Expert: Peter Messaline - 12/16/2008

Question
I am a union actress, in the NYC area.  I have so much free time on myt hands, I am so bored.  I have a degree in advertising, but fear getting a job because I may not have time to pursue acting.  However, I find myself just waiting around doing nothing with myself.  I am getting liek 2 "extra" roles a month.  Other then that I am twirling my thumbs.  Should I get a job of some sort so that I can interact with others?  Thank you for your help! :)

Answer
Most actors get dead-end jobs they can toss aside if work comes along. Some few manage to find a job and an employer that enable them to do that and to come back afterwards. One of my friends continued working for the Y long after his TV series work became established. One actor works as a meat butcher in a local processor who are ready to take him when he's out of acting work, because they know he's more reliable than the 'here today, disappeared tomorrow' people they usually hire. A degree in advertising won't get you a disposable job, but look at your university contacts and see if they can help. Do they sometimes need copy written? Are there editing jobs at the last minute in a small magazine? Is a publicist sometimes rushed off her feet? Spread your net wide.

Twiddling your thumbs is a dreary way to pass the time! Get Ross Reports and the other contacts sources, and start writing to the people who can hire you. Find out about them and their job, so that you can write 'interested insider' letters, not the 'desperate actress' type. Google them and their firm, read the trade papers, haunt actor discussion boards.

Write about what will interest them. How good they are, what successes they've had, and any minor connections with your own activities. Don't tell them they're good, they know that, but let it be the background to what you're talking about. "You, of all NYC casting directors, know how to help an actress give her best, and wouldn't be part of the disaster that Judi Dench talked in her recent Backstage interview."
Later, tell them about your classes and your thoughts on subjects affecting the industry. You won't be telling them anything they don't know, and your opinions are not going to change their mind, but what you are attempting is to get elected to the inner circle, those people who are known a bit, whose name rings a tiny bell when it comes up. Keep it short and keep it natural. Write as if they were a much-respected family friend. And write briefly, and edit, and check your spelling.

Doing the research will make you a better actress, as well as staving off clinical depression, and so few people do it that you will be surprised to find it does pay off.

Up and at 'em!