How to Recharge as an Actor

Actors are incredibly hard workers. They develop their craft for years, they pour time and effort into maintaining skills. The nature of the industry means that over 90% of actors in any given market are unemployed, so they’re working day jobs, teaching or taking any paid gig regardless of what it might add to their work load. It is an exercise in longevity and resilience—ensuring that you don’t burn out three years after your drama school graduation. And because of this, learning how to recharge as an actor is crucial, especially when you consider how much stress and uncertainty you face every day.

Learning how to recharge as an actor is an important skill for any performer aspiring to a long and healthy career. Recharging can be as simple as finding time to rest, practicing basic self care, investing in hobbies and learning when to let certain work opportunities go. Recharging is most effective when it is planned; an actor might relax, but never quite rejuvenate to the point where their energies return. Like any other skill in an actor’s toolkit, learning how to recharge takes time but pays dividends in the long-term.

So pour the tea, kick off your shoes, settle down and we’ll dive straight in.

Recharging vs. Relaxing

First up: relaxing is not the same as recharging. A lot of people confuse the two, and it’s understandable, seeing as relaxing is a great way to recharge. To relax is to take it easy: it’s a break, a breather, a moment to yourself. Relaxation is the release of tension and anxiety, and allows you to find your centre.

To recharge is different: it’s about regaining the energy you expend doing tasks that wear you down. It takes time, effort and planning. And it’s going to cost you time that you might otherwise spend on your career, or anything else.

And this is why recharging as an actor is so difficult. We’re taught to view such activity as time-wasting, in the same way that we’ve been taught to view burnout as a sign of weakness. But recharging is (in a slightly unhealthy perspective) what allows you to keep working—healthily and safely. It keeps you fresh and at the top of your game.

#1 Basic Self Care

Less a tip, and more a reminder. Maintain basic self-care in your schedule as a busy artist. Eat healthy meals at regular intervals. Make time for exercise, sleep and relaxation. Be social, even if that is nothing more than a phone call with a loved one on a lunch break.

In theatre production weeks, or during long shoot days, basic self care is the first thing to go out the window. It’s often because people are putting the work ahead of their own, and the high-stress nature of the performing arts requires more than the hundred percent most would give. But this is actually the time to enforce the very things you might let go for your own sake. Strive for balance and take care of yourself.

Extra Tip: If you are truly run off your feet during production times, try to aim for at least one aspect of normalcy in your routine. Can’t get a full eight hours’ sleep? Eat well, or take yourself for a run.

#2 Schedule Down Time

Schedule time in your day and your calendar when you do nothing. On a micro level, it could be reserving a half-hour to grab a pre-work coffee. It could be a lunch break, or a time in your evening when you put all thoughts of work and career out of your mind and read a book. The macro equivalent would be holidays in your year—if not cocktails on a beach, at least a block of time where you aren’t actively chasing opportunities. A great compromise is actually discussed in the point below this: reclaiming your weekend as a time for relaxation.

The point here isn’t really when you schedule down time. It’s the fact that you schedule it at all. Putting down time into your planner/calendar/smart device legitimises your time spent recharging, and highlights its inherent importance.

Extra Tip: Every facet of our industry has a quiet period. Can you sync your down time with that?

#3 Reclaim Your Weekend

This one is a game-changer: aim to keep your weekend (or equivalent, work-free days in your schedule) as free as you can from thinking about or working on your career. Career-driven actors tend to view the weekend as the perfect time to pursue their craft. While it can be useful to have spare days to burn on the perfect self tape or writing a project for yourself, it’s not sustainable practice for a long-term career.

It’s not always viable to reclaim your weekend—especially in your early career when rehearsals or independent film shoots will take place on days when everybody’s free. But as much as you can, defend work-free days to recharge and ready yourself for the week to come.

Extra Tip: Try devoting a morning or evening in the week to pursue career goals, in order to keep your weekend free. Prescribed time to work is very healthy, and helps you preserve your prescribed down time as well.

#4 Practice Journalling

Journalling came recommended to me by a psychologist who said I needed much less stress in my life as an artist working in a thousand different fields. And to be honest with you, I wasn’t thrilled with that advice. I’d always turned my nose up at the prospect of Journalling: it seemed so self indulgent to me, and, as a professional writer, it felt like I was adding to my workload.

But the reality is Journalling is a chance to unpack your day and your feelings. You think about your troubles, you write them all out and then … you close the book. Literally. It’s a great way of checking in and then making a clean break. And then your relaxing and recharging can begin.

Extra Tip: You can fold this into your artistic practice as well, by way of the Morning Pages technique. StageMilk coach and contributor Frazer Shepherdson has written on this subject beautifully.

#5 Invest in Hobbies

When we say invest in your hobbies, we’re not talking “Grab some textas, take an afternoon and colour in!” Invest in your hobbies: allocate time, spend money, get a little obsessive. Actors tend to treat their hobbies as extravagances they can live without. They cost money, time and they don’t contribute to your larger career (which isn’t strictly true, if your interest is, say, reading plays.)

But hobbies are helpful ways to recharge as an actor and bring some joy to your life. So treat them with the respect they deserve. Don’t be afraid to spend a day learning the bassoon, baking or playing violent video games if it’s going to help you feel more human. Drop some time and money on your passions and treat yourself!

Extra Tip: Hobbies can be a great means of motivation if you are facing work deadlines. Set yourself an enjoyable, useless task as a reward for work well done. Audition submitted? Play the guitar! Monologue learned? Go base-jumping!

#6 Let Go of Opportunities

One of the most important things an actor can learns in their career is when to say “no” to a role. It’s not easy to do, especially when opportunities to work are so fleeting and every job can be a potential life-changer. But if you’re feeling dangerously spent of energy, it can be very healthy to let an opportunity go in favour of rest and recharging.

The work you do is never your best when you’re flirting with burnout. And there’s a phrase I often think of along the lines of: “If you don’t choose when to rest your mind and body, one day they’ll choose for you.” Saying no to an opportunity might be heart-breaking, but it’s best for you and, ultimately the work itself.

Extra Tip: Afraid the person asking you to collaborate won’t work with you again? Don’t be. Good creatives understand and respect when boundaries are set. They’ll call you again in the future. The bad ones don’t understand or respect … but they aren’t worth your time anyway. Win win.

#7 Become an Audience Member

When was the last time you went to the cinema, the theatre, or even sat down to watch a play or read a film with no thought to your own career? Go see something (ideally an independent theatre show) purely for the love.

The last time I did this, I was in a state of near-burnout—and at a stage where I was thinking about a long break from the theatre industry I might not choose to end. I went to see a play starring a friend … and it was transcendent. It completely inspired me, and sent me racing home with all sorts of ideas and stories to tell for stage. Within the space of a few hours, I found myself completely turned around.

Becoming an audience member is a great reminder of why we love what we do. It’s a chance to remember that behind all the work and blood and tears, we come together to tell and share stories. Few things buoy a person more.

Extra Tip: The art you see doesn’t even have to be “good”. In fact, there’s a lot to be said for the mindless, enjoyable viewing of something truly bad…

#8 Find Solace in Community

Never hesitate to find comfort and support in your industry peers: people on a similar journey, who are blessed with an understanding of what you do and why. They’ll have a greater understanding of when your battery is depleted, because they have the same (to others in your lives, insane) drive to push themselves for minimal reward. Build these people up, learn when they could do with a recharge themselves.

When you spend time with actor friends, see if you can minimise your shop talk. What else is going on in your lives? How can you reframe your time together as something other than bemoaning the industry? Remind each other that you are human beings first, and actors second. No matter how hard that might be to believe.

Extra Tip: Hold your actor friends accountable for relaxing and recharging, and have them insist they do the same for you. You might be able to share hobbies, down time or nights to the movies to see ridiculous blockbusters!

#9 Acknowledge your Achievements

This article was written in November of the year 2024. It’s a time of year when actors and creatives of all types are a) Judging our output for the past year and b) Looking ahead to what’s next. While there’s nothing wrong with looking back or planning ahead, take time to acknowledge the good work you’ve done—not just the chances you’ve missed.

Be honest with yourself, honest and impartial, and you’re sure to find things you’ve achieved that are worth praise. It can be extremely rejuvenating to recognise your good work, because it motivates you to forge on and develop resilience. And this, paired with some allocated time to get your strength back, can propel you to meet and exceed your personal best.

Conclusion

So there you have it: how to recharge as an actor. We’ve covered a lot in this article, so we’re going to finish with some strong, simple advice: be kind. Be kind to yourself, and respect yourself enough to take your wellbeing seriously.

Acting, like every aspect of the performing arts, is never a sprint. It’s a marathon, and one that requires training and discipline and the finding of balance. If you sprint towards the finish now, you’ll cut your journey short and rob yourself of the most enriching life—no matter how hard at times.

Pace yourself. You don’t want to miss a thing.

Good luck!