4 ms·

Only 2% of actors make a living. How do you become one of them?

45 points by adrian_mrd 7y ago

pg_is_a_butt 7y ago
#metoo
yellow_lead 7y ago
This article doesn't offer much advice other than "be tough and don't be late." Seems to be clickbait.
hyper_reality 7y ago
Another reminder that the advice doled out to teens to "follow your passion" when selecting a major and a future career, is rather irresponsible. Cal Newport's "So Good They Can't Ignore You" is a great read on this topic: https://commoncog.com/blog/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you/ https://commoncog.com/blog/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you/
nelsonic 7y ago
Could it be that the way to become one of the 2% is to just follow Steve Martin's advice: "Be So Good They Can't Ignore You"? 98% of people only kinda want it and the 2% who get it are the ones who put in the work to be remarkable. Those who don't make it in any field attribute the success of the few who do succeed to "luck". Luck (right place, right time and right skills - or looks in the case of acting) is definitely a factor in being able to do the work you love, but its absolutely not the only factor. Craftsmanship is the key; working really hard to be great at what you do. The advice at the end of this article is good advice for everyone; not just aspiring actors: “It’s not fair, and don’t be late”. Be punctual. But the author has excluded the most important advice that Nick Offerman offered in his book which is: show up early, work really hard and be known for both these things.
- ck425 7y ago
  That's definitely a factor, but I'd say acting has proportionately more luck involved that most professions. If you don't fit the looks that are in at the time the only real thing you can do is write your own roles. But that requires being an excellent actor and an excellent writer.
- lotsofpulp 7y ago
  If you want to bet on yourself performing better than 98% of others, you should have a safety net or no dependents.
ck425 7y ago
This is why I entered tech first. I love acting and want to go drama school but after graduating a top uni with a Compsci degree it made far more sense to spend ~10 years working as an engineer first. I can save a ton, get into a good financial position with investments and learn the skills to get well paid flexible work (tech & agile/operations consulting). After that I go to drama school in my mid/late 30s, when it's easier to get in and to get gigs, due to less competition my age (most folk have either given up or gone onto bigger roles by that age). It'll still be tough but if you don't need to worry so much about money and you have other skills to base self esteem on it'll be so much easier.
- pm90 7y ago
  Your acting skills might make you stand out as a very effective communicator in the world of Tech. It sounds like a good strategy, although I have to ask if being unemployed, struggling with what comes of that and having to interact with a whole bunch of people (while employed in part time gigs like restaurant etc.) is part of what makes actors great. They hone their skills through exposure to the wide swathes of humanity that you may not see while being gainfully employed in a nice software engineering job.
  - icxa 7y ago
    anecdotal evidence here, but our "comms specialist" (the person we bring in to help struggling tech teams communicate better) was a former improv actor and comedian, and she's great. She brings color to everything, makes the mundane feel less so and generally brings truth to laughter is the best therapy.
    - ck425 7y ago
      There's definitely a value to having those skills within tech. The flip side is that while I spend many hours pursuing acting outside of work, many of my peers instead work long hours or do loads of side projects. Early career theirs is a far more effective strategy for (tech) career growth. Longer term it might work out better me.
  - 7y ago
hhs 7y ago
This piece cites a paper where researchers used IMDb as their database. Folks at HN have expressed concern with the quality of this information [0] [1]. Still, assuming the database has some validity, one point from the research paper is interesting: "The first message that emerges from our quantitative analysis is that one-hit wonders, i.e., actors whose career spans only a single year, are the norm rather than the exception. Long career lengths and high activity are found to be exponentially rare, suggesting a scarcity of resources in the acting world. These results are in agreement with previously collected evidence, pointing to the fact that unemployment rates in actors hover around 90%, and that as low as 2% of actors are able to make a living out of acting". [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20099023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20099023 [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20128467 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20128467
mattzito 7y ago
I actually went to a prominent theater school for acting before switching careers to tech. My school, unlike many, emphasized that unless you want to treat acting like a lottery ticket you are responsible for your own success. Their general philosophy was: - take everything seriously. Be 15 minutes early for everything, learn your lines, be a professional no matter how trivial or vacuous the role. Directors and producers remember people like this and want to work with them again. - audition, audition, audition. Accept the odds are low and follow the above rules anyway. - if no one is hiring you, create your own work. Start a theater company, do improv, teach children’s theater. They took this to the degree that if you did a third year Of study there, your major project was to start your own theater company and mount two productions during the year - they had classes in marketing, business and legal issues, how to approach agents, etc. The overarching message throughout all this is that it takes the typical actor 10 years to support themselves on their craft. For both men and women there is a steep drop off in employability around 35-38, for men it rebounds in your late 40s, for women, it never really does. So you need to have your act together before then.
pmoriarty 7y ago
One of the things that can be done about this is to increase funding for the arts and arts education.
- goto11 7y ago
  Wouldn't that just create even more actors who can't make a living?
stupidcar 7y ago
The comedy TV show Party Down, about a group of struggling actors working a side-gig as caterers, provides a good insight into the mindset required to have a chance at "making it" in Hollywood. Its message seemed to be that, yes, you have virtually no chance of success, but accepting that fact means you have no chance of success. To have a chance, you have to willingly accept a degree of self-delusion, and have a support system of fellow wannabes who'll back up this self-delusion, as you back up theirs.
- leovander 7y ago
  Are we having fun yet? What a great show.
ykevinator 7y ago
I think honestly the answer is luck.
HNLurker2 7y ago
Do playwrights and you'll be called an actor. Do it in your free time?

45 points by adrian_mrd 7y ago

pg_is_a_butt 7y ago

#metoo

yellow_lead 7y ago

This article doesn't offer much advice other than "be tough and don't be late." Seems to be clickbait.

hyper_reality 7y ago

Another reminder that the advice doled out to teens to "follow your passion" when selecting a major and a future career, is rather irresponsible. Cal Newport's "So Good They Can't Ignore You" is a great read on this topic: https://commoncog.com/blog/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you/ https://commoncog.com/blog/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you/

nelsonic 7y ago

Could it be that the way to become one of the 2% is to just follow Steve Martin's advice: "Be So Good They Can't Ignore You"? 98% of people only kinda want it and the 2% who get it are the ones who put in the work to be remarkable. Those who don't make it in any field attribute the success of the few who do succeed to "luck". Luck (right place, right time and right skills - or looks in the case of acting) is definitely a factor in being able to do the work you love, but its absolutely not the only factor. Craftsmanship is the key; working really hard to be great at what you do. The advice at the end of this article is good advice for everyone; not just aspiring actors: “It’s not fair, and don’t be late”. Be punctual. But the author has excluded the most important advice that Nick Offerman offered in his book which is: show up early, work really hard and be known for both these things.

ck425 7y ago
That's definitely a factor, but I'd say acting has proportionately more luck involved that most professions. If you don't fit the looks that are in at the time the only real thing you can do is write your own roles. But that requires being an excellent actor and an excellent writer.
lotsofpulp 7y ago
If you want to bet on yourself performing better than 98% of others, you should have a safety net or no dependents.

ck425 7y ago

This is why I entered tech first. I love acting and want to go drama school but after graduating a top uni with a Compsci degree it made far more sense to spend ~10 years working as an engineer first. I can save a ton, get into a good financial position with investments and learn the skills to get well paid flexible work (tech & agile/operations consulting). After that I go to drama school in my mid/late 30s, when it's easier to get in and to get gigs, due to less competition my age (most folk have either given up or gone onto bigger roles by that age). It'll still be tough but if you don't need to worry so much about money and you have other skills to base self esteem on it'll be so much easier.

pm90 7y ago
Your acting skills might make you stand out as a very effective communicator in the world of Tech. It sounds like a good strategy, although I have to ask if being unemployed, struggling with what comes of that and having to interact with a whole bunch of people (while employed in part time gigs like restaurant etc.) is part of what makes actors great. They hone their skills through exposure to the wide swathes of humanity that you may not see while being gainfully employed in a nice software engineering job.
- icxa 7y ago
  anecdotal evidence here, but our "comms specialist" (the person we bring in to help struggling tech teams communicate better) was a former improv actor and comedian, and she's great. She brings color to everything, makes the mundane feel less so and generally brings truth to laughter is the best therapy.
  - ck425 7y ago
    There's definitely a value to having those skills within tech. The flip side is that while I spend many hours pursuing acting outside of work, many of my peers instead work long hours or do loads of side projects. Early career theirs is a far more effective strategy for (tech) career growth. Longer term it might work out better me.
- 7y ago

hhs 7y ago

This piece cites a paper where researchers used IMDb as their database. Folks at HN have expressed concern with the quality of this information [0] [1]. Still, assuming the database has some validity, one point from the research paper is interesting: "The first message that emerges from our quantitative analysis is that one-hit wonders, i.e., actors whose career spans only a single year, are the norm rather than the exception. Long career lengths and high activity are found to be exponentially rare, suggesting a scarcity of resources in the acting world. These results are in agreement with previously collected evidence, pointing to the fact that unemployment rates in actors hover around 90%, and that as low as 2% of actors are able to make a living out of acting". [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20099023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20099023 [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20128467 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20128467

mattzito 7y ago

I actually went to a prominent theater school for acting before switching careers to tech. My school, unlike many, emphasized that unless you want to treat acting like a lottery ticket you are responsible for your own success. Their general philosophy was: - take everything seriously. Be 15 minutes early for everything, learn your lines, be a professional no matter how trivial or vacuous the role. Directors and producers remember people like this and want to work with them again. - audition, audition, audition. Accept the odds are low and follow the above rules anyway. - if no one is hiring you, create your own work. Start a theater company, do improv, teach children’s theater. They took this to the degree that if you did a third year Of study there, your major project was to start your own theater company and mount two productions during the year - they had classes in marketing, business and legal issues, how to approach agents, etc. The overarching message throughout all this is that it takes the typical actor 10 years to support themselves on their craft. For both men and women there is a steep drop off in employability around 35-38, for men it rebounds in your late 40s, for women, it never really does. So you need to have your act together before then.

pmoriarty 7y ago

One of the things that can be done about this is to increase funding for the arts and arts education.

goto11 7y ago
Wouldn't that just create even more actors who can't make a living?

stupidcar 7y ago

The comedy TV show Party Down, about a group of struggling actors working a side-gig as caterers, provides a good insight into the mindset required to have a chance at "making it" in Hollywood. Its message seemed to be that, yes, you have virtually no chance of success, but accepting that fact means you have no chance of success. To have a chance, you have to willingly accept a degree of self-delusion, and have a support system of fellow wannabes who'll back up this self-delusion, as you back up theirs.

leovander 7y ago
Are we having fun yet? What a great show.

ykevinator 7y ago

I think honestly the answer is luck.

HNLurker2 7y ago

Do playwrights and you'll be called an actor. Do it in your free time?