Acting : Feed your wallet, your resume, or your soul. by Tom Lapke

Tom Lapke

Feed your wallet, your resume, or your soul.

I recently responded to a question in this lounge about when you should and should not accept roles. The person who asked is in a different international market than I am familiar with, where they have seemingly been finding a lot of success. My advice was the same advice I give any professional actor. A role should do at least one of the three following:

FEED YOUR WALLET (it pays well, but does not necessarily excite you artistically or add much to your resume - ex. commercials - which you don't list on your resume, instead putting "conflicts available upon request")

FEED YOUR RESUME (it might not excite you as an artist or pay well, but it will look very good on your resume - ex. doing a small part in a play with a well-known director)

FEED YOUR SOUL (it doesn't pay well, and it doesn't really help your resume much, but dammit if it doesn't excite you as an artist - ex. a beautifully written student film with a really great part for you)

This is obviously a guide post and where you are in your career will dictate how true it is (if you are brand new, take everything you can before getting picky), but it is great to see even Indiana Solo himself is not above taking a role he thinks is silly because it pays well.

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/harrison-ford-red-hulk-acting-captain...

Maurice Vaughan

I've done jobs for all three reasons, Tom Lapke. I mainly did Feed Your Resume during the early years of my career. I took on all kinds of jobs back then, like writing a 15-second short film for a filmmaker. It was more of a scene than a short film though.

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