Jesse O’Neill is bald, which wouldn’t be a big deal if he weren’t trying to become a prominent actor. Exasperated by his inability to land acting parts due to his lack of hair, Jesse buys a wig and assumes a new persona, and thus begins the plot of “Actor for Hire.”
The movie, written and directed by Marcus Mizelle, follows Jesse as he navigates Hollywood. The movie goes to great lengths to show how difficult such a journey can be in a city with a highly competitive acting industry.
“Actor for Hire” overplays its central theme. In almost every scene, one or more characters is in a ridiculous costume, such as a wig like Jesse’s. When Jesse finds his girlfriend cheating on him, she’s caught in a chicken suit during the act. The audience first meets Jesse’s roommate, Jandres, when he’s wearing a crop top and speaking with a stereotypical “gay” inflection. In his second scene, Jandres is in a trench coat and fedora. Joel, Jesse’s friend, spells it out plainly for us time and time again: “Honest people are hard to find in this town. It’s all liars and whores.”
The result of all characters in costume at all times is that none of the characters seem particularly genuine. And while this effect is likely what Mizelle aimed for, he goes too far. The protagonists are so mutable that it is difficult to emotionally engage with any of them.
Jesse, especially, fails to win over the audience. He is unconfident, bewildered much of the time and usually fatigued.
Jesse’s main problem that he has to wear the wig in order to be famous — the other characteristics are rendered largely unimportant. Even at the climax of the movie, when Jesse, mid-audition, throws his wig to the ground, he does so because he feels it’s his last chance to make an impact and attain the part. In this instance, Jesse is simply ascertaining which identity best suits his professional needs instead of experiencing a genuine identity crises viewers can relate to. Consequently, Jesse comes off as unrelatable and callous.
“Actor for Hire” is not without flashes of potential. The movie yields some very clever moments when it adopts a more subtle angle from which to approach its theme. The first scene with Jesse’s old, clunky laptop introduces viewers to Jesse. Later in the movie, Jesse complains to his girlfriend, “It’s like everyone’s wearing a disguise out here, y’know?” When the words come out of his mouth he’s wearing his classic wig and hiding behind a gigantic pair of women’s sunglasses. There are a handful of these moments in the film when an astute bit of irony results in real humor. Unfortunately, such instances are relatively rare in what otherwise feels like a movie straining for shrewd satire, but coming up short.
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