ABSTRACT
All freelance workers can expect to face some degree of financial uncertainty. For actors, this uncertainty and unpredictability can be especially acute. So they need to be highly circumspect regarding their finances. They must be conservative spenders, even when incomes are high. And (with the rare exception) all actors need “day jobs”—employment that pays the bills while providing enough flexibility for them to pursue acting work.
This chapter’s questions from actors and aspiring actors are wide-ranging. Specific topics include finding a support job that allows one to attend auditions, a list of job ideas, work that makes use of performers’ skills, what to do if union health insurance (for which actors must continually qualify) expires, creating a budget, dealing with lean times, when it’s time to quit a job, what expenses are tax deductible for actors, what to expect in terms of residual payments for on-screen work, how to handle a bounced check, and more.
