An actor who has featured in some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises has revealed the harsh reality of being part of the industry’s “middle class” who are constantly being “squeezed out” by Tinseltown’s elite.
Kirk Acevedo, who has starred on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Insidious: The Last Key, said that since the pandemic, roles have been far and few and he’s had to sell his house just to make ends meet.
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“2021 comes, and I’m up for some TV shows; it just goes one way, this way, and that would have saved me. That would’ve saved me. That doesn’t work, and I keep coming in second place, and the reality is second place, you’re the first one to lose,” he said during a recent appearance on Ryan M. Perez’s podcast An Actor Despairs.
“So, I went from working non-stop, to now I got to sell my house. I got to sell my house, and everyone’s going through this. I have so many friends, people you know, actors you know, that had to sell their houses.”
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The 54-year-old actor believes that a shift away from movies in favour of TV and smaller projects from big-name stars has created an increasingly competitive industry, with little-known actors further pushed to the side.
“In TV now, all the movie stars – since there’s no more films, not the way it used to be – they’re all in TV,’ Acevedo said. “Every Oscar winner is doing some eight to 10 to 13-episode show multiple times.”
“I’m competing with Oscar winners. It’s like, ‘OK, should we pay Kirk his quote, or this guy that was nominated for an Oscar seven, eight, 10 years ago?’ See the problem?
“The middle class, like in any economy, in any country, the middle class always gets squeezed out and we’re getting squeezed out.”
And Acevedo said that if they are booked for a role, some actors are only getting paid “half” or a “third” of their previous quotes.
“You cannot survive,” he said. “Let’s say you do 10 guest spots … That’s $100,000, right? You have an agent and manager. So, we take 20 per cent out. That’s $80,000. We got taxes, too … $45,000. Let’s say your rent is … let’s go on the low side, we won’t even go on the high side, say $3,000. That’s pretty low. That’s $36,000. Can you survive off of 10 episodes? You could if you’re just starting out.”
Australian actress Tammin Sursok knows all too well what Acevedo means by coming “second place”.
In an emotional Instagram video shared last week, the former Home And Away star revealed that she was once again overlooked for a TV role, which she tearfully said has become the story of her life.
“I just got word I didn’t get an acting job that I was down to the wire for, the lead in a TV show. This happens a lot,” she said in the video. “The amount of times it’s been like me and another girl – my whole career.”
“It’s just harder than you think,” she continued as tears rolled down her face. “And people think like, ‘Oh just get on a show or get on, like, do a film.’ It’s not that easy.”
“And for me it’s always down to the last two.”