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?

My yoga teacher is an actress, so every now and then she gets a small part in one of the soaps, she is also a dance teacher. She is lovely and I wish she would get her break soon, but she is now approaching 30 and unfortunately, if it hasn't happened by then the chance is quite slim. Another one I know just looks after his kids and go to the gym when he's between jobs. He is not making lots of money at all, and he mainly does adverts now or the odd play. Luckily his wife has a good and steady job. He's in his 50's though, so you'd think he would have given it up by now.

I think for every actor that gets a small part on a TV show or in the West End there are so many others who never even make it to that stage. Also the problem with so many of these side hustles of writing, directing etc is that they are also unpaid but time-consuming so if you are asking how actors who aren't independently wealthy or being supported by parents etc get by then it is a mixture of all of the jobs above. Of course, it isn't a linear career either; it not a given that if you put in the years of graft on low-paid jobs you will ever become "established" - so many people I know reach a certain stage (often parenthood or wanting a mortgage/their own home) and decide that it's time to choose teaching, theatre management, recruitment etc rather than continue to chase the dream. Depressing but true!

We had a painter/decorator that had been in Eastenders as a lead character for a while. He was a lovely bloke, but good acting jobs were few and far between.

I've worked with actors before. Retail, office work, one taught presentation techniques. The ones I know did whatever jobs they could get, theatre, advertising etc. Many will temp so they can then jump at any acting job they are offered.

A friend of mine is a well known actor overseas.
He is a qualified vet nurse and used to do that between jobs but hasn’t done that for a long time.
Now, he directs. He does audio books and voice overs. He also works for an agency who do professional development - he leads workshops on public speaking etc. And he teaches classes on acting.

Loads of things!

Babysitting
Temping work in offices
Bar/restaurant work

My friend is an actress and does temp work in between (admin/office work).

There's a lot of steady if not all that lucrative work in medical schools and other healthcare settings. Actors go in as simulated patients so students and staff can practise certain types of consultation, imparting bad news and so on. They are much in demand for exams where it would be impractical to use real patients, e.g. for assessing how the students carry out examinations of a pregnant woman (actress wears prosthesis), or of a person with mental health problems.

Have an american relative who has been in a lot of movies but never had her big break. She used to do all kinds of stuff but eventually go to work for a casting agency and they were very understanding if she got a job. Now she does mainly theatre.

Lots of them work in restaurants when they are younger. Later on, they often do team-building improv/corporate training videos etc. Or work as tour guides. One very well known actress I knew worked for a long time as a taxi radio controller when her career dipped for a while until she became famous again. Another I know is also a carpenter. Lots of them teach acting or drama or voice work for summer schools/Adult Ed/NYT/LAMDA exams etc

Role play work in hospitals, to help doctors in training. It pays quite well, and is also a form of acting.

Adverts pay very well if you've got the right sort of face. Relative of in-laws acts, £33k two years ago for three days work abroad on an advert. Otherwise he is fortunate to have very wealthy parents, they bought him a house so also being mortgage free helps him.

Aren't actors 'resting' between parts?

@Clawdy

Role play work in hospitals, to help doctors in training. It pays quite well, and is also a form of acting.

I've done this but with the police force. It was actually quite fascinating to watch them in action.

My son has an actor/musician friend who researched various careers and then put himself through barber college. When he can't support himself on acting or as a professional musician, he cuts hair. He's very good at it and makes pretty good money! Plus he can book his own schedule to have time off for gigs/auditions.

I know a few who do acting role play for medical and legal training playing patients, clients, witnesses fir student exams. Can be lucrative and quite regular but flexible if auditions orher work crops up.

I know a well known in his day soap star and he’s mainly done plays including abroad and Panto. He turned down I’m a Celeb closer to when he left the soap but has probably missed his opportunity now. He’s very religious and works for a religious charity when not acting.

They sell video messages on Cameo! Jay from the Inbetweeners has made almost half a million doing that apparently.

Tourist places such as the London Dungeon employ actors.

I only know one famous actress and she is from a wealthy family hence they could afford
Stage school fees and to support her financially until her big break

I think Vicky McClure went back to where she’d worked before - was it in an office? - after This is England and before Line of Duty.

Sometimes the press runs stories on actors working in supermarkets etc when they aren’t getting work. It’s pretty horrible.

We had one of the two British airmen from ‘Allo Allo as a supply teacher when I was at school. Quite exciting for us, but probably not his career highlight (it was a bit of a rough school!)

Only about 2% of actors make a living from acting.

We had a supply teacher who was a resting actor too (although not very famous). He rarely taught what he was supposed to teach - he’d read us an extract from a comic novel or teach us bizarre phrases in Spanish. He was good fun!

write shit novels?

I'm friends with an actor who makes a decent but unspectacular full time living - think appears as a patient on Holby City or a murderer in Midsummer murders. He isn't famous although you might think him vaguely familiar if you watch a lot of TV.

But he makes most of his income from voice work - adverts, video games, corporate videos (like the sort of mandatory training video you have to watch before starting your job)

He considers himself very lucky to make a living from it - he works the equivalent of 3 days a week on average probably but it ebbs and flows over a year.

He is also a qualified youth social worker and in his younger years did that between acting jobs.