<p>Veering off-topic: It’s a bit concerning to see parents here using "stardom’- even ‘rising stardom’ - as a measure of success and “at least a rising working actor” as a half-measure. A working actor, that is, an actor who works at all, is an extraordinary success and a very unusual entity. He has risen.</p>
<p>A little reality check here from AEA’s reporting: Of Equity’s 43,000 members, only about 17,000 achieve any (even a single day) of employment in a calendar year. Of those with reported earnings a couple of years ago, about 40% earned less than $5000, another 30% between $5000 and $15,000. 79% of the working members had annual earnings of $25,000 or less under Equity’s jurisdiction. About 11% of those with reported earnings fell into the $25,000 to $50,000 range. Approximately another 10% earned between $50,000 and $200,000. The remaining group – 70 members – earned over $200,000 during the season. That’s 70 out of 43,000 and that 70 includes all the TV and film names who spend hiatus in the theater, so the number reaching middle class (for NYC) earnings, is minuscule.</p>
<p>The vast majority of actors do not work - about 95% of SAG-AFTRA’s 165,000 members earn nothing under the union’s contracts. The remaining fraction, for the most part, do not earn enough to qualify for union health insurance or pension benefits. It is very important to build these facts into our sons’ and daughters’ understanding of the marketplace they’re hoping to enter. Better to drop the idea that the goal is to be a ‘star’. A fulfilling career as an actor is about creating strong work, making art, building community, and if you are very lucky, earning enough to send your own children to college some day.</p>