LEVEL PLAYING FIELD: MYTHS & RE-EDUCATION
There's a saying that in America, everyone loves a "level playing field."
The average actor moves to Los Angeles naively assuming that this is true of "show business" and that major movies and television shows are cast using the same process that college theatre or regional theatre productions are cast. Which means to say, similar to what is termed an "open call".
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact is that entertainment industry, jobs are subject to the same employment prerequisites as we find at high tech companies like Apple, Google and Open AI. Just because the employer posts a coveted or highly-sought after position on a public job board, it does not mean that a college graduate with no work experience will be invited to interview for the role.
In film and television, roles are subject to a form of experience-based "stratification" as follows:
1. Starring roles in major studio features. The prerequisites for such a role are previous starring roles in hit television shows, studio feature films and Cannes / Sundance "darlings" (ie. award winners).
2. Major supporting roles in studio features. Typically we see these roles awarded directly to film and television stars, without auditioning. The talent are called "promotable names" and essentially the prerequisite is name recognition (fame), or a combination of name recognition and look.
3. Starring roles in major television productions. These jobs are called Series Regular roles and they pay anywhere from $20,000 to $200,000 per episode. Generally speaking these roles are awarded (offered) to talent who already have starred in at least one critically acclaimed show (for example SILICON VALLEY or GAME OF THRONES) or one successful prime time show (for example CASTLE, SCANDAL). Few, if any of these roles are subject to auditioning. If auditions are held, the candidates are drawn from preferred lists of pre-selected actors chosen by the studios and producers. The rare cases where casting holds auditions for such roles is when the specifics of the role (ie. character description) are so unusual that there is a deficit in celebrity talent (ie. no stars are available who can meet the specific qualities of the role description). Generally speaking the incumbents, when researched, can trace their career back to either a childhood early start or a "black swan" casting event 10, 20 or 30 years prior. Only the "survivor-ship" talent reach widespread fame and their stories are widely known whereas their contemporaries who aspired to the same level of success are labouring away in obscurity, reading for the smallest roles (see below). Conversely, for similar roles where characters are described as "12-15 years old", the auditioning process might be very similar to an "open call."
4. Major recurring character arcs (called RECURRING GUEST STARS) on studio television productions. Generally speaking these roles are also awarded, or offered, to top talent as per #3. Essentially, any television star who is not already contractually bound to a series remains active in television by doing smaller, multi-episode arcs on popular shows. These roles often feature high pay and the producers seek famous or celebrity talent in order to be able to promote the talent's participation as part of the marketing strategy for that season of the show.
It is the writer’s opinion that, for non-diverse Caucasian talent who play above the age of 33 (in the character description), there are no auditions for Series Regular roles above that age (character age of 33 or older) because producers CAN ALWAYS FIND AN EXISTING STAR WITH ONE SUCCESSFUL SERIES who they can book from an offer. An example might be Edie Falco playing the titular role of TOMMY in TOMMY (CBS). I would estimate there are as many as 500 television stars in the demographic (competitive peers) of Edie Falco who were capable of playing this role but who lack the career accolades that she brings to the table.
The “average American” or “girl-next-door” newcomer to Hollywood falsely or naively believes that there exists auditioning opportunities to propel the aspiring actor into these stratospheric roles, described above. However, we find that the prerequisites for these roles are so stringent that only an actor or actress who begins at age 12-15 in a major Hollywood debut can hope to have these prerequisites by the time they are 33 or older.
In the most general sense of competition in the American job market, these roles described above, are actually an authentic example of "the level playing field." However, the newcomer to Hollywood fails to understand how deficient their experience is relative to established talent.
Going back to the stratification of employment opportunities. Once we descend to more attainable roles we find the following stratification:
5. Guest Stars. These are high-paying jobs that can sometimes go to a newcomer. This is especially true of shows like NCIS (CBS) which has been in production for such a long time that many of the established and working character actors have already appeared on the show. Generally speaking, in American television, once you appear on a show in any capacity, you are not eligible to return to the show to play another character. There are some exceptions like soap operas and circumstances where a talent appeared on a show but their lines were cut. So generally speaking, a newcomer who does not have "A LOOK" will most likely only ever book Guest Star roles on LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER:SVU, NCIS or GREY'S ANATOMY because of these dynamics.
6. Co-Stars. These are also called “day player” roles and are generally paid at the union minimum wage. Because they pay only the minimum wage, major stars are unwilling to work in these roles, considerably opening up the playing field to newcomers in terms of "a level playing field."
HOWEVER, once again we find the newcomer is at a significant disadvantage to actors and actresses who started working a decade or more previously, building resume credits slowly but surely. Even a totally unknown character actor, by age 33 could amass 50 or more of these "smaller" resume credits and as such, in terms of the "level playing field" is arguably vastly more qualified than the newcomer and as such, should be (and is) invited to audition while the newcomer is excluded due to a lack of prerequisites.
The newcomer typically comes to Los Angeles with a mental framework derived from flawed reasoning which is a byproduct of "Survivorship Bias” in the entertainment industry. The newcomer has naively identified one or more "major stars" who may have, through some "black swan event" (ie.statistically impossible odds) managed to achieve a solid Hollywood career through an unusual auditioning opportunity that was subject to "open call" or "wide auditioning" dynamics. These career promotions are incredibly rare but widely publicized in narratives of famous actors, leading to a tragically flawed perception of prevalence. This misjudgement or “blind spot” typically results in a "lost decade" where naive actors scramble around Hollywood, trying different agents, acting classes and headshot photographers, incorrectly assuming that these trivial factors are somehow related to access to "a level playing field." When the inconvenient truth is, that the actor's inexperience (ie. lack of professional credits) is the actual barrier to the "level playing field."
It is for this reason that the writer recommends that all newcomers to Hollywood and even character actors who have some entry-level resume credits, undergo a strategic rebranding to distance themselves from the market saturation of "average American" or "girl-next-door" talent which clogs Hollywood. Generally speaking in the 25-35 age range for Caucasian actors in Los Angeles, you can assume there are at least 3000 actors who look exactly like you, who already have 10-30 professional resume credits accrued from a decade or more of prior professional work experience.
Essentially Hollywood roles are subject to "a level playing field." However, the practical arrangement of the playing field is most analagous to the level playing field of "Major League Baseball" or "NBA Basketball". Just because an athlete happens to play basketball with some level of competency, if they have not been preparing and working their entire lives for a career in the NBA or MLB, the very idea that they have an opportunity is preposterous. For some reason, newcomers to Hollywood tend to arrive in a cloud of fantasy projections about how Hollywood works and spend, literally, a decade getting a hard-knocks education about the reality of the ultra-competitive entertainment business.
HOWEVER, all is not lost! Any actor who comes to the realization that their "average American" or "girl-next-door" look is a hot ticket to career disaster can perform a strategic rebranding and adopt a look that qualifies them for roles that the major stars are unable to play. Typically we see talent with tattoos or elite physiques or odd / unusual faces settling into these career niches. Hollywood has a good demand for outlier character types which are far from the center of the gaussian normal when it comes to archetypical newcomers.
THEREFORE, the only viable career strategy for a naive newcomer is to divest themselves of their naivity as soon as possible and rebrand using the best available market analysis (ie. who are the competition, what do they look like).
THE WADDLESWORTH ACADEMY was founded to provide talented and aspiring actors with the tools they need to undergo this transformation. YMMV.
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