Expert: Phil Nemy - 12/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I am a twenty-two year-old university student majoring in finance in Montreal, QC, Canada. I am a beginner actor with little training or experience. In the last year and a half I have taken seven acting classes, been in three plays (two leads), and did voice over work for one film. I feel like I am at a crossroads in my life where I am considering going into acting as a career (specifically film & television), or alternatively, continuing taking a more conservative approach and staying in school.

Having a lot of money is very important to me. If money did not exist I would become a professional actor, but to be honest, I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t have a few million dollars to my name ten years from now.

I have searched salary.com and the US department of labor and they have only confirmed what I already know – that the mean annual salary for an actor is low and that only a small percentage of actors are highly successful.

What I want to know is:

1.   Where can I find actors’ salaries for each movie to which they appeared (ex: Michael Cera - $50,000 for Juno, $200 000 for Superbad, etc.)? If not the exact figures, how could I determine estimates?
2.   If I were to pursue acting as a career, do you believe my goal of having a few million dollars to my name in ten years is unpredictable, too far-fetched, unrealistic? Do you think that talent, determination, ambition, and work-ethic can significantly increase my odds of success?
3.   Finally, if I were to pursue acting as a career, how should I proceed? My initial choice would be to apply to university accredited acting schools in New York or LA, such as NYU or UCLA. That way if acting doesn’t work out, I at least have a bachelor’s degree and could pursue a Master’s Degree in something else. Or, do you think acting school is not that important, and it would be more beneficial for me to go to LA and just look for work? Or, do you think I’m far too inexperienced, both in work and training, to be even considering moving to LA?

I guess what I’m really trying to figure out is if someone really wants to make millions in this business, has the talent, and is willing to work his ass off to get it, does the probability for success increase significantly, or are there still too many uncontrollable factors, such as luck, to make a difference?

Thank You,
Jamie   

PS I know the message is long and there are many questions. Any guidance you give would help me a lot at this time in my life. I am really struggling to make a decision. I’ve sent this message out to several experts because I would obviously appreciate as much help I could get from as many experts as possible. Thanks again, and I look forward to hear your response.


ANSWER: Jamie,

Thanks for writing. Here are your answers:

1) The salaries paid to stars are not usually listed anywhere for the primary reason that their agents don't want that information floating around the general public. If you read the trade papers daily (The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety) you'll probably pick up information here and there about what some stars are making.

2) Yes. Not really. When it comes to an acting career, this is not an industry that has a definitive prerequisite or requirement for success. There are plenty of incredibly talented actors  who are determined, ambitious and work hard but never reach stardom. And then there are some that have very little talent that become an overnight success. It's hit or miss. There's no way of knowing if you'll ever become a star, but the odds are against it.

3) First, enroll in a college/university that is recognized as having some of the best actor's training around. Schools that offer BFA degrees in acting for theater are the best choices as training for the stage is the foundation of ALL forms of acting whether it's the theater, film, TV, radio, new media, commercials, industrials, etc. After training, move to Los Angeles, obtain an agent, have headshots taken, and begin auditioning for everything you can while continuing to take acting classes from local acting teachers. Casting Directors like to see that you're still studying and from quality people in L.A.

The reality is this - if you want to be rich, DON'T pursue an acting career. The odds are against your ever being able to support yourself solely from income derived from acting work. Pursue an acting career because YOU MUST, because you LOVE IT so much, because you cannot and will not be happy doing anything else with your life. Hard work, a great look and talent are three components of a successful career as an actor, but LUCK is 95% of it.

Good luck!

Phil








---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey Phil,

Thanks for the quick and detailed response.         

"First, enroll in a college/university that is recognized as having some of the best actor's training around. Schools that offer BFA degrees in acting for theater are the best choices as training for the stage is the foundation of ALL forms of acting whether it's the theater, film, TV, radio, new media, commercials, industrials, etc."

I got a response from one expert stating that acting school is useless; that you must be extremely talented, have a great personality, have the look, be well connected, and on top of that, still be very lucky.

Do you agree with this statement? How much of an edge, in terms of skills and networking benefits, do you think an actor gets by attending a renowned acting school, or any acting school for that matter?

         "After training, move to Los Angeles, obtain an agent, have headshots taken, and begin auditioning for everything you can while continuing to take acting classes from local acting teachers. Casting Directors like to see that you're still studying and from quality people in L.A."

Do you think training at a school in LA, where I can look for work while I train, gives me the best advantage? I don't want to spend four years of my life going to school for something that I could attain without the training, or while I'm training.

         "The reality is this - if you want to be rich, DON'T pursue an acting career."

The thing is I want to be rich, but I also want to act. I also like the idea of producing/directing if acting doesn't work out. I want the money and the career. If I had to choose one, I'd choose the money because once you have the money, you have all the freedom to obtain the career. But I'd like to have both.

Thanks Again,
Jamie


Answer
Jamie,

Everyone has their own beliefs about acting schools. Before we discuss that, let's look at what another expert told you: "that you must be extremely talented, have a great personality, have the look, be well connected, and on top of that, still be very lucky." Talent? Are you kidding me? Do you think Megan Fox is "talented?" Most people who work with talent in our industry would say she is NOT very talented. I personally don't think she's a very strong actress at all. BUT - she's gorgeous! Stunning! So what does this prove? You do NOT have to talent to be an actor in this business - a sad, but true, statement. That said, most of the "actors" who "can't act" usually don't have careers that long, or, if they do have a sustainable career, then they are relegated to parts that don't require much acting and eventually they become "B" actors and do less quality films. They make a living, a nice living, but I wouldn't say they're rich. Because they're gorgeous, they'll probably get a couple of million dollar pay-days, but that kind of money will disappear quickly when the industry realizes they can't act and therefore can't carry a film.

However, if you want to be a STAR, then you have to have a "look", what I call the "indescribable IT." If you have "IT," then you've got a much better chance of stardom. If you don't have "IT," forget it. I don't mean drop-dead gorgeous looks, it's more than that. Tom Hanks is not drop dead gorgeous, but he has "it." Seth Green is not gorgeous, but he has "it." As an actor, if you're not drop-dead gorgeous, like Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, etc., then the chances of you ever becoming a leading man are very, very, very slim. Tom Hanks did it, but he was smart about it - he knew he wasn't gorgeous, but he knew he had talent, he had great comic timing, and he had an "everyman" quality about him. So he approached his career exploiting his strengths which lead him into character acting work. Slowly, he was able to launch into lead roles much in the way James Stewart did (Jimmy Stewart was also not a drop-dead gorgeous actor). If you had to try to define it, "IT" would be akin to a combination of looks, charisma, character, charm, warmth, talent, danger, etc.

The next thing your other expert said is "a great personality." Again - I don't agree. I've worked with a number of actors who do not have a great personalities at all, and yet they're either working actors or stars. Many stars are incredibly shy, aren't easy to talk to. You'd say their personalities suck! They're very nice people, just incredibly reserved to the point of having no real personality. They are more comfortable becoming the characters they play than being themselves.

Luck was the next thing on the list that the expert said. THIS I agree with. Doesn't matter how much training, how gorgeous you are, how connected you are, etc., etc., LUCK is a HUGE part of a successful career. 95% of starting your career is LUCK. LUCK gets you in the door. Once you're IN the door, you have to have the look, the talent, the training, and the personality to book the job.

Being well connected is an important aspect as well. Having a strong network of contacts can open doors for you.

This brings me back to acting schools and training. If you do some research, you'll find a couple of interesting truisms. First, the better actors out there, the ones who are the most respected by their peers, the ones that consistently receive nominations and awards for their work, the ones who work ALL THE TIME, these are actors who are TRAINED!!!! Almost ALL OF THEM trained in the professional theater or at least have a BFA or MFA degree from a reputable training program. Meryl Streep - Yale. Holly Hunter - Carnegie Mellon. Kevin Kline - Julliard. Kevin Spacey - Julliard. Robin Williams - Julliard. Some have received training from top-flight acting schools in NYC and LA. Al Pacino - The Actor's Studio. Paul Newman - The Actor's Studio. Robert DeNiro - Stella Adler Conservatory & The Actor's Studio. Long before film even existed as a medium, there was the professional theater. Stanislavski, the Russian Acting Teacher and Director, developed a method that became the foundation for all acting techniques taught in the professional theater. Learning and studying the Stanislavski method became the standard. Most of the actors whose work you admire have, at one time or another, studied acting for the professional theater and have explored Stanislavski's techniques and work. It is these actors that have long, long, long, lengthy rewarding careers in film, television, new media, music, and theater.

What I'm getting at is this. Must you have training to be an actor? No. Does that mean you'll work more or less than the trained actor? That's hard to say. Some actors hit it without training because they have a look and some talent, but that is definitely the exception to the rule. I like to think of it as plumbing: I've never studied plumbing, but I could probably get by if I had to fix a leak in a pipe at home. I could probably even install a garbage disposal under the sink if I had to - but it wouldn't necessarily be done the right way. But if I'm going to hire someone to do my plumbing, I want them trained! I want them to know what the hell they are doing, not some yo-yo off the street who calls himself a plumber. The same holds with acting. If I'm a director, I want an actor with training because I know when I need them to find the heart of a character and dig deep inside at a moment's notice and find the depth of the emotion of a scene, they can do it because they've been trained to do it. I take a HUGE risk hiring an actor with no training, because if they can't reach the level of the emotion of the scene, I'm going to have to spend a lot of time working with them to get to that level with no guarantee that they will EVER get to the level I want or that the scene requires in order for it to be real, honest and true.

As a final comment, I've had the pleasure of working with a number of terrific casting directors in my career. They all say the same thing - seeing on a resume that an actor has training from reputable training programs at colleges/universities means a lot to them. If an actor who went to Carnegie Mellon or Yale or Julliard walks into an audition, they KNOW they're going to see a level of talent that will impress. They KNOW that they don't have to worry that the actor can deliver. Without seeing that on a resume, they have to wonder if the actor can get there. if they had to make a choice, nine times out of ten a Casting Director will choose a trained actor over an untrained actor.

Again, I say to you, if you want to be rich, GO INTO ANOTHER INDUSTRY. It's not a cliche when I say to you that the chances of you EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER being able to support yourself or your family SOLELY from income derived from acting employment is ten million to one. There are hundreds of drop-dead gorgeous actors with training AND talent in this town who cannot get arrested! Even if you have all of this, LUCK plays a huge part of success. You say producing and directing interest you as well. You need to pick one of these - acting, directing, producing - and begin NOW developing your skill for that craft because it may take you a lifetime before you're ever given the chance to execute one of these on a very high, studio or network level of a production. If becoming rich as an actor, or director or producer was easy, don't you think we'd all be doing it? You have NO IDEA HOW DIFFICULT IT TRULY IS to get a film or television show produced. You have NO IDEA!!! It is a tough, tough, tough business. I've been lucky. Incredibly lucky! And fortunate! Because I've had a wonderful career for over 20 years, worked almost non-stop for over 20 years, worked with some incredibly talented and untalented people, had a ball of fun doing it, and made a nice living. But I'm not RICH. I can't retire and live off millions! VERY FEW IN OUR INDUSTRY CAN!!!

Phil