✩Heather Ashley Chase✩

Dear Heather: What do actors do when they’re/you’re not acting for a long time?
acting is a full time job i guess? But i see many actors/actresses taking years of break and y’all know that. my question is what do they do to get their paychecks at those times? i don’t suppose they all go watch basketball games like jack Nicholson? i’m just kiddin’. but seriously i want a serious answer. thanks.- Josh

Hello there Josh,
Well, for the top 1% of people who make mega bucks in movies, yes it’s a full time job. They are the Tom Cruises, Demi Moores out there. Those kind of paychecks only represent a teeny percentage of actors! Most of us, myself included go months or years in between movies and TV show bookings.

Most actors, like myself try to have a ‘day’ or part-time job that pays the bills. (Some like drama teaching or waiting tables in cafes. Some like myself spent all their money on classes getting licensed in jobs that actually interested them, and a job that I knew I could do really really well at, even when I’m not acting. ) but acting usually,is their passion and love. Sometimes, however it just doesn’t bring in the bucks! Most don’t go back to flipping burgers, but they do have other jobs, loves and interests that they go back to.

So, for most actors, they would either be at their day job, acting, or auditioning for parts!
Often, many famous actors do take taking years of break! You may not see them in movies, but a year or two later, you hear them talking about doing a Broadway show when they were not in Hollywood, or maybe they directed a series of films. Just because an actor is out of the spotlight does not mean they are not busy.