If you’d like to receive my blog in your in-box each week, click here.
You know that guy–the one in the movie or TV show whose face looks familiar…you know him from something else, right?
One of my favorite dorky games my husband and I play when watching TV is “How do we know that guy (or woman)?” And then we see which of us can come up with what we saw them in. If we can’t, we look them up on IMDB to scroll through their credits.
Often these actors will have shocking numbers of credits. Reams and reams of them. Their faces are familiar, yes, because you have probably seen them in a lot of things, always a line or two here and there, maybe a featured role in a favorite show.
Actors can—and often do—build entire careers on this kind of work. They’re called character actors or journeymen actors or day players, and they’re a backbone of Hollywood: reliable, experienced, talented actors who can come in and do the job and do it well, so that the rest of the production goes smoothly.
They are the worker bees of the acting industry—not the glamorous queen, the star whose name leads the marquee and who is the “box-office draw,” or the ones whose careers are made by landing a starring role. These are supporting players. The ones who help make it all happen.
They are the “midlist” actors, if you will—the equivalent of the midlist author.
Building a Creative Career
No one goes into acting to be “that guy.” That’s not the dream: The dream is Bruce Willis. It’s Meryl Streep. It’s Samuel L. Jackson. Maybe it’s William Shatner and his incredibly enduring and varied, undeniably successful career.
Read more: “Life Lessons from William Shatner”
But “that guy” often has had a career spanning many years, if not many decades. Sometimes “that guy” breaks out and becomes a more well-known or leading actor, like J. K. Simmons, Jenny Slate, Kathryn Hahn, or Jennifer Coolidge.
More often he stays “that guy”—the one you know but can’t place: Fred Melamed with 117 acting credits, Bob Clendenin with 132, Isiah Whitlock Jr. with 123, Wayne Knight with 128, John Michael Higgins with 163.
Or the one you may recognize from countless shows and movies, but can’t come up with their name: Margo Martindale with 131 acting credits and three Emmys, Luis Guzmán with 168 acting credits and 7 as a producer, Gary Cole and his instantly recognizable face and 204 acting credits, the ubiquitous Judy Greer with her 169.
These actors quietly move from job to job to job, doing a few days here, weeks or months there, amassing hundreds of respectable credits. Maybe if they’re lucky they get a recurring regular role on a long-running TV series, like James Michael Tyler—Gunther on Friends. Maybe they land a job as spokesperson for a years-long ad campaign for a major company, like Stephanie Courtney as Progressive Insurance’s famous Flo for going on 15 years now.
These people are making a living doing what they love–acting. Now, maybe it’s not Shakespeare, and maybe it’s not those meaty leading roles they dreamed of. It’s often a handful of lines or a few scenes they have to imbue with enough reality and authenticity and skill that they help believably create the essential canvas against which the stars act and the story takes place.
That takes skill, and craft, and determination and talent. It takes persistence and resilience. Those roles, as seemingly minor as they are, are hotly contested and heavily auditioned. Listen to a few episodes of the excellent podcast Dead Eyes by journeyman actor Connor Ratliff (with his 78 acting credits, 14 writer credits, and 9 producer credits) to get a glimpse of what that kind of career path demands. These actors worked hard to land those parts. They are successful working actors.
What Makes for Career “Success”?
That may not sound like enough for you—or like a very satisfying career. You might imagine that most actors don’t get into the business because they dream of being a journeyman actor, playing day parts and cameos and minor characters, but rather of A-list celebrity superstardom as an actor.
But only a vanishingly small percentage of actors will make it to those heady heights.
More may make it as far as journeyman status, but still only a small percentage of those who launch their acting careers: Only 14 percent of SAG members (Screen Actors Guild, the actors’ union) earn more than $26K a year.
It’s actually rarefied air to be a working actor, supporting yourself with your art and working regularly in your craft—just as it is to be a working writer supporting yourself from your writing: The Author’s Guild reports that more than half of full-time authors make lower than minimum wage from their writing, per its most recent income survey of its members.
Most writers likely don’t imagine themselves trundling along as midlist authors either. We rarely strive for “medium.” Many of us who pursue our calling in a creative career dream of the pinnacle of success: something along the lines of being a New York Times bestseller whose ubiquitous books are made into movies as they’re making bank from their writing.
Creating a Happier Creative Life
Looked at one way, becoming a journeyman actor or a midlist writer could be seen as failure, never reaching the heights to which you aspire.
And yet these folks are working in their field, doing what they love and making money from it–even if they have to supplement that income with day jobs. They are professionally pursuing their craft. Does that sound like artistic success?
A dear friend of mine is just such a journeyman actor. I don’t know if he aspired to greater fame, but I do know that as long as I’ve known him, about 15 years now, he has worked steadily in his field, much in demand for his talent and experience and reputation for excellent work.
Mike McGowan is that guy you saw in that thing that time. You may not know his name, but you might recognize his face from small or single-episode roles in Madam Secretary and Blue Bloods, Chicago Fire, Law and Order: SVU, Curb Your Enthusiasm. He starred in two huge national commercials, the most viewed likely the ones for treatments for erectile dysfunction and constipation, the latter of which inspired countless viral memes featuring Mike.
He’s done tons of theater all over the globe, including a main role in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. Most recently he filmed a recurring role in Robert De Niro’s first produced TV series, and when his husband, a close friend of mine, told me about it, it wasn’t the prestige or paycheck or possibility that it might lead to breakout superstardom they were excited about—it was the chance for Mike to work with the likes of De Niro, Angela Bassett, Joan Allen, Matthew Modine, Connie Britton, and Jesse Plemmons. To perform his craft amid others whose talents and skill he admires.
Right now Mike’s at a regional theater in Maine starring in a Stephen Sondheim show opposite Kathleen Turner. It’s an impressive body of work, and a career’s worth of indelible experiences.
He’s one of the happiest people I know, constantly working to improve as an actor and singer, leaping wholeheartedly into every role he is offered, and successfully steering his creative career on his terms in a way that satisfies him and allows him the kind of life he wants: a creative one filled with constant new challenges and opportunities, but with flexibility to pursue other interests in his life as well. He’s found his “enough.”
His husband, Richard LeMay, is also a creator, a filmmaker who’s had great success, including as the director of a remake of a Francis Ford Coppola film, Dementia 13. Recently he’s turned his talents to writing novels, working on his second right now. Throughout his career when he has needed to he’s supplemented his creative income as a physical therapist, work he has always genuinely enjoyed. He rides the crests and troughs of any creative career, but for as long as we’ve been friends, more than 25 years now, he has found ways to do it on his own terms. He seems to have found his “enough” too.
When you think of creative success, broadening your definition of it beyond the narrow peak of the mountaintop allows you to find joy and fulfillment regardless of how high you get. It allows you to relish the journey up the mountain. If you are practicing your craft, doing the thing you love and feel a calling to, on any level, how is that not creative success?
Read more: “When Will You Be a Success?”
Maybe you’re Scarlett Johansson or Robert Downey Jr. But maybe you’re this guy, doing the work, staying employed, well respected by those in your industry and damned good at your craft—even if no one knows your name (M. Emmet Walsh, for the record—whose face you no doubt know from his 235 acting credits).
I often talk and write about knowing what you want out of your creative career, and what would be enough for you. Defining those foundational motivations—and your “enough”—is essential bedrock on which to create a sustainable, fulfilling, happier writing career.
Read more: “Why Do You Write?”
Creative careers are the most volatile and unpredictable fields I know. It’s up to each creator to determine your path, what you want out of your career, and what will help you grow a satisfying fulfilling career you can sustain for a lifetime.
Authors, if these ideas intrigue you, sign up for my newsletter here to be the first to find out about my upcoming book, The Intuitive Author: How to Grow and Sustain a Happier Writing Career, coming out in October.
And meanwhile, weigh in! Have you considered your goals for your writing career—and whether you would still be satisfied with your career if you don’t reach the highest levels?
If you’d like to receive my blog in your in-box each week, click here.
18 Comments. Leave new
We always called those guys, ‘bit actors.’ And you’re right, no one aspires to it. Is it enough?
Every writer has to decide for themselves.m
But thanks fo spotlighting the other side!
Truth, Laura–and thinking about that, asking yourself the question–is it worth it, is it enough?–is so key to creating a satisfying, fulfilling writing career you can be happy with. I always ask myself a question: If I found out right now I’d never hit the pinnacle I’m aiming for, would I still do what I’m doing? That’s what made me walk away from acting, and then from novel writing. It’s what keeps me happy in editing–because so far that answer is always a big yes. It means I love the journey, regardless of the “destination.” The journey isn’t validated by the destination–the journey is the point. Thanks for this comment!
You’re the best. This is very inspiring. Thank you for being you.
<3 No, YOU are! 😉 Thanks, Teri. Glad it hit the right chord.
My husband and I play that game too!
I’ve met quite a few midlist authors. Some are very happy to be midlist. Some are still unsatisfied.
As an editor, I usually get one line of credit, but I still get excited to see my name in a book.
Success for me would be to have at least ten books I’ve edited become at least midlist books. I have edited two best sellers. I would love to have more, but that is kind of up to the authors and publishers marketing the heck out of those books.
Success could also be that I’m a sought-after editor, but I think achieving the above would help me achieve this goal.
That game is half the fun of watching TV together! 😀 I’m such a showbiz nerd I take it further–I like to see if I can identify the other credits of the director, writer, producer, etc.
I agree, Kristin–it’s NEVER not a thrill to see my name in a book. And I get your defining success in specific terms–I think that can help us stay focused on our goals. But for me, I worry that if I get caught up in results I lose sight of the purpose and the rewards of the work itself. I frequently remind myself that my job isn’t to make anyone a bestseller, or even to be the editor to bestsellers. It’s to help every author tell the best version of their vision that they are able to create at that stage of their career, with this story. If we can do that together, we’ve succeeded. That keeps me happy with every day’s work, in stead of reaching for a holy grail before I count myself successful. That helps me keep the self-doubt demons at bay too. FWIW, my editing schedule became full years before I had worked on a lot of bestsellers, through word of mouth doing solid work, and also by being proactive about building it.
And having edited two bestsellers is wonderful! But I agree with you–it’s not too much up to the editor, with so many other factors in play.
One of the characters in my work-in-progress is a former actor turned pastor. He only had one acting credit in a commercial for deodorant. Now, I must make him go viral, too. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ha! Hey, I’m happy if anything I write is useful for someone on any level–so I’ll take plot inspo! And I will tell Mike his viral commercial inspired a novelist’s character and plot. 🙂
If I can find some of the viral memes I’ll post them–they’re hilarious, and all feature Mike.
What an incredibly inspirational article. My husband and I also use IMDB and say, hey, there’s that guy again. Didn’t we just see him in another show?” They have steady, rewarding careers without all the hassles that come with me. They live private, happy lives with steady income. What a blessing. I aspire to be such a steady author.
I’m with you, Susan–working steadily in the field you love feels like reward enough to me. I think that’s why I stay happy in my career–it’s about that day-to-day, not the magical carrot I want to one day attain.
And I was so happy when IMDB came into existence–it made this compulsion of ours SO much easier. 🙂 Thanks for the comment!
I second Teri, thanks for being you—how often do we forget our enough? After all, the sea has more than crests and troughs and, indeed, waves.
Lovely, Armand, and so true. Thank you for sharing–and for your kind comment!
I’m writing memoire because my childhood story will answer questions my adult daughter cannot yet pose. I’m writing to put some things to rest for myself and my sister who died before she could write enough. I’m writing to finish, to publish. While I am willing to be interviewed by Oprah (smile) – I think we’d both miss out if that conversation doesn’t occur – but that’s far from why I write.
That’s a potent motivator, Lorraine. I would imagine that knowing that so clearly is a strong impetus for getting butt in seat and words on page, and keeps you focused on the story itself, rather than the result. I always think that’s the most productive place from which to write. Thanks for sharing!
I would be *thrilled* to be a publishing, midlist author, spending my time working to improve my craft, and finding words to exchange thoughts, experiences, and feelings with readers. As a developing writer, I’m already thriving by enjoying community with like-minded folks. The juice I get from writing, reading, listening, and talking about books and publishing, every hour that I can spare from the rest of my life, is already a great reward. My next steps are finding venues to share my work, and continuing to nurture my book-in-progress. Yes, of course, I’d love to eventually finish things, publish them, and get them into the hands of readers, the more the better, but best-seller status or big 0l’ prizes are not even really on my radar screen.
I love that, Heather! You might be surprised to find how quickly the goalposts move, though. 🙂 I remember thinking once that if I could just finish a full-length fiction manuscript, that’s all the satisfaction I’d ever want. And then I did, and I wanted to just have it published. But then I wanted it to be a big seller. And then I wanted to publish more. And then I wanted to publish with a Big Five house…and on and on. It’s insane how fast we look to the next peak as soon as we surmount the one we thought was the only mountain we wanted to climb!
But I love how much it sounds like you focus on the journey, not the destination–your enjoyment of the work itself, the community of writers you’ve found. I firmly believe that’s the bedrock of a successful, happy writing career. Thanks for sharing!
Goals (In chronological order): Each would be a success.
1) I’d like an agent–a professional who believes my work can bring a satisfying reading experience to a number of readers (who’d buy them) and bring them income.
2) I’d like a publisher–a professional who agrees enough with the agent to invest in my book in the hope of profit.
3) I’d like the publisher to profit–along with the agent and me, and in the process to build a readership who’d like to read more of my work.
I’d consider these accomplishments three stacked successes.
4) I’d like to satisfy those readers, that agent, and that publisher with at least one more book in that genre.
I believe that these four would mean huge success to me. A best-seller, a movie, or a TV contract would be nice–but I’d feel pretty successful without any of them.
Beyond goals–Gravy:
4) There’s another genre in which I’d like to provide a satisfying readers’ experience in the same way–at least one book, maybe two.
I’ve written two books I’m optimistic about. I didn’t list writing them as successes, but to me, they are. I’ve got plans for at least two more–just in case.
Anything beyond all that is pie-in-the-sky. While I would welcome a slice of said pie, I would feel successful, if not satisfied, without it.
I love how thoroughly you’ve thought about this, Bob. I do think it’s important to define–concretely–what we are aiming for; otherwise how can we hit the target? And that you’ve already written two manuscripts counts as success too, I agree. That’s the other element I think makes for a satisfying writing career–relishing the accomplishments and progress we make, and taking control where it’s within our direct power to do so: in our writing. I hope you try those other genres–that sounds like a fun stretch. And I hope you achieve your other goals as well.