By Shneur Levy, Opinions Editor
This past summer, I had the opportunity to see what really goes on behind the scenes on the set of a TV show. I was a background actor in two different shows, and I saw actors mess up their lines, watched how many retakes filming each scene really required and observed some of the different shots that were taken. Most importantly, I realized how fun the main cast can be while filming.
If psychology had not been my realistic dream, I would have opted for my fantasy of being an actor. After the two shows I did as part of the Yeshiva College Dramatics Society (YCDS) and my countless acting experiences beforehand, being an actor is a dream I would love to spend my life pursuing. There’s just one major problem: You can’t realistically be an actor and also be a religious, Shabbat and kosher observant Jew.
While I was on set as a background actor, there was food that looked fantastic, however I couldn’t eat a lot of it. While some of the vegetables and fruits may have once been kosher, the fact that they were cut using non-kosher dishes makes them as treif as the chicken and steak that was out for everyone. It is entirely likely that as an actor you might not get the part when the producers of the show realize how much of their budget they will have to spend on kosher food.
Another aspect that interferes with acting is Shabbat. There will be times when the crew will want you to come in to get your wardrobe and costumes fitted on Saturdays or film a retake in that one scene where your shirt was a little rumpled. You can just say “It’s my Sabbath and I can’t come in,” but that’s really going to be another reason the director can make the call yet again to cut you completely from the script. You can be the greatest actor, but if you’re the one ruining the whole schedule, it looks like you’ll be out of a job. Or won’t get any to begin with.
When the opportunity for a third extra gig came up this summer, I was truly at a loss. On the one hand, I could score myself a two day gig, but on the other hand one of the two days was Tisha B’Av, a Jewish fast day, and there was no way I would be able to go without any food regardless of if it was kosher or not. The schedule is really frantic depending on your call times and with the long summer fast days, I would likely have not been able to eat the entire time that I was there. It was therefore that I made the decision that as much fun as the two gigs were during this summer, I wasn’t going to do the third one.
In a way, I am more than glad that I at least had the opportunity to see if I could actually pursue acting as a career option. Yet, through this experience, I also came to realize that being an actor was bound to end up as a fantasy. Compromising my faith, such as keeping Shabbat and kashrut, was just not an option for me. Keeping these essential aspects of my religion is important for me as a Jew and allows me to reach a spiritually high level that I cannot attain in any other way. While acting is an extremely important part of me and a dream that I would love to spend my life pursuing, my faith is more important to me. I could not bring myself to go against the values that are so essential to my life, even for my passion of acting.
It’s great that there are Jews in the Hollywood world who thrive and truly bring the world of cinema to life. To me, as someone who strives to be a religious Jew in all aspects, however, being an actor truly isn’t a role that I would be able to achieve. As such, I don’t believe I will be choosing to live my life on broadway. While I’m happy that I got to experience what being in a TV show is really like, I think I can proudly say that it won’t be my life journey.