Aaron Marcus auditioned for a Showtime series during COVID and landed an understudy role, a position that didn't exist in film and TV before the pandemic. Productions now hire understudies to prevent shutdowns if the lead actor tests positive. He earned roughly $1,000 a day plus per diem, mileage, and test reimbursement.
Hey, I'm Aaron Marcus, and welcome to my Acting and Modeling Quick Tips channel. If you haven't done this yet, don't forget to click the subscribe button and the bell, the notification button, and that way every time I upload a new video, you'll find out about it. So I want to tell you today about how the industry has changed, the acting industry, how the acting industry has changed. I experienced something recently that I never experienced before. And I don't believe it has ever been around until very, very recently. So I auditioned for a Showtime television show, and I thought the audition went well. I enjoyed it, and then I forgot about it, which is what I typically try to do because I realize there are so many reasons Why you might or might not get cast. And I truly don't believe that I'm going to get cast in anything that I do. And it's not because I'm a negative guy and think that I'm horrible. It's just there— I just know there are so many factors that go into booking the job and not booking it. So my goal is to enjoy the audition. And I'm thinking, you know, it's a Wednesday afternoon, I get a chance to, to act. That was fun. And then I try to let it go. Look, honestly, sometimes depending on the project, if it's something that I really, I really want, I'm working— I'd be working with some phenomenal actors or a special director, or it's a recurring, or whatever it is. Yeah, look, sometimes I do think about it, but my goal is to not think about it at all. So it was about I don't know, 5, 6 days after the audition, I got an email from the agent. And this was unusual. I never experienced it. And it's like, it's a sign of how the industry has changed. So the agent said, I want to let you know that you are the second choice for this role in the TV show. And I was thinking, why would the agent tell me I was the second choice? It doesn't really matter. matter. And the agent said, here's what they'd like— this is what production wants to offer you. They want you to be an understudy for this character. Now, it's not a recurring role as far as I know. There was no mention of that. And I said, so what exactly does this mean? Like, I know about understudies for theater. I've never— Never heard about working as an understudy for either film or television. So I said, well, and then I called the agent back and I said, you know, just explain, you know, just explain to me in more detail what, what exactly does this involve. So because of COVID-19, they are very concerned about the actor possibly not being able to work, the number one choice for the role. So here's what they're going to do. If you agree to be the understudy, because you're the second choice, on a Friday you're going to get tested for COVID. Because I live outside of the state where they're shooting it, they don't have an easy location for me to go to, so they're going to overnight me A testing kit for COVID-19, do the test on Friday, ship it out overnight Federal Express. I think it was going to a lab in LA, and I'll get results on Saturday. Assuming that I tested negative, which I did, on Sunday I'm going to drive to— I was going to drive to Pittsburgh. Which is where they were shooting. Actually, they were shooting about 45 minutes outside of downtown Pittsburgh in a small town. So they would pay for mileage. They also pay to get tests— for me to get tested, even though I don't have any out-of-pocket expenses for this. But they do. It's something the union has negotiated where the actors get paid something for the inconvenience of having to get tested. They will put me up in a hotel on Sunday night. On Sunday, because it's post-travel, I traveled on Sunday, they will have somebody come to my room and test me again to make sure I'm negative. So there was a pre-test, post-travel test. Assuming that I test negative, I'll get the results either late Monday night or Or sorry, late Sunday night or on Monday. And then I didn't have to be in quarantine in my hotel room on Monday, but I went out for some walks, I went out for a run, but I really didn't go very far. I didn't wanna explore. I just didn't wanna potentially catch anything. So I was just being very careful. I did a lot of work in my hotel room on Monday and I tested negative again. And then early Tuesday morning, I had to go to a specific location. It was where crew was parking, and I was to wait there early Tuesday morning 'cause the shoot date was Tuesday. And here's what happened. If the number one choice tests negative for COVID, 'cause he was getting tested Tuesday morning as well, Then I go home, I get released. If he tests positive, then I work and I become the number one choice by default. So the wind-up was the— and I was very happy about this— the principal actor, the number one choice, tested negative and I was released. So I got paid for the COVID tests. I still got a per diem. Once again, I think it's around $60 a day. That, once again, this is what the union has negotiated, which is typical when you're working out of town. I also, like I said, I got paid for mileage, and also I got paid as a day player for the day, which is scale plus 10. And I'm trying to remember the exact amount. It's like $1,000-something. I don't think it's— I don't even know if it's $1,100. It's, it's somewhere between $1,000 and $1,100 plus scale plus 10, which means as a union actor, since I have to pay my agent a 10% commission fee for any job that I do, you know, assuming it's a union job as opposed to a commercial modeling job, that's a whole separate category that the union has no involvement with. That extra 10% that gets paid, that goes to the agent, which means I don't have any out-of-pocket expenses and I get my full day rate, day player rate. So it's really, it was pretty incredible, you know, between, you know, getting paid to get tested, between per diem, between mileage and, you know, full day rate. And then I just drove home, you know, Tuesday morning. So it's weird. Like I said, I have never experienced being an understudy on a TV show. I'm like, I was very happy that it took place. And I think there were a couple of other roles where they hired an understudy. Most of them they didn't. But I guess their view is, if for some reason the principal actor tests positive, for them to have to shut down and not shoot the scene and rearrange everything, it was well worth it to them to pay for an understudy. So hey, I just wanted to share this experience with you. Um, like I said, I've never heard of an understudy for, for TV or film before, so I just wanted to let you know that is something that's happening. And I, and I'd be curious if you ever experience that Or if there's anything else that you experienced in this new world, please share it below. I'd greatly appreciate it. You know, let others know about things in the industry that they might not know about. Look, that's the whole reason for me having this channel is to share information. So please, you know, just share your comment below. And the other thing too is, you know, use this link and also spread the word. You know, share it with all your friends throughout your social media. media platforms and let other people know about this so we can all learn from each other. So anyhow, I hope you found this helpful. Please don't forget to click the subscribe and the notification button, the little bell, and that way every time I upload a new video, you will know about it. I'm Aaron Marcus, and I can't wait to talk with you again soon. See ya.
