Why There Is Shame in Actors Having Day Jobs
Geffory Owens says “There is no job that’s better than another job,” he continued. “It might pay better, it might have better benefits, it might look better on a resume and on paper, but actually it’s not better “ In the light of this comment, it discusses that Acting is a job just like any other, which is why actors have been particularly vocal in the ensuing aftermath of the Owens incident. Many established actors from film, television, and theater have spoken up to share their experiences—past and present—with day jobs and to hopefully remove the stigma surrounding them.
Actors have long been part of the gig economy. Roles and benefits come and go unpredictably. Side jobs with flexible hours are a fact of life. The performers I know have been office managers, S.A.T. tutors, dog-walkers, P.R. assistants, financial advisers, and, of course, waiters. One actor friend is learning calligraphy so she can start her own business. A comedian I know used to wait tables at a restaurant back home in Ireland, but she wouldn’t tell her friends which one it was, for fear of being caught in the act of working. Even when roles do come along, they can be a very big financial strain. One friend of mine was recently in a sold-out show that was critically acclaimed and extended twice, for which she earned a starting salary of five hundred and six pounds a week. Most non-performers think of the struggling-actor life as a temporary pit stop on the road to fame and fortune, but name recognition isn’t a permeant plan. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
HIS statement “There is no job that’s better than another job” concerning Geoffroy Owens having such a great past and comparing his current situation of having to work at a supermarket to supply for his family and also being well known in the acting industry, personally Having been on both sides of the fence—holding a “glamorous” job and an “ordinary” job—Owens urges us to reevaluate the idea that some jobs are menial or meaningless. To Owens, “There is no job that’s better than another. It may pay better, it may have better benefits, it may look better on paper. But it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile.
Statistics
Baftas is a glitzy ceremony at a time while the country continues to provide a stream of actors for some of America’s biggest films and television shows.
Yet, beyond the glamour, the reality for the vast majority of actors is that the profession fails to pay the bills and many have to work second jobs and perform for free in the hope they will get noticed.
Statics show that “startling figures released in 2014 reveal that over 75 per cent of actors earned less than £5,000 from being on stage or in front of the cameras last year.
Available from:https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/just
According to Casting Call Pro (CCP), a casting website, commissioned one of the largest recent surveys into actors earnings and found that just 2% earned over £20,000 in the whole year. The numbers support the findings of a survey carried out last year by acting union Equity.
Available from:https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/just
The survey found that in 2013, 46 per cent of actors made less than £1,000 from acting jobs and a further 30 per cent had made between £1,000 and £5,000.
Malcolm Sinclair, president of Equity, said he was “slightly surprised” by quite how many earned less than £5,000 last year, “but I’m not surprised by the trend. I work with a lot of actors through acting and the union, and know a lot of members who are struggling.”
While I’ve long been aware that the vast majority of people in the entertainment industry fail to “make it big,” or even “make it” at all, I don’t think of them as laborers. Indeed, even though I know that those who do succeed at the highest levels often work under conditions for long hours, I tend not to think of them as having a “real job.” That’s true of actors and singers but also professional athletes and fashion models. Seeing form the statistics being an actor in the UK it is not all peaches.
Pros and Cons of a Day job while being an aspiring Actor
Too many actors, even those whose names you know, go broke, suffer with depression. nearly every famous actor had to endure a survival job to pay the bills before they made it big. While they never lost sight of their dreams, these jobs played formative roles in the early lives of these struggling artists, providing opportunities to practice their skills, gain insight into themselves and others, or learn when to say no.
Working an “ordinary” job, your mind might fill with miserable thoughts: Three hours before my shift is over. What a meaningless job. I can’t wait to get home and veg out.
You may believe such miserable thoughts are generated by the work or the workplace culture. Owens might say you are mistaken: You have given such thoughts of victimization all the meaning they have. You can make a different meaning out of the same set of responsibilities.
It is all about being and having a mindset of a difference maker.
In the book Great Work, David Sturt reports on research by Professors Jane Dutton and Amy Wrzesniewski who studied “how people in unglamorous jobs were coping with what they called ‘devalued work.’” They began with hospital janitors and found:
[A] certain subset of housekeepers didn’t see themselves as part of the janitorial staff at all. They saw themselves as part of the professional staff, as part of the healing team. And that changed everything. These people would get to know the patients and their families and would offer support in small but important ways. It was emphasized that citations in a text should be consistent (Jane and Amy 2013).
Cons
It will exhaust you; it will distract you and it will prevent you from going for it with all your heart. It is nearly impossible to have a steady 9-5 job and audition and then take on roles in theatre/ film/ TV. The nature of a 9-5 requires you to be there every weekday between 9am and 5pm which happens to be the time that most auditions take place. Also, if you do make it to an audition, and then you get the job, you will very likely be rehearsing and/or shooting during the day. Working with off-off Broadway theatre companies will usually allow 9-5ers the opportunity to have a job and still do theatre because rehearsals and performances tend to be on evenings and weekends. Also, student films and shorts often times are shot on weekends or over just a few days, so you can bundle together a few sick and personal days to work on short projects. If your career is acting then you need to be prepared to leave that 9-5 at a moment’s notice to take on a film that may only shoot for a few weeks or a play that has a run and rehearsal of only three months. After that film or play, there will not be a job to go back to and you need to be okay with that.
Conclusion
So to answer the question lot of that “rich actor” stuff is luck. It also helps if you’re born famous because you have famous parents, or if you are born into enough money that you don’t need a day job to subsidize your artistic labors. And plenty of us working artists with day jobs still have some help from outside sources, like parents, a generous sibling, or a spouse or partner with a higher-paying job.
After the lights dim and the makeup comes off, one goes back to one’s day job. And if one wishes to keep one’s day job, one puts in effort without whining or complaining that one was REALLY meant to be on red carpets 24/7. You may be a fantastic artist in any format, but if you think you’re better than your day job, you should probably not let this on to the other folks working hard right alongside you.
But personally, I enjoy most of it. I enjoy the social aspect of a day job, because while I don’t usually hang out with my coworkers in person, I get to chat with them all day and see them in person a few times a year for meetings. I don’t have a mansion but I’m comfortable
In short, no shame. You’ve got a family to support and you’re able-bodied and in your right mind — so you go out and get a job. Any job. And you don’t apologize.
Biliography
https://puttylike.com/dont-let-anyone-shame-you-for-having-a-day-job/
https://www.faithandworkla.com/blog-home/job-shaming
https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/25/shaming-actors-day-jobs-classism-disguised-entertainment-109
https://www.inc.com/damon-brown/day-job-shaming-is-stupid-heres-why-going-all-in-could-be-your-failure.html
https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/shame-actors-day-jobs-65185/