Actor/Actress: The Wicked Stage

Introduction
If you can do anything else besides this and still be happy, do that instead. All of the cliches about acting careers being next to impossible are TRUE. This doesn't mean I don't love it, it just means it's often hard, demoralizing, challenging.

Job Function
The best is being afforded opportunities to work. (I'm primarily a theater actor.) I never feel more alive than I do while performing in a show, and this fall I was lucky enough to have a gig at a great regional theater for almost three months. I was on cloud nine. Now that I'm back, scraping to make ends meet with my day job, going out on auditions, it's really hard. And unfortunately, except for the lucky few who "make it," there's much more scraping than there is cloud nine. Lifestyle
I do appreciate the nontraditional schedule. I don't have to report to an office at the same hours every day and do the same thing. One day I might sleep until noon, the next I might be up at 6 AM to line up in the cold for an audition. It's always different. You meet all sorts of crazy, wonderful people, and it feels great to be part of a community that shares your passion. But the downside of not having a 9-to-5 job is just that. You don't have security. You don't have a constant paycheck. Most actors are waiters, temps, freelancers. It's very draining to have to work another job (if not 2, 3, or 4 other jobs) to support the one you love.

Additional Information
There's nothing like it. It is amazing, but you just have to be prepared to make tremendous sacrifices over and over.