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What are my chances of ‘making it’?
If your training is in stage management or technical theatre, then provided you are competent you should be able to get jobs relatively easily. There is virtually 100% employment among graduates in this area.
If you are an actor the picture is very different, but your chances of making a living are hugely enhanced by training at a CDS school. A report compiled by Manpower Studies on behalf of the Arts Council for England found that 86% of actors working in the industry had received formal professional training and that the vast majority were satisfied with the preparation they had received, including the careers advice and launch into the profession.
Of the many thousands of actors and other performers currently registered with Spotlight and Equity, only a comparative handful could be considered ‘famous’ in the sense of being household names. However, there are large numbers of actors whose careers could be described as successful to the extent that they work regularly in interesting roles within theatre, radio, television and film and make a reasonable living. Actors who are represented by a good agent early in their careers may quickly get onto television, but only a few are cast in lead roles immediately. Doing a lot of television may be lucrative and good for the CV, but a long run in regional theatre may be a better way of honing skills. If your career doesn’t take off immediately, then use the early years to develop yourself as an actor rather than bemoaning your ill-fortune. It can take ten or fifteen years before you get your ‘break’, but most actors who stick with it eventually find their niche.
The good news is that there are now more jobs available in the acting profession than at any time in its history, and the growth continues.
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