Beautiful Millionaires

Or how to scrape by as a jobbing actor.

The murmurings from people not in the film/TV/theatre business about the strikes going on in Hollywood are along the lines of “oh those poor beautiful millionaires, I feel so sorry for them when I’m struggling to pay my mortgage”. And I totally get that.

I thought I would offer up an insight into what it’s like to be an actual freelancing, jobbing actor here in the UK and what ‘all the fuss is about’ over contracts for actors and writers.

Firstly, from a purely personal point of view, I have been a professional actor for 16 years. I’m mildly well known in the industry and have a great CV under my belt. My earnings from year to year vary WILDLY.

One year, even though I regularly worked, I took home about £6k. For the YEAR. Within that you’re paying 10-15% to your agent and paying out all the time to attend auditions. Those aren’t reimbursed. A super-off peak return from Cardiff to London (meaning I can only travel in the middle of the day) is £94.40, the best part of 100 quid. I live in Wales, where’s its cheaper to live than London, so that’s the pay off. I’m further away but I can get on the property ladder.

The average earnings for a British actor is £26,287.91 a year gross or £14/hr. But when you finish a job - there might not be any work coming your way any time soon even though you’re continually reading scripts, learning lines and doing your own auditions via self-tapes. All for no money but with a hope of getting the job so you can do what you love and pay your mortgage next month.

I saved a lot early on to have a cushion for those leaner months and years. I don’t have family money or any other skills, to be honest, than the 3 long years I trained to be an actor. Covid wiped me out. I have no savings left.

Like yours, our mortgage has gone up by 40%, like yours our energy bills have doubled and like you our childcare, grocery shopping and travel is extortionate too.

Since having a baby, I’ve actually had to turn down a couple of jobs that would have actually meant I was paying more out to DO the job than I would making a living from it.

The top 2% of actors can command huge salaries. And why shouldn’t they when they often make more back for the production companies and studios than they’re paid? They’re talented, have worked hard and beaten out huge competition to get there. And they’re often the reason audiences watch it in the first place.

Most actors don’t earn much money. And the wages are going down. Every job I’ve gotten over the past 3 to 4 years is a joyous announcement from my (absolutely incredible) agent that I GOT THE JOB, quickly followed by a “but the money’s really bad on this one.”

In the US, actors earn a lot of their living from residuals (re-runs). The thing you made being shown again and again. That’s what keeps them afloat between jobs. Actors in the UK couldn’t possibly live off royalties. Sometimes I get royalties for £1.36. Sometimes it’s a couple of hundred quid. It’s as intermittent and unreliable as the actual work itself.

But now we have streaming and A.I - meaning that the huge companies can continue to make even more money whilst people re-watch the TV show/film but the people who made it hardly get a thing. In the case of A.I, one example of this ‘taking away of jobs’ is that if they have your image and voice, they don’t need to pay to get you back for ADR (additional dialogue recording in post-production) which can be a lifeline to cover your grocery shopping or dental bill, if you’re not working. They can get more work from you for free.

This doesn’t even begin to touch on poorly paid crew who are there before us and there long after we leave set. They often work 16-18hr days over an 11-day fortnight (meaning one week you have Sat&Sun off, the next week just the Sunday). It’s tough going. You don’t see your family much. You have no social life.

I want to qualify all of this by saying I love my job. It’s taken me all over the world. I’ve met some of the most incredible people and done the weirdest, coolest things but in a changing technological world the creators behind your favourite TV show or that new film you’ll snuggle down on the couch to watch later, just want to be treated fairly and be able to make a living.

Covid battered the self-employed. It’s an uncertain line of work in an uncertain economy anyway but it’s getting even harder with prices going up and wages going down. I bet you wouldn’t believe me, if I told you my pay for entire TV shows. It’s not what you’d think.

So the super famous, super wealthy actors you see out on strike are doing it in solidarity with their many peers who earn far less.

There are much harder jobs in the world - OF COURSE! - but I hope that makes the picture a little clearer for when you see people who make you laugh or move you to tears on the telly. They work hard with no job security because they love performing, telling stories and making magic. ✨ 🎥

Kim x