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As for "working actors", I think it depends on your personal perception and theirs. If they get a gig that pays $100/night for a night or two, then they would probably consider themselves "working". For a typical 9 to 5'er, the idea they are "working" would be ludicrous.
In order to garner health benefits from SAG (which means, you're a SAG member in good standing paying the upfront initial fee plus quarterly dues), to assist you with qualifying what a "working actor" may/may not be, here's what I found:
There are 2 plans being a SAG member has available:
Plan I requires that you earn $29,250 from SAG productions during what’s called your “base earning period” – one 12 month period. If you qualify for Plan I, you’ll pay $249 per quarter in premiums, whether covering you by yourself, or your immediate family. Your coverage includes hospital, major medical, dental, vision and prescription drugs, as well as mental health and chemical dependency treatment.
Plan II is a bit more complicated, has a lower earnings requirement, but offers less benefits. It requires that you earn $14,350 in your base earning period, or, work 74 days in that year. If you’re 40 or over, and you’ve qualified for insurance for the last 10 years, you only have to earn $10,400 – that’s called the “age and service” Guild member. Your premiums are higher with Plan II: you’ll pay $294 per quarter, or $375 under the age and service plan. Your benefits are different as well – you don’t get dental or vision, and your deductibles are higher than Plan I.
Do your "working actor" friends make that much? Probably not. Are they even in the union? Probably not. But, there are actors out there that actually do make enough to pay the rent and their bills and eat, doing only non-union work. So again, I think the decision is yours to make on how you choose to qualify someone as a "working actor" or not.
I wonder how many actors and actresses who really have 'made it', have done compromising things (like casting couch etc), to help make that happen?
Also what about people that appear in a successful long running series, but are not a main cast member and have hardly any screen time? I'm thinking about someone like the guy who played Gunther on Friends, could you live off that?
I think it's true that it has a lot to do with who you know.
Of course it does. Everything in life does. People like to work with people they know can deliver and in an industry where everyone is looking for their next project/paycheck they are obviously going to look to people they have a good working relationship with. This is true whether you are an actor, salesman, accountant, or IT professional...anything really.
I don't get your view of Dax Shepard though. As a comedic actor he's pretty cute and funny and has a huge fan base of people who will pay money to see him.. so why WOULDN'T he get hired?
So I attended a great seminar last night that had statistics from the 2010 Census and IRS returns from those people who legitimately stated on their tax returns they worked in the entertainment industry:
At any given time, there are approximately 3,000,000 people working in the entertainment industry here in LA.
Of these, in Hollywood and West Hollywood alone, 17% are actors. That's approximately 134,000 households with roughly 23,000 of them being actors.
111,000 people related to the industry move to LA every year - 19,000 are actors.
There are approximately 160K - 170,000 SAG/AFTRA members now and the vast majority of them "act"/work as extras.
Only 50 actors (yes, "fifty"), out of all the tens of thousands, make over $500,000 in any given quarter.
The average income for an actor per year is $5,000.
I think lack of insight is the major problem. Young people grow up watching these performers and idolizing them but they fail to appreciate that there are only 10-20 actors and actresses that are really famous and consistently working yet there are thousands trying out. Even for reality television shows at city stops. 10,000 + people will audition for that. People are so desperate to be famous that they will do anything to be on television. Reality television shows don't help matters because it provides a false sense that you too can be just like them but what they don't tell you is how many thousands of people they went through to assemble that cast.
The majority of people in Hollywood including SAG members are earning less than 50,000 a year. Most are working multiple low income jobs (waiting tables, bartending). They also rarely live alone and most have 3 or 4 roommates. They have no savings. Many don't have cars. Many have no health insurance. 95% of these people will do this for years and then ultimately move back home and go back to school or live with their parents.
Another thing people fail to realize is nepotism is big in Hollywood. Famous people favor their children and put them in positions to succeed (Will Smith and his kids). That wasn't so much of a factor in the past but now it's becoming increasingly common so it's becoming even harder for outsiders to penetrate the industry. You aren't going to hear of too many stories of people like Brad Pitt dropping out of college and moving from Missouri to L.A. with nothing and wearing a chicken costume or guys like Tom Hanks driving the Mariott airport shuttle and getting lucky. If you examine most celebrities today, they are the children of actors, producers, directors, Hollywood executives...you really have no chance unless you get completely lucky like Channing Tatum.
The problem is you never hear of the failed stories just the successful ones. No one wants to talk about the bad stories. No one wants to admit they failed. Publishers don't want to publish negative accounts because it's depressing.
Of course it does. Everything in life does. People like to work with people they know can deliver and in an industry where everyone is looking for their next project/paycheck they are obviously going to look to people they have a good working relationship with. This is true whether you are an actor, salesman, accountant, or IT professional...anything really.
I don't get your view of Dax Shepard though. As a comedic actor he's pretty cute and funny and has a huge fan base of people who will pay money to see him.. so why WOULDN'T he get hired?
The difference is in life, you have to obtain certain qualifications to get to that point. The IT professional becomes educated and obtains a degree and work experience. An IT professional can't get a programming job if he doesn't know how to code. A hospital isn't going to let someone without a medical license perform surgery regardless of how much someone pays them. You can't represent clients in a court of law without obtaining a law degree. In acting, someone with no experience or training CAN get a job if they know the right people and it happens all the time. How many examples do you want? Whether you are talking Nicholas Cage being Francis Ford Coppola's nephew or Johnny Depp being discovered by Wes Craven because his daughter thought he was cute. Wes Craven didn't hire Depp because he has a track record of delivering as an actor.
Even if they are moderately successful, that is, they get work but they aren't A Listers, I don't know how they can live their life not knowing how much they'll make every year or when their next paycheck is coming in. But then again, I feel the same way about people who work on a commission and no salary that aren't actors.
The difference is in life, you have to obtain certain qualifications to get to that point. The IT professional becomes educated and obtains a degree and work experience. An IT professional can't get a programming job if he doesn't know how to code. A hospital isn't going to let someone without a medical license perform surgery regardless of how much someone pays them. You can't represent clients in a court of law without obtaining a law degree. In acting, someone with no experience or training CAN get a job if they know the right people and it happens all the time. How many examples do you want? Whether you are talking Nicholas Cage being Francis Ford Coppola's nephew or Johnny Depp being discovered by Wes Craven because his daughter thought he was cute. Wes Craven didn't hire Depp because he has a track record of delivering as an actor.
Oh, I can think of quite of few non-hollywood types doing jobs they aren't nearly qualified for becasue of who they know. I'm sure you can to if you look around.
Well how much of it is talent? Because some of these guys I've met doing comedy totally suck or are mediocre, yet they have agents, done shows and some sketch stuff. One guy I know has his own website.
While I thought this was enough to pay the bills, he still has to live off his parents.
I know of a few people who major network gigs, Pierce Morgan and Jay Leno immediately come to mind, who in my opinion, suck or are mediocre but they have jobs so who are we to judge? Another thing regarding the everyone is nice to each other in Hollywood. No one can predict who is the next big thing, be they on screen or in the front office so it doesn't pay to **** on people when you don't have to.
So what does it say if you're acting, comic, and a model like the guy I met yet he's just barely scratching by?
To make it easy... it's a combination of what it is, when it is, where it is, and how it plays.
Anything else is luck. Or a good connection.
With the rare exception of an actually very good talent.
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