Should You Have a Survival Job

So, I got a message from another young actor asking for my advice about the industry. His question was, “Do actors need a survival job?” Well, that seems pretty obvious. Yes. The harsh reality is that very few people are able to make a living doing nothing but acting, so you need to have a job to pay the bills and support yourself. Having some cash certainly makes things less stressful, and being an actor is stressful enough without worrying about whether you’re going to be able to pay the rent. That is a no-brainer, in my opinion.

An actor I know recently gave a friend of mine a hard time because he has a day job. This guy’s opinion was that if you do anything besides devoting 100% of your time and energy to your craft, then you are not committed enough and doomed to fail. This is the dumbest shit I have heard in a long time. I know a few people like him — they do nothing but act. They are always in classes and trying to get into some project or filming videos for YouTube. That’s rather boring, in my opinion. I think, in order to be a good actor, you absolutely MUST have a life outside of being an actor. You need a job and friends (who are NOT actors) and some hobbies and interests to provide balance. Having a LIFE… a “real” life helps better inform the choices you make as an actor because you actually have real life experience to pull from.

I don’t think doing nothing but acting and immersing yourself in the business of acting 100% of the the time makes you less dedicated. Hell, I know I’ve sacrificed a hell of a lot and taken some massive leaps of faith in my life in pursuit of being an actor, but I couldn’t do this without having balance.

I am an actor because I am passionate about the craft of acting, but there are also other things in my life I am also passionate about and they all feed off of the other.
So, yeah. Get a job. Preferably something you enjoy! Paying the bills and having money to do some other stuff is a good thing. Acting is hard enough, so don’t make the rest of your life more difficult.

Update: After I wrote this, the same actor asked me if being a barber was my “survival job.” I wouldn’t call it a survival job…. it’s a career that I actually enjoy. I meet some amazing people every day and it enables me to pursue my passion for acting. Of course, I’d love to make a living full-time as an actor, but I think I’ll probably always be a barber in some capacity because I love it. It’s a beautiful thing to be able to make a living making people look and feel great. It’s always all about balance.