but we actually met performing in a youth theatre show together before I moved to Perth to study. I found out about that show from close work colleague E, and it was directed by A, a man whose work I had previously seen out of professional interest and had held in high regard.
I still believe that without working with man A I wouldn’t have had the self-awareness to get through my drama school auditions. Also, mutual friend C and I now share a house with friends. 5 years of saying yes to friends, none of it to paid work, has led to unexpected opportunities.
And the singing telegrams? They came from actor D who runs an entertainment company. Him I met while performing in Peter Pan, produced by Y – a man with whom I have many mutual friends, including director T. The audition for that I heard about through another housemate J who I met through C and others at that same youth theatre many years ago. Again, saying yes to little or no money has led me to a greater community, close friends and some unexpectedly fun work!
And this week? I have nothing planned! So I’m volunteering for the weekend with friends working on Underground Cinema, which should be fun. I’m playing music with old mates, I’m hopefully going to write some more, I’m going to read things and keep my skills sharp.
Because soon the phone will ring, and I’ll be ready to say yes!
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