Smith, Kirstin; (2025) ‘Taping into the Void’: Acting Labour, Self-tapes, and Resistance in the Digital Economy. Studies in Theatre and Performance 10.1080/14682761.2025.2500130. (In press).

Text Smith_‘Taping into the Void’- Acting Labour, Self-tapes, and Resistance in the Digital Economy_AAM.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 9 November 2026. Download (341kB)

Abstract

This article analyses actors as workers through a recent change in mainstream casting practice in the UK and US, from live auditions to self-taped submissions. I conduct two related investigations: first, a narrow examination of how this change has affected the day-to-day lives of UK-based actors, using interviews and surveys; and second, a theoretical exploration of how actors reproduce themselves in the context of the digital economy. The second argument draws upon the work of Broderick Chow, Nicholas Ridout, and Joseph Roach to make a case for the auditioning actor as the embodiment of replaceability. I explore this in relation to the US screen actors’ strike and the possibilities of Generative Artificial Intelligence. I argue that auditioning – a more constant activity than paid labour for many actors – constitutes a kind of parallel work and gives rise to parallel representations. I speculate on how self-taping repositions actors as digital content creators, and explore how such work has been turned to resistant ends in Lee’s (2020) film, Casting Fu Manchu.

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