Acting jobs drying up?

[Mr. Adventure]

Jonathan Frakes had these words to say in the most recent interview:

“Thank God I learned this second craft [directing],” he said. “I really don’t know how I’d be supporting my family. I’d be looking for another kind of gig.”
Other actors, including his wife Genie Francis, and his Star Trek co-workers have also seen jobs dry up, with one notable exception. “Genie isn’t working the way she used to and my peers as actors – at least from the Star Trek guys, with the exception of Patrick [Stewart] – are struggling as well,” said Frakes. “Some of it is by choice, granted, some of it is just by the double-edged sword that Star Trek has been for all of us.”

Source: http://www.startrek.com/article/interview-with-jonathan-frakes

I know Brent Spiner has been seeking new acting roles, but I would really like to know if Frakes is accurate or is exaggerating.

Why do I suspect I could retire off the money Frakes made off of TNG?

 

[TheMurph]

I've always like Frakes more as a director than as an actor, then again I've not really watched anything he's acted in other than TNG. As for the others, I've seen them in some movies here and there, and let us not forget voice acting, which Michael Dorn seem to do quite a bit. Also, I seem to recall seeing somewhere that Brent Spiner was doing some theatre.

 

[JarodRussell]

Being an actor is a brutal job. There's so very few who get into that position of "I've made it--I'm in demand and THEY seek me out, instead of the reverse." And then there's all the supporting people that made it all happen--writers, set designers, producers, stage hands, etc, who don't get the kind of glory that the actors do.

Tell me a job where this is any different. From hairdresser to doctor, there's always only a few of them who "made it". The rest is just going along like everyone else. And every job has supporting jobs that make it all happen. Do you know the name of Steve Jobs' secretary?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

None of them look like they are starving.

In fact a few look the opposite

Indeed - a few are approaching the point where they could mingle unnoticed in the audience at a Trek convention.

 

[Destructor]

Being an actor is a brutal job. There's so very few who get into that position of "I've made it--I'm in demand and THEY seek me out, instead of the reverse." And then there's all the supporting people that made it all happen--writers, set designers, producers, stage hands, etc, who don't get the kind of glory that the actors do.

Tell me a job where this is any different. From hairdresser to doctor, there's always only a few of them who "made it". The rest is just going along like everyone else. And every job has supporting jobs that make it all happen. Do you know the name of Steve Jobs' secretary?

I'm pretty sure anyone who wants to be a hairdresser is a hairdresser. For every actor there are at least nine people who want to be an actor, are trying to be an actor, and are not actors.

 

[JarodRussell]

Being an actor is a brutal job. There's so very few who get into that position of "I've made it--I'm in demand and THEY seek me out, instead of the reverse." And then there's all the supporting people that made it all happen--writers, set designers, producers, stage hands, etc, who don't get the kind of glory that the actors do.

Tell me a job where this is any different. From hairdresser to doctor, there's always only a few of them who "made it". The rest is just going along like everyone else. And every job has supporting jobs that make it all happen. Do you know the name of Steve Jobs' secretary?

I'm pretty sure anyone who wants to be a hairdresser is a hairdresser. For every actor there are at least nine people who want to be an actor, are trying to be an actor, and are not actors.

I don't think I get what you're saying. Do you define that by quality or employment? There are good and bad hairdressers as there are good and bad actors, and there's also unemployed hairdressers as there are unemployed actors.

 

[Destructor]

Tell me a job where this is any different. From hairdresser to doctor, there's always only a few of them who "made it". The rest is just going along like everyone else. And every job has supporting jobs that make it all happen. Do you know the name of Steve Jobs' secretary?

I'm pretty sure anyone who wants to be a hairdresser is a hairdresser. For every actor there are at least nine people who want to be an actor, are trying to be an actor, and are not actors.

I don't think I get what you're saying. Do you define that by quality or employment? There are good and bad hairdressers as there are good and bad actors, and there's also unemployed hairdressers as there are unemployed actors.

Yes but generally if you want to be a hairdresser you go to hairdressing school then you learn how to cut hair then you get a job as a hairdresser and you're done. Actors go to acting school and learn to act (or not) and then... the vast majority go on to NEVER get an acting job. There isn't an entire city of hairdressers just WAITING to get that sweet hairdressing job, the way Los Angeles is basically an entire city of people hoping to break into acting.

And if a hairdresser gets fired from one hairdressing place they can probably be assured of getting another hairdressing job. Most actors who do get a role just get that one role, then go around complaining how they were typecast, when in actual fact it's utterly typical that most actors get cast for a single role and then are completely forgotten about.

 

[Anji]

Then we've got to stop watching reality shows and get our artists back to work.

 

[tharpdevenport]

California is a very expensive place to live; just how much doies the common Trek actor from the spin-off seires, make in residuals anyway?

 

[indolover]

They may make a lot in the grand scheme, even if most Trek actors are not genuine A-list.

Also, I can't see reality TV going away soon. It's a successful format since it's cheap to produce, and is popular. Like most pop culture, it lends perfectly to the ways of the average Joe. It's simply supply and demand. Sci-fi is different since it still has a geeky image, and is very expensive in production terms. Think of an episode of, say, TNG/DS9 compared to Keeping up with the Kardashians. There is no prosthetic make-up, no elaborate sets, no costumes, etc.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

^^

The Kardashian sisters are hot....

Not much depth, but hot...

Khloe, I think, is the least hot one, but...not too bad...

Alright, back on topic...

 

[BillJ]

I'm pretty sure anyone who wants to be a hairdresser is a hairdresser. For every actor there are at least nine people who want to be an actor, are trying to be an actor, and are not actors.

For every actor, there are probably a thousand who want to be. It is probably one of the most competitive markets to get regular work in behind only professional sports (NFL, NBA and MLB where the number is something like 1 in 10,000 who get regular work).

I just don't feel bad for them (TNG actors). They got to be on a regular series for seven years and then a series of spin-off films. Hell... Frakes appeared in every Star Trek series except the original.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Yeah, reality TV... the death knell of a lot of acting careers for legitimate actors and actresses.

Well I'm doing what I can to help by boycotting reality TV, have been ever since there was such a thing as reality TV, but sadly it doesn't seem to being doing much good.

The number of interesting actors I'd like to see in something, but seem to have just vanished altogether, is distressing. Even big names with fan followings like Ben Browder - wtf, why doesn't he have his own TV show again? Connor Trinneer, Adrian Pasdar, the list goes on...

Meanwhile, actors I like keep getting cast on shows that bore me (Christopher Gorham on Covert Affairs) and new shows appear with a bunch of actors I don't give a flip about (young and pretty and charisma-free). Good older actors keep getting cast on Skiffy pilots, but more often than not, the writing and inept younger cast members neutralize their efforts. The latest victim: David Straitharn, soon to be slumming it in Alphas.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I wrote two episodes of TNG about twenty years ago, and that's the extent of my professional career as a television writer - I was a fortunate enthusiast who was able to take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.

Cool. Did you get an opportunity to write on DS9 or Voyager?

I never tried to pitch DS9. I pitched Voyager a couple of times, to no avail. They were always really encouraging, though - it was a bit of a thrill to be told "you should be in here pitching every week" by one of my favorite TNG/Voyager writers - and one thing that happened was really fun: I pitched a story and was told "we're doing that one already and I'm telling you that with the understanding that you won't breathe a word of it" because it was seen as a game-changing kind of event.

So you're admitting that Barbie of Borg was your idea?

Or maybe it was Chak/7? Janeway and Paris turning into salamanders? The charming Oirish holodeck villagers?

You know we're going to keep harassing you until you dish!

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

"Oirish." Hah.

 

[Destructor]

California is a very expensive place to live; just how much doies the common Trek actor from the spin-off seires, make in residuals anyway?

No idea, but if you're talking about the main castmembers, particularly from TNG, they don't need to work another day in their lives if they don't want to.

 

[VulcanJedi]

Most actors never get cast in a single TV role, the second largest group of actors get one TV role and that's it. It's actually a numerically very small group that gets cast in roles over and over in different roles, usually because they are very attractive, but sometimes also because they are exceptionally talented or resonate with the public for some reason. Frakes did very well to parlay his TNG career into a directing career, as did Dawson, McNeill and Burton, but even Sirtis and Dorn will be sitting pretty on the massive residual checks they will get every time a TNG episode or film airs in syndication anywhere around the world. They are made, financially, for the rest of their lives. Sure, that's not very satisfying creatively when you think of yourself as an 'actor', but it's hard to drum up sympathy for them when pretty much every actor lives in near-poverty until they 'make it' (which, and let's be clear, the vast majority never do). Which the cast of TNG almost certainly did. It's not 'typecasting', it's just 'casting'. You get cast for a role and then the machine moves on to other people.

I agree with nearly everything above, but I question "massive residual checks..." just because I don't really know how "massive" they are. Do you know?

Doug

thinkin the same thing; bottom line kids; stay in school, the actors life hey diddly squat..