The Screen Actors Guild numbers are frightening: Something like 90 percent of the roles are for men, 5 percent are for livestock and 5 percent are for women.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's one thing in this business to actually work. 5 percent of the Screen Actors' Guild works. It's another thing to do work that's satisfying and that people are loving.
Acting is a tough business, and the percentage of people who make it is very low - it's about 1 percent.
Casting directors tend to be the unsung heroes in this business.
Actors are people who are doing a job they want to do, which isn't the case for many of the people who watch what we do.
It's always a good idea to go up for the male roles. You go up against a bunch of beefy guys, and the casting director then feels smart for taking you on, like he's the one who thought outside the box.
If you write interesting roles, you get interesting people to play them. If you write roles that are full of nuance and contradiction and have interesting dialog, actors are drawn to that.
As far as I'm concerned... there's a side to an actor that wants to go on and play a thousand different roles.
Male actors get into production, share profit, and they don't take money at times but are involved in some capacity which is economical and resourceful. These things suit them; as they have made a place for themselves, they have command over the box office.
Being an actor: that's a pretty big net. That's a big playing field. The Screen Actors' Guild is filled with many, many, many, many people and vastly different careers.
The percentage of actors employed is pretty small, and if you're lucky enough to have a good run at it, you do have a sense of responsibility.