The Pains of Migrant Actors

For international actors in the U.S., it’s a lot easier to get deported than to get that big break.

Nobody tells actors when they fly off to New York to study their craft that their time is cut short once their studies are complete. International students put their money, blood, sweat, and tears into making it in the city, only to be told that it isn’t enough.

I grew up in Windsor, border city to Detroit. American television, news, music, you name it – this was the constant entertainment stream fed to us Windsorites. What I didn't know at the time, was that that neighbouring country responsible for my love of entertainment would soon become the biggest obstacle I'd face as an actor planning on pursuing a full-time career there.

My experience happened when I moved to New York City to become a full-time student at the acting school Stella Adler. If you audition with signs of talent and have a lump sum of money in your bank account to show the U.S. government, they welcome you with open arms.

Flash to three years later. It’s graduation time and I, along with a half dozen other international students, are ready to leave school with the excitement, ambition, and motivation to take what we've learned and put our training to use in the real world. What we didn’t know was what was expected of us if we wanted to stay in the country after graduation.

For starters, there is a deadline involved. International graduated actors are granted one year to become “established” and so prove they are worthy of staying in the States. By “established,” I mean semi-famous, professional, and newsworthy. Didn't it take George Clooney 10 years, Edward Norton six, and Jennifer Aniston five years to become household names? That deadline for us: just one year.

One year to round up your head shots (which cost $800), sign with a good agent and have them sponsor you (doing this with little to no credits is achievable, but next to impossible), and build an impressive resume, which means acting jobs under your belt that are actually viewed by the general public and not in a basement apartment in Queens or Brooklyn. In addition, you will need two to three job contracts lined up for the year ahead that prove you are a hot ticket in the entertainment industry, as well as a paper trail of press (article clippings, television interviews, awards, etc.) to even be considered as a "potential" candidate to stay in the country and continue pursuing your career there.

Once you've crossed all of this off of your to-do list, you are deemed an "extraordinary artist" who can be considered for application to stay in the U.S. a little longer. Your next step is to hire a lawyer, fill out the "extraordinary artist" application (extraordinary? I'd say! Anyone who can achieve that deserves an Oscar as far as I'm concerned), pay your $5,000 fee, and wait for the Department of Homeland Security to write you back telling you if you've been accepted to stay for a little longer (max three years) or if you are taking your "non-established" acting behind back to where you came from.

The truth is, for so many, myself included, this is unrealistic. Every lawyer I talked to in the course of that year, and I've talked to several both in LA and New York, all said the same thing: "get married, it's easier,” or “let me see what I can do, but first I’ll need a deposit to try to make a case of smoke and mirrors.”

Every international student who was at Stella Adler with me is currently back in their own country. We all did our year of pounding the pavement, auditioning, working, stressing, taking meetings, and selling ourselves to anyone who would listen, only to come up short for the list of requirements that would deem us an "extraordinary artist." There is no mercy, there is no staying a little longer, no help, no welcoming arms that were offered when I first arrived to the States. There is only a notice that says you have 30 days to exit the country once your year is up.

For Canadians, it's a little less cut and dried. We can still "visit" for up to six months a year, as long as we come back and prove we are working and living in Canada. For me, those visits back to New York are just long enough to remind me why I fell in love with the city in the first place, cry a little at how much I miss my old life, and reminisce about one of the most exciting and meaningful times to me.

I am a believer that everything happens for a reason, and even though the requirements to legally be an actor in the U.S. are hardly left up to fate, my situation has found me somewhere I never thought I'd be. Not back in Windsor, but living and auditioning in Toronto. In a sense, I’m lucky; there are many opportunities for an actor here to find meaningful work. For the rest of my fellow classmates, who are now in France, Portugal, Switzerland, and Finland, the opportunities are more scarce, dimming the light on such a beautiful dream.