by Matt Miller
Occasionally, early-career actors will ask me, “Do I have to pursue commercial acting?”
And the answer: Absolutely not. Truly, the commercial game is not for every actor. Using your acting skills in the service of capitalism can feel gross to moderately icky.
BUT, in my humble opinion, here are the top ten reasons to pursue commercial acting work:
10. You happen to love repeated, constant rejection. I’m joking. Sorta. Being a professional actor means making friends with rejection; it’s something that comes with the territory and every actor has to find their own relationship to all of those no’s. To that end, a greater quantity of auditions can actually help you learn to metabolize rejection better. On average, you’ll have far more commercial auditions than theatrical auditions in a given month or year, so pursuing commercial work can help you get better acclimated with that not-so-fun part of the business.
9. Commercial acting allows you to use your storytelling skills in a non-theatrical medium to make a living. Your job as a commercial actor remains largely the same as it is in a play or film: being an honest interpreter of a story under imaginary circumstances. Occasionally commercials call for a skill that’s kind of acting adjacent—like smiling in an appealing manner whilst taking a bite of a chicken nugget—but usually the goal is still a performance that feels truthful.
8. Occasionally, you get to work with iconic people. Personally, a few years ago I got to work with legendary announcer Michael Buffer of “Let’s get ready to rummmbbbllllleeee!!!!” fame. He was a prince of a guy, we had amazing conversations, and it’s a day I’ll never forget.
7. If the people suck on a commercial gig, it’s usually just a couple of days, and then you’re done and moving on. If the people suck on a theatre, TV, or film gig it can be a horrible forced marriage spanning months or years. Fun!
6. As an actor, working in commercials makes you a more precise performer. Commercial work forces you to parse a script differently. Since commercials have rigid lengths (e.g. 15 second, 30 seconds), every single second counts and every moment has to land. I found that when I went back to directing plays after working in commercials for a while, I was far more responsible for the story arc from moment to moment than I ever had been before. That level of textual scrutiny—literally second to second—gives you a pretty great superpower when you head back into theatrical projects that aren’t beholden to the same time constraints.
5. Dead Presidents.
4. Doubloons.
3. Greenbacks.
2. Cheddar.
1. Cabbage.
Yes, the big reason(s) to pursue commercial work is the financial solvency it can afford. One day of work on a SAG national commercial can bankroll you for months, which then allows you to do that cool short film that pays you nothing but would look great on a reel. Or that play that speaks to your soul but not your wallet–and will also require six weeks of your time. Or that ultra-low budget movie with a killer role that pays just $100 a day. A commercial career allows you to make good money using your acting knowledge and skills. Check out the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract Rate Sheet here!
And working on a big commercial set can be really fun…which maybe leads to another reason to consider this kind of work:
11. THERE ARE SO MANY SNACKS!
–Matt Miller is a commercial director and occasional instructor at ASC.
Matt will be teaching his popular Chicago TV Tune UP Workshop on May 12 & May 19th.