Where Should I Live to Work as an Actor?

New York? Los Angeles? Chicago? Atlanta? Washington D.C.? London? Florida? Denver?

Deciding where to set up shop to live and work as an actor can be a quick and easy answer for some: Duh, NYC! But sometimes the decision is laden with many other facets, and it is good to keep in mind that there is work to be had anywhere, it is just a matter of what kind of work you will be having.

Our industry is based in New York City, if you are talking strictly theatre; in LA, if you are looking at film. Every major theatre auditions in New York, so if you are based there, you will have many jobs for which to toss your hat into the ring. But what if you decide – or fate decides for you – not to live in NYC? What then? Where else can you live and still get work as an actor?

Your first stop should be the Actors’ Equity’s Liaison page. There, you can see where a large enough concentration of union actors are living that Equity has given that area Liaison status. Don’t quote me on this, but I seem to recall the number is 100 or more dues-paying union members have to live in a place for it to receive such a designation. This will help in two ways:

You will see where there might be enough work to sustain a professional acting life, and

You can reach out to the Liaison Chair and committee for their input on living and working in that area as a professional actor.

I currently serve as Vice-Chair for the Louisville-Cincinnati Liaison area, and we are always happy to share info about the area. Some of us in the group are from the area originally, while others, like me, are transplants. We can chat with you about the reality on the ground for potential work, the challenges and the benefits to living in our little corner of the market.

All the liaisons I have worked with are more than happy to share the ups and downs of living where they do. Some folks ended up in a smaller market because they moved home to help an ailing parent, or they wanted to raise their kids closer to their families. Sometimes people just don’t want to put up with the larger markets, preferring to deal with work that is more sporadic rather than the pace of NYC or traffic of LA. And sometimes, people aged out of the type they were regularly cast as and didn’t want to, or didn’t know how to, transition in a larger market. I also know plenty of people who decided to focus on a parallel career to shore up retirement savings, and so moved to a smaller market to be able to do both acting and a parallel-retirement-friendly career.

There are hot pockets of work for film outside the LA market, too. While most of the roles cast from the local talent pool will be of the supporting day player variety (day player, background, stand-in), there is a good living to be made doing that work in Austin, New Orleans, and Atlanta. To gauge how active an area is, take a look at the film commission’s website for that state and municipality. You can also check out the SAG-AFTRA list of franchised agencies in the state.

For the Midwest market, where I am based, most of the work is commercial and industrial. Chances are, if you worked for Macy’s, you watched training videos filmed in downtown Cincinnati, for example. Is it glamorous? Meh. Does it pay? You betcha! (And the Macy’s folks are great to work with, to boot.) The kind of work you will have available will just depend on what is being shot there. And your type. Always your type. Reach out to folks who are already there to see what’s going on.

As for theatre in the regions, I will caution you that many Liaisons share a frustration: most regional theatres cast their shows out of New York City, Chicago, or LA. For those of us who are not living in one of those cities, it can be maddening to see roles that a local could have played go to an out-of-town talent. Whether it is a fascination with the “exotic New Yorkers,” a snobbery that quality talent couldn’t possibly be found locally, or a well-worn institutional tradition of hiring from New York, I don’t know.

Why do we live out here in the boonies, out of those office cities, where the work can be so thin? You can get as many answers to that question as there are people living in the regions.

For me, I didn’t have the financial backing to make the move to New York without chaining myself to a job that would have prevented me from being able to act. I decided to live somewhere more affordable so I could act professionally, with all of its financial pits and valleys. The plan, all along, has been to eventually move to a larger market. It may seem illogical not to move to the big market in your youngest days, when it is easier to suck up the Ramen noodle diet and there are no spouses or kids involved. I knew that I was not willing to live the life I would have led as a New York City actor, at the time that decision presented itself in my life. Knowing what I know now, I would make the same decision – with a caveat: I would temporarily set down somewhere and get certified or trained in a solid sideline or parallel career, and then move to NYC, with that sideline career – and more savings. What I have learned about the industry in my time in a smaller market will put me in such a healthier place when I do make the move, I just wish I could have learned it a little faster.

A friend of mine ended up working steadily with a cruise line right out of college, after just a few months in NYC. By the time she traded in her sea legs for land, she was married to a man pursuing a masters degree in the Midwest, whose job eventually moved them to another market that is not New York. She never made a conscious decision not to go back to New York, but her decisions along the way have her living in the regions, still. And working steadily, I might add.

Another friend of mine moved out of New York after a successful decade there. He met the love of his life, who didn’t live in New York, and also wanted to be a little closer to family in the Midwest. With his New York credentials, talent, and work ethic, he was confident he could work steadily. While he has worked steadily, a theatre that once hired him when his phone number was in the 212, will not even take him for an audition appointment, now that his area code is different – even for a role he originated in New York. That discovery has been a painful one for him, and is the example of the kind of thing people living where you are thinking about moving can share with you during your contemplations.

One fellow acting buddy worked steadily – as a janitor – in a small market while he auditioned and took whatever few roles came his way. Simultaneously, he developed himself as a fight choreographer. In the past five years, he was able to leave his custodial job and now works all the freakin’ time in a small market in the South. No, really. He is ALWAYS in a show. And if he is not in the show, he is usually fight directing it.

Another one of my local peeps did the NYC-LA thing for years. He has an impressive reel from his days there, and some great stories, to boot. But he got tired of the pace of both of those markets, so he moved back to his hometown. Since being back, he has worked as an actor and director, occasionally bartending. Acouple of years ago he left bartending when he got on with a regular voiceover job. He and his partner have now opened a fantastic new theatre and rehearsal space in an old building they have renovated in downtown Louisville.

As you can see, there are many reasons an actor ends up somewhere besides NYC or LA, or even Chicago. If one of those cities doesn’t appeal to you, take a look elsewhere. When in doubt, give one of us in the boonies a call. We’ll be happy to share all our trials and tribulations…and we probably even have a guest room for you to stay if you need to do a scouting trip!