Down Time
The other day I was reading the most recent edition of INTERACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts members’ magazine. I came across an interview with 13 year-old actress, Aislinn Paul, who happens to be the daughter of two local professional actors, Deborah Tennant and Brian Paul.
Immediately, my back went up. I could feel my jealousy churning and the familiar cries of “Nepotism!!” on the tip of my tongue. Nevertheless, I decided to read the interview.
The interviewer, Theresa Tova, is herself a seasoned professional actor, and one of Aislinn’s responses got a laugh out of Tova and both Aislinn’s parents: Tova had asked her if she preferred one medium over another, as she is active in TV, film and theatre. Aislinn responded by saying that she loves all three mediums equally and that, “I never realized how much I would miss it if it was gone, until this summer, when there was a bit of a lull and I didn’t have a job for about two months…”
Cue the laughter. You see, for a professional actor in Toronto, being out of work for two months is nothing. I know many professional actors who have gone over a year without working. At an audition recently I bumped into an acting acquaintance who told me, “I’ve been auditioning at this place (Jigsaw Casting) for 19 years, and never booked anything.” But there he was, on time and prepared.
This is the remarkable resilience of the Toronto actor. Essentially, we are rejected so often that we lose track of what we’ve auditioned for. It all becomes a blur. But when our agent says those two magic words “You’re booked!” it is an amazing feeling. We say to ourselves, “I got it! I got the job!!”
One reason for this peculiar situation is that everyone and their cousin wants to be an actor. Honestly, I’ve sat in the waiting room at auditions and thought, “Where do all these people come from?” There is a never-ending sea of people fighting to be working actors in this fair city of ours.
One actress I know told me, “You know, Mike, back in the eighties I was working all the time. Three auditions a day. There was tons of work. Now…I haven’t had an audition in four months.”
Personally, my last “booking” was June 29th. It’s been 9 months and counting. In between, I landed a couple of student films, which helped me build my demo reel, but they were non-paying jobs.
Now, I’m not trying to get the violins out. I’m not looking for your sympathy. I chose this racket and I believe I am meant to be an actor. It’s who I am. It just so happens that presently things have dried up in Toronto and work is scarce. There are so many factors contributing to this situation, including tax breaks, 9/11, SARS and cutbacks. It’s like the perfect storm for chronic unemployment.
But rather than cry, “poor me”, I’m writing this to tell you how it is to be an actor in TO. And I’m proud of myself and my fellow actors as we refuse to give up, rising each day with the hope of something coming down the pipe. That’s what’s exciting about this life. It’s unpredictable. Tomorrow I could be on a plane to LA to shoot a feature. It happens like that that. In the blink of an eye you can go from despair to elation.
What do we do in this extended down time? We hone our craft; taking classes, working on our voices, reading plays. Essentially, we follow the old doctrine, “Luck is being prepared when opportunity knocks”.
As for Aislinn Paul? I’m happy for her. I feel that if someone’s working that means work is out there. As Mamet said, “Acting is not a meritocracy.” I agree. But I also ask, “Why not me?”
Two days ago, I was cast in a wonderful new play in a principal role. It’s an independent production, therefore the pay is minimal. But that’s not why I got hooked in the first place. I love to act. And so I’ll do this play and keep plugging away. That’s the actor’s life.