To wonder what actors do when they don't act?

[Nomilkinmycoffeeplease]

I had a chance to catch up on a number of series over Christmas, and discovered quite a few interesting actors I have never heard of (I usually live in scandi thrillers, so BBC productions have not been on my radar much).
Then looking up some of these people I kind of figured out why I never heard of most of them- they seem to be doing one production every year or two years if lucky, sometimes get a short stint in a theatre. And then nothing, or at least nothing I could find on them by googling :)
I presume some people may be doing odd jobs here and there, but then it seems quite disheartening once they hit their 40s and the big break )if they stick around this much)... I have some friends who are musicians and they manage to make a fair bit by giving private classes, in wedding bands etc, but it must be harder in the acting profession?

So yeah, really, just wondering how people make ends meet?

When I was at uni I used to waitress for an agency in London. They had a lot of actors as well as students on their books.
I had a friend who wanted to act and she did a lot of amateur dramatics and worked in theatres in box office etc as she loved the environment.
I have another friend who is a professional actor and makes her living from it as well as other performance jobs such as gigging in pubs, panto and similar.

My friend is an actress.
She teaches singing when she's not filming and has just bought a beautiful house to run acting/photography courses.

People I know spend all their time chasing up auditions and taking classes but they’re independently well off.

Nearly everybody else is working .. temps teaching etc

DH's pilates teacher is an actress and gets cover for her regular classes when she's filming.

On the whole they are:

Living off the last job/auditioning
Teaching (Theatre in education type stuff- not classroom as such)- but they don’t put this on their resumes which is why you can’t find it.
Temping in offices/waitressing
Doing panto
Other long stints in theatre
Writing/acting/directing/producing independent stuff that doesn’t get much press.
That and living off the bank of mum and dad- acting is often the preserve of the wealthy for this reason.

Depends on what stage of career they’re at.
Early days, hospitality work, delivery driver, decorating/handy person/TaskRabbit gig economy stuff.

But more established?
Audio work - voiceovers, audiobooks, adverts.

Teaching - guest directing/workshops etc with drama students

We have an acquaintance who is an "actor", I've never known him to have a signifcant role. He is often an extra on various sets (which only earns pocket money tbh), he does a bit of am-dram, a bit of paid (buttons) theatre, and he does the occasional voiceover.

He certainly doesn't earn a living, he has a wealthy successful wife who indulges him in his hobby.

Theatre, audio books, adverts, corporate videos and events

Personally, I do teaching (Theatre in Education as someone said upthread) and youth work, and work in a theatre box office. You tend to look for jobs that will be understanding of the need to drop everything for a role.

I know someone who has had bit parts in Emmerdale and a few adverts, when not trying to be the next Colin Firth he worked in promotions at car and food shows selling champagne. Currently he's working as a courier for covid tests.

A bit of telly can keep them going for a while between jobs. Telly pays so much more than theatre.

My favourite actor is someone I talk to on instagram sometimes - she's mainly theatre, but did a small telly thing this year. She worked in a greengrocers through the lockdowns. Quite a few of the cast of Six worked in shops and as delivery drivers through lockdowns while theatres were closed. And loads of them did online teaching and workshops and so on.

Oh yeah, corporate coaching on presentation skills etc is a good money spinner if you can establish yourself. Lots of jobbing actors have side hustles like this.

My friends an actress. Between jobs when she was in London she worked as a TA in a children's hospital. Now she's relocated between jobs she does online acting classes, is part owner of a drama company and has a charity. Im not sure how she fits it all in!

Surely there’s a lot of auditioning and preparing for roles going on before filming.
Then whilst the show/film is being finished off and aired the actors are busy promoting it and themselves in interviews etc and auditioning and preparing for the next.

The ones who are in for the long haul have a secondary income stream for quiet periods. Of my mates who are still acting as we've hit our 40s those include tandem careers as a PT, DJ, magician. Still sporadic freelance work but more rewarding than endless bar work or temping.

I've known some (once someone quite well known, had been a longstanding member of a soap opera)) who worked as supply teaching assistants.

@MaggieCassidy

Surely there’s a lot of auditioning and preparing for roles going on before filming. Then whilst the show/film is being finished off and aired the actors are busy promoting it and themselves in interviews etc and auditioning and preparing for the next.

Yes, I’d think the length of a job is usually greater than the extent of the series or the cinematic life of a film suggests. Actors I know do things like voiceovers, or slightly related media work like various things for the BBC or production companies.

I work in theatre. Lots of our front of house staff, temp stage door receptionists, box office or call centre staff are "resting" actors. Others tutor (for auditions for drama school etc) or nannying/babysitting is popular. Some teach at weekend or evening musical theatre/drama/singing classes for kids. Most seem to get by on a mish-mash of things e.g. after one acting job they may do some word of mouth stuff like reception cover in a production company, then a couple of shifts a week for a ticketing agency, followed by a stint in panto, then their friend who is off on maternity leave from her weekend job as a children's party host will get them to cover for her and so it goes on.

My friend is an actor. In addition to TV he does voice overs, theatre and writes.
When he's not working he looks after his young kids.

I knew an actor who would work in market research in between his indie films until he became established in a tv series - that seems quite common from what he said.

Whilst you are working on getting established, most have other jobs that they can do between gigs ( retail, bar work, taxi, painter, ....).
Lots also diversify and would do the behind the scenes work as well. Try their hand at writing, directing, etc...

I've worked with many temps over the years who are in acting. They've worked in visitor attractions and doing admin in universities and hospitals. They did these types of jobs because they were flexible and always had lots of vacancies.

Some ended up taking permanent roles (once they realised that they weren't getting very far with acting).

@MaggieCassidy Absolutely, I just wondered how it works for people who do 1 series per year, as opposed to some others who do a few productions a year. Also, loads of series seem to be quite low profile (not everything is GoT etc)- so even on the actual chnnel I never saw much promo nor interviews with the cast except for a few sentences they had to write about the character.

Thank you all, this is all very insightful!

We have an acquaintance who is an "actor", I've never known him to have a signifcant role. He is often an extra on various sets (which only earns pocket money tbh), he does a bit of am-dram, a bit of paid (buttons) theatre, and he does the occasional voiceover.

This. I know a couple of people who describe themselves as actresses. They've each done a couple of adverts for well known brands. One had a very small part in a well known west end show in the early part of her career and now does tiny bits of voiceover work etc, while living off husband. Other had a tiny part in a tv series. She got the part because boyfriend was a writer on the show. She never admits to this but a family member told me she is actually nannying on the side to pay the bills.

@Nomilkinmycoffeeplease I guess you get better at shortening the gap or overlapping projects with experience. I think I’d need a full holiday in between to get over one character before I delve into the next!