Doing, Having, and Getting Work: Acting as Creative Labour

Abstract

In what ways does acting represent a form of work? From one perspective, the work of acting is taken to mean exercising artistic and creative craft: the techniques, actions, and procedures involved with portraying a character. Yet acting also means employment, the state of being ‘in work’ for pay. Once we begin to think about acting as a job, however, we must acknowledge how endemic job insecurity routinely sees actors regularly experiencing unemployment, and so working to get work. A holistic account of acting-as-work must therefore appreciate the distinctive characteristics of doing acting work while also recognizing how cultural industries shape conditions for having that work, creating consequent demands on getting work. By presenting this tripartite model, this article proposes a few pointers towards thinking about acting as creative labour.