It’s an exciting time of year for actors. To those just starting out, it’s drama school audition season for prestigious institutions all around the world. For established players, it’s tune-up time for headshots, showreels and CVs: precious months remain before Christmas to hunt down those exciting, life-changing gigs (and let’s not forget pilot season right after that.) All eyes are on the year to come, along with all its glorious possibilities! But what happens if your plans fall through? What if fate deals you a totally blank slate? Don’t panic, because our topic today is a gap year for actors. And it’s hardly the death sentence it might first seem to be.
A gap year is something few actors aspire to take, either in their training or career. For this reason, it’s extremely important to think about them—and plan for them if your circumstances allow. While a year’s delay on your plans might seem disastrous, there is plenty you can do to maintain your skills and build your momentum, such as completing a shorter training course, focusing on your own skills and development or simply immersing yourself in good art and storytelling. The only way to waste a gap year for actors is to spend it bitter and despairing, and with no thought on how to move forward.
In this article, we’re going to explore eight possible ways for you to fill your unexpectedly-empty calendar. Many of these can be done in tandem, and some of these will be better fits for you than others. In planning out a gap year as an actor, the only thing you can do to fail completely is to use the time you’re dealt to do nothing at all.
Gap Year: A Pause on your Plans
The first point we have to make in this article is this: there is nothing wrong with a pause on your plans as an actor. Things happen—life happens—and as much as you might usually try to prioritise your craft and career, there are times where it simply isn’t possible.
For younger and emerigng actors, the gap year rears its ugly head when they aren’t accepted into drama school. This can feel life-ending in the moment. But it’s better thought of as a chance to do some independent developing (and growing up).
For the older, more established actors, a gap year can creep up out of nowhere. You might be so busy with family, or your muggle job, that you won’t realise you’re on a gap year until the calendar hits September. Again, this is fine: responsibilities of life have to take priority. And you display a degree of maturity often lacking in actors who think they can Have It All.
It’s actually a skill unto itself—learning when to pause, when to say “no”, when to rest and recharge. It’s one of the things that very few institutions or industry veterans will teach you along the way, as the industry has only recently started to prioritise the mental health and wellbeing of the artists who bleed and sweat their lives into its continuation.
There’s an popular saying about burnout in the arts community: if you don’t choose when to stop, burnout will choose for you.
#1 Plan for Comfort and Security
Okay: let’s get the safe and boring option out of the way. A gap year is a great time to insulate yourself against the uncertainty of the actor’s life. Firm up your living situation, find stable work and start putting a little money away. When things get busy again, you’ll be grateful for what you’ve put away to combat the leaner times between jobs and opportunities. It can buy you a greater focus on your training or career when such things absolutely require it.
The actor’s life is a demanding one. It places far greater importance on a late-night self-tape for than it does silly things like a balanced diet, social plans or health insurance. If you’re given the gift of time in your calendar, use it to ensure that you’re not simply surviving day to day on tinned tuna and second-hand coats.
There’s not an actor on this earth who is better at their craft because they’ve previously suffered.
#2 Short Acting Courses
If you had lofty, full-time study plans that fell through, don’t discredit what you can learn from taking an acting class. Once a week, focus wholly and completely on your craft. Think of it as a taster, an introduction into what you’ll later commit yourself to completely. You can pick up foundational skills such as objective work, characterisation and script analysis. And when it comes time to audition for schools again, a weekly class is a terrific place to flex those muscles.
Acting classes are also great places to network. Sift through the people there for fun and the action-movie-hopeful bros that think a six-week course is all that is keeping them from starring in John Wick. You’re bound to find other people on the same path as you: treating this course as the same all-important first step towards bigger and better things.
Even if you’ve studied a three-year degree at one of the world’s best drama schools, a regular acting class is a vital refresher for your acting toolkit. There is always more to learn.
#3 A One-Year Course
If you’re ready and able to commit yourself to full-time study, you might consider plugging your plans with a one-year course at a reputable insitution. These are looked down upon by some actors, usually those who have completed a three year course that results in a diploma—not to mention the clout of being able to declare “Yes, I studied at [PLACE].” with a glass of opening-night red in hand. But these actors are idiots and snobs. One-year course taught by a good teacher can net you a lot more knowledge and experience than a flabby degree from a once-prestigious drama school.
The thing to be ready for is the total commitment a one-year, full-time course will require. It’ll feel less like a gap year and more like a boot camp as you try to wring every lesson and experience you possibly can (and as you damn well should.) But if you’re in a position to do this, it can be a game-changer for your career and craft: the perfect refresher to help you on your path.
It may well have you diverting your path altogether: pursuing screen roles when classical theatre was your first-and-only love. If that happens, our suggestion is to follow your heart and see where you land!
#4 Focusing on your Skills
If you’re not looking to pursue formal study in your gap year, use the time you’ve been given to develop skills independently. Take stock of your skillset as an actor: “Where are my areas of weakness? What can I improve on? How can I be better?” The more precise (and honest) you are, the better your chances for making serious strides in solo study. Set aside time each day, or at least a few times a week, and make your craft the number-one priority.
Practice of anything requires two ingredients: specificity and repetition. It’s not enough to speak a sonnet once a morning and call that vocal work. You need to be clear with yourself about the actual area you’re hoping to improve, and then spend extended time on that area until you can see clear evidence of it getting better.
One final point on this subject: just because you’re not in a classcroom setting doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. You can work with a colleague, even work with a group, and hold each other accountable.
#5 Study Plays, Read Books, Watch Films
This is a fun one—and a point we’d argue that every actor should be doing regardless of how empty or full their calendar is looking. Become a sponge for knowledge and art: study plays, read books, watch films. Immerse yourself in as much culture as you can, and become a walking encyclopaedia of what artists in your industry have done before you—for thousands and thousands of years. Here at StageMilk, we spend a lot of time encouraging our community to tackle the canon of established Great Texts. A gap year is the perfect opportunity to educate and entertain yourself.
The trick with ths point is to treat it like skill development. Choose things to read or watch with specifitiy, and experience them in a way that critically engages with them. Don’t set yourself the intellectual marathon of watching all Marvel films: you’re not going to learn anything from that. Make unexpected choices, and when you so give them your full attention: put your damn phone down and stay in the moment.
When you start to read and watch things not simply to be entertained, but to learn from them as an actor, you’ll find a new appreciation for old favourites. They’re not just diversions: they’re ways you can learn and deepen your own creative development.
#6 See Theatre
Just as you should be expanding your mind with plays, books and films, get into the habit of seeing theatre. See mainstage productions, discover great mid-level and independent theatre companies making work in your area. All actors—even those with little aspirations to work on stage—should see more theatre. It’s the place where the skills of a performer are the most raw and real. You’ll learn so much, even as an audience member, from the theatre you experience.
Seeing theatre is also a great networking opportunity for actors. In the foyer after the show, you can introduce yourself to the creatives involved. Make connections, establish yourself as part of your local acting community. Like peers in an acting class, theatres are full of people on the same journey as you. Different paths, perhaps. But the same goals of career and craft in mind.
Plus: there’s nothing better, more exciting and fulfilling, than good theatre. If you’re yet to find theatre you’ve truly enjoyed, take time out of your gap year to seek it out. You’ll be glad you did.
#7 Travel!
Okay, so this point’s a little lofty in its aspirations. We won’t go any further without acknowledging how expensive travel can be: it’s a privilege that is simply not on the table for a lot of us in our industry. But if you have the means, or you’re willing to scrape and save to get yourself onto a plane/boat/dirigible, travel is the perfect way to wile away the months of a gap year from acting. You can immerse yourself in more of that much-needed culture, plan your next move, or even just distract yourself from the crushing responsibility of said planning.
Here’s one benefit to travel you might not have thought of for actors. Travel is a reminder that the world is big … and our circles in the arts tend to be miniscule. Experiencing another country, even another city, will show you that the same creative communities exist everywhere. And just like back home, the artists within them have good times and bad times, busy times and, well, gap years of their own.
Step outside of your usual place, your scene, your routine. It’s a good way to get some perspective and force an oft-needed reset.
#8 Just Relax
Last point. Certainly not least. No matter your gap year plans as an actor, find the time to relax. If you have the guts and gall to pursue the actor’s life, to put in the work (and to still be reading this article) then it’s a fair bet to say you could probably do with a break. Give yourself that: rest and recharge so you can hit the ground running when the time comes.
Think back to our earlier point about where gap years come from. If you’d been gearing up for a series of high-stakes auditions for drama schools and got knocked back from them all, you’re due for a break. If family, career or personal strife has caused you to step away from your artistic goals, you’re due for a break. The very fact you find yourself with unplanned time ahead implies stress and strife led to this moment. Do your mind and body a favour and switch off.
And what if you suck at relaxing? What if you’re terrible at switching off—as so many actors and artists—seem to be? Take your gap year and learn how to do it. Fill your time with hobbies, short-term goals and plenty of reflection.
Planning your Re-entry
So there you have it: our guide to gap years as an actor! Remember that no one (or combination) of these ideas is 100% guaranteed to be your best path forward. See what you like, keep experimenting and be kind to yourself. We award you no points for self-flagellation or talk of failure. This journey is far too long to count a quiet year in the business as anything more than a mometnary stumble.
Before we finish up, we’re going to leave you with this: at some point in your gap year, start making plans again for the year ahead. All those schools that rejected you? Time for round two. All those agents you never heard back from? Time to send them your brand new self-tape showreel. Start looking at what those cool indie theatre companies you discovered in your local scene are preparing to present, and bombard them with emails for audition info.
Breaks are good, healthy and expected in our business. The best way to normalise them is to choose the time when you consider them over. Get up off the mat, or towel at the beach rseort, and get back to work. We’ll be right here, as always, when you do.
Good luck!
