What a typical day is like - Actor Video Transcripts
Video 1 Transcript
A typical day is me running around like a chicken with their head cut off, because I'm a stay-at-home mom, I work producing videos for my family's channel, and then I'm trying to cram in, you know, sometimes three or four auditions in one day, getting those filmed. So it's a little crazy. Sometimes my house is an absolute disaster. A typical day on set is you get up early, you show up to set, there's a lot of sitting around and waiting, or if you're like the lead on a commercial where you're in every scene, there's just like busy, busy, busy, you're on all the time, don't get many breaks, and you have to try to find time to take care of yourself and be like, hey, can someone get me a water? I need to drink, I need to eat. That just made it seem like it's completely hectic to be an actor, and it is, but it's awesome, it's so fun, it's really fulfilling. And then there are also typical days where it's just like nothing's happening at all. So there's a wide range.
Video 2 Transcript
Typical day for me. I am not a morning person, so if I don't have a set project early in the morning, I will sleep in. So, um, if I wake up, you know, if I'm scheduled early, I will wake up, I'll have my coffee and, um, you know, orange juice. I love orange juice. Um, also take a little drink of apple cider vinegar. Um, keep you healthy. But, and then I go off to work and on my break, I am submitting to projects. Um, on, you know, online on my lunch break, I'm writing on my film scripts. And when I come home, I am submitting video auditions to, you know, audition projects or getting on zoom calls to network, to do script reads, um, or networking on my weekends. I'm going to improv classes. I'm going to networking events, um, and group workshops.
Video 3 Transcript
A typical day of an actor is not glamorous by any means. I've had lots of family and friends show up on set and they all walk away scratching their head. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. A lot of waiting around. Chaos. Sometimes stressful. Sometimes a lot of pressure. But then usually something beautiful and magical happens and we all go, that's why we do this. Typical day, you show up pretty early. You check in with your director or your producer if they're available. They'll send you the hair and makeup, wardrobe. I feel like once I get into hair and makeup and wardrobe, I'm like, yeah, there are the layers. And then just things start making sense and I rush to set. If I'm not in the way, I like to be there and just take it all in. I want to see the other actors doing their thing. I want to watch the DP. I want to watch the boom operator. I want to watch the set designer. I want to listen to the director and see how he's communicating and just get ready and take it all in.
Video 4 Transcript
A typical day of being an actor is you sit at home and you work on something else. You practice, you practice, you practice, so that when the audition comes in you're ready. Now, that's true. I work a lot and I spend 90% of my time at home or doing other things besides acting, more than 90%. But when you're on set, a typical day is you get there very early, you check in with the assistant director, you get into your wardrobe, you get your makeup done. Yes, men and women, everyone who's ever been on screen is wearing makeup if you're in a movie, because otherwise you look pasty and weird. So everyone wears makeup. So you do makeup, then if you're lucky you get to rehearse a few times, then you sit around and wait, then you shoot for a few minutes, then you sit around and wait, then you have lunch, then you sit around and wait, then you sit around and wait, then you sit around and wait, then you shoot for a few minutes, and then you're done and you get sent home.
Video 5 Transcript
I feel like every single person is going to answer this the same, but a typical day of being an actor is sitting around. Bring a book. You're going to spend, say you're on set for 15 hours, you're going to spend about 13 of those hours sitting around not doing anything. So you have to find ways to be productive. For myself, because I love just the art of filmmaking, I spend a lot of time just studying other positions, crew positions, producer jobs, director jobs, and if there's time and I'm not an inconvenience to anyone, I'll pick their brains on how they do their job. I love learning the craft of filmmaking, but yeah, a lot of the day is kind of sitting around not doing too much.
Video 6 Transcript
I talked about this earlier, but I just love the variety. It's different every day, but typically on a shoot, you get your makeup on, and then you go into wardrobe, and there's people, professionals that will make you look as humanly good as possible. For me, that takes a lot of work, so I'm very grateful for the talented people at Studio C. But then, yeah, you'll go over your lines. You'll meet with the director. You'll go over the vision of that day's work, and the more friendly you are, the more you learn the crew, learn even the extras, everybody's name, and it'll make a huge difference. People will go the extra mile to make you look as good as possible when you show them the respect and stuff for what they're doing.
Video 7 Transcript
Well, the good part about a typical day is that it doesn't really exist. It does, I guess, if you're working on an episodic where, you know, you more or less, you know, you're working five to seven days if you're a series regular. But even then, sometimes you're only working a couple of days per episode. But a basic day is, depending on your call time, so you get your call time the night before, usually at eight or nine or 10, depending on when they wrap that day. But let's just be, on average, you're getting in at around six or seven for makeup and wardrobe, report to the set by, you know, nine after having had breakfast or whatever else. And then you're probably shooting anywhere from 10 to 12 hours. Depends on your part, depends on how much work you have that day. Usually they can't go over a 12-hour day and there's gotta be breaks and there has to be lunch and things like that. There's a lot of unions involved, not just acting unions, but the other crafts have their union as well.
Video 8 Transcript
A typical day for an actor is a lot of self-taping, especially right now with COVID and everything, there aren't a lot of in-person auditions. Most of your day will be dedicated to learning lines and just putting them on tape or reading scripts, reading pilots, that sort of thing. But a normal day has a lot of just submitting and auditioning. So the best way to set yourself up for success with that is to get a good ring light, get a good backdrop with like a bright color, and get yourself ready to audition. And then if you're working on set, a lot of your day is just waiting, waiting to be on camera and running your lines. So it's a lot of running lines, either way, but it's fun and we love it.
Video 9 Transcript
A typical day for an actor, at least this actor, is getting up and appreciating being able to get up, but also vowing to find the joy in the day and the happy and doing what you love. I have an interesting life because I have interesting days and they all stack up. And it's also looking for work. They say I'm one of the hardest working actors in the world because I'm working all the time because I look for it. Part of your job is not just showing up on camera, it's getting there. It's finding the work. Every day I answer emails, go to backstage, and I look at all the video audition opportunities and I pursue them, the ones that seem to make sense. It's a hustle, it's a hustle, it's a hustle, it's a hustle. A typical day is just full of hustle and I like that.
Video 10 Transcript
On a traditional movie set, basically you're going to arrive, ideally 30 minutes before your call time, makes everything better. You're probably going to interact with the second second AD, either sign some paperwork or just, you know, they'll just walk you through, they'll get you the call sheet, besides this is the one I had on my last movie, gives you the call sheet, lets you know what scenes you're doing that day, the shot list, and the pages of the script. Like, just, that's great, get that, you're going to go straight to wardrobe and makeup, that's where you're going to go at the start of every day, wardrobe, makeup, and they're going to be your best friends, appreciate that quiet time with them. And then, just like, between all your downtime, you know, you look at these signs, make sure you know your lines, and other than that, just be available and prepared, don't run away, make sure you're somewhere people can find you, if you do have to run to the bathroom, and then if they're looking for you, they won't be super mad that you've disappeared, just be professional, be available, be looking at your script, relax, get ready for your next scenes, know the schedule.
Video 11 Transcript
A typical day on set is about 12 hours. That's a normal range, but it could last up to 18 hours. I've shown up on set at 7 in the morning and I've not, I haven't gotten out of there till midnight, two o'clock in the morning. So it could be some long hours, a lot of sitting and waiting. While you're doing that, you could be sitting there running lines with, with a partner or by yourself, just trying to remember your lines. So yeah, a typical day is, is pretty much sitting around waiting.
Video 12 Transcript
Film acting is a lot of hurry up and wait. You got to be prepared, you got to be ready to go with your lines, and you have to be ready to go on a moment's notice when they call for you to get out to the set, because time is money. And so you just got to be ready to go, and then when you do your scene, you go sit down and you wait another hour long it takes for them to set up the next scene. So be prepared to sit and wait.
