10 Side Hustles for Actors

Have you ever hit a time period where there were no auditions or few auditions and bookings, and then you started thinking, I got a lot of bills to pay and I don't have any income coming in? And then you start thinking, you know what, maybe this is when I'm going to have to quit pursuing my acting dreams because I have to find a job that gives me steady income. Well, I can tell you, after 40-plus years in the industry, it happens to everyone, from people who are just beginning and even to those who've been series regulars. The biggest challenge isn't just finding a way to bring in some money, but it's finding jobs that give you the flexibility to continue to audition, accept bookings, and most importantly, having jobs that allow you to continue to use your acting skills. That's why I'm not going to suggest the typical, why don't you get a waitress job or become a rideshare service driver? Instead, I'm going to be giving you 10 great side hustle jobs that will give you an opportunity to have steady income, give you the flexibility to continue pursuing acting, and most importantly, you'll get a chance to continue to keep your acting skills sharp because you're going to actually be using them In a lot of these side hustle jobs. Okay, let's get started. Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and the very first really interesting job you might not have ever heard of, and it's called intimacy coordinator or director. And these are people who get hired mostly for films, could be for TV shows as well, and if there is an intimate scene between people, then there are specialists and professionals who help the actors work out the scene so that everybody is comfortable. And by the way, just so you know, I'm going to have all the links in the description so you can go to the websites and get more information about them. Number 2, hey, if you live in an area where they host and offer ghost tours? That could be really interesting. I remember taking a vacation not that long ago to Charleston, South Carolina. I've also been in Savannah, and they have really interesting ghost tours there, and they hire people. Some of these— a lot of these people are actors, and it just gives you an opportunity to use your acting skills, do something that's pretty interesting. Number 3, Now, this one, I have to admit, doesn't take any acting skills. And the beautiful part is you don't have to do anything to get some steady income. There was a woman I was doing a private session with. She told me that she has her car filled with an advertisement for a company. You can get You can get paid for driving around with this ad that they put onto your car. I've seen different numbers on the website. It could be $100 a month, could be $400, up to $1,000 a month. So anyhow, that's just another option for you. Number 4, standardized patient work. I know a number of actors who do this work and You can contact some local hospitals and see if they hire standardized patients. Typically, they're going to be at teaching hospitals. Sometimes it could be at medical schools as well. And what they do is they hire actors. Now, here's what you have to do. And by the way, there's nothing invasive. I think they do offer something that is invasive and you get paid a lot more for it, but the people I know who do it do not deal with that kind of stuff. You will be told what kind of disease you have, and everything is improv, so you're not memorizing scripts, but you do have to be incredibly familiar with the disease, and they'll give you all this information. Then they will have either a resident, or maybe it's a medical school student who is in training to try to get better at doing evaluations when they're meeting with a new patient. And they'll start asking you questions. You have to be able to respond based on the knowledge that you have about this illness. You know, what kind of medication do you take? Where is your pain? Are there any side effects from the medication? Are there any limitations as to what you can do? Have things gotten worse? There's a whole lot of things that you are going to learn about. And something else that's really cool, at the very end, You, the actor standardized patient, actually write a report up about the doctor or medical school student, and you will talk about what the person did, what they didn't do. Did they ask you the right questions? Were they treating you well? And you hand in the report, and it's a very important test for these people. Number 5, Role-playing jobs. This is pretty cool as well. You could get hired by a government agency. Let's say they're doing a training session for EMTs and they need actors who might be out in the field. Maybe there was an explosion, maybe there was a fire going on, and you are going to have to portray somebody Who was hurt? And it could be a really interesting and also an incredibly helpful job to help train these people. It's not only for that, but it can also be for students in law school. And once again, they are in training to work in a courtroom. You might be on a jury, maybe you're on the stand. Once again, they're going to give you a lot of information and teach you all about what you need to be discussing, all improv. And I've even heard about— there are some attorneys that might hire role players just to get ready for a case. Number 6, being a substitute school teacher. Now, That was something I did. It had nothing to do with acting, but when I first started college, I needed a part-time job and I was a substitute teacher. It was a very interesting experience, especially when I went into a couple of tough schools. That was fascinating. And if we ever have a chance to have coffee together, I'll tell you some stories. But it's really flexible. Sometimes I would get called that morning to see if I was available. Sometimes it's the day before to go in and substitute. And this could be a great gig for actors. I know a number of actors who do this kind of work, and it can be a steady job for you as well. Number 7, sell your services. Hey, if you have a skill, you can go to places like Fiverr. And once again, I will list— I'll leave you some websites. And You build websites. That could be an incredible skill. Maybe you could be a math tutor. Maybe you are a writer and you can help companies with marketing or whatever it is. And quite often, these are the kinds of jobs that you can do on your schedule, and they're also incredibly flexible. Hey, wanted to let you know a couple really quick things. If you have ever had any really interesting side hustle jobs, please share it here with us so we can learn from you. That would be incredible. The other thing too is I'm going to share another bonus video for you. I've got another video that has 23 great side hustle jobs, and just, just hang out for a couple more minutes and you'll see it pop up and you can click on it. Number 8, house sitting. This could be wonderful. Actually, I did that as well. This had nothing to do with acting, side hustle jobs. I just thought it'd be really interesting. There was a house I used to walk by a lot, and I happened to meet the owners, and they were going away for the summer, and they said, hey, you want to stay here? I said, yeah, that sounds like fun. It was a beautiful place. But you get— you can get paid for it. Maybe you can You know, sublet your place so you don't have to pay any rent, and it could be a really helpful gig for you. Hey, before I tell you the 9th and 10th one, if you haven't done this yet, don't forget, subscribe, click the notification bell. If you found this helpful, give it a thumbs up and share it with other people. But number 9, murder mystery. And I did one of these Wasn't really my thing, but I know a lot of people who love doing murder mystery shows. And one of the things that's also really cool about it, a lot of times these are evening gigs, sometimes they're weekend gigs, so it might not interfere at all with auditioning or doing an actual job. Number 10, and this is e-jury. This is something that you can actually do At home. I believe you can still do it at home. And you're going to be asked a whole lot of questions about an upcoming case, and you give your opinions, you know, you give your thoughts on this, and that really is very helpful to attorneys. So I wanted to share that one with you as well. So these are 10 great side hustle jobs. I am so glad I'm able to share this with you. I hope they're helpful. Please let me know and share your comments. comments. Um, I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.