Most aspiring actors living the dual artist/waiter lifestyle survive in part by pushing fast food and car wax in thirty-second television or radio bits. A "lucky" thespian may land incidental roles on sitcoms and television dramas, quickly fading back into obscurity before too long. But those rare few who manage to realize the dream of giving life to characters well loved by hundreds of thousands of fans have attained success - fame, money and security. That is, unless they are anime voice actors for whom fame doesn't intrinsically yield money or security. In many cases, actors who breathe life into some of the most recognizable anime characters of all time are often forced to hold down second jobs to supplement their income.

Despite rising popularity, most anime companies still operate non-union. This policy forces voice actors into an amorphous category. And since the anime companies haven't grown large enough to attract the attention of unions, actors have little choice, usually falling through the cracks of a burgeoning market.

For some, hooking up with an anime production company has been like getting a foot in the industry's door. In the early half of the 1990s the competition wasn't as tough. And most anime companies hire non-union talent, actors who are not a part of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) or the American Federation of Television and Radio Association (AFTRA), giving young talent opportunities to sink their teeth into roles rather than hocking products on radio or TV. The potential drawbacks include working in sub-standard working conditions, reaping sub-subsistence pay and being labeled sub-humans in the eyes of SAG or AFTRA.

This circumstance precipitates mostly from the fierce competition in the high supply/low demand arena of animated entertainment. Unlike Japan, animation plays more of a peripheral role in America's mainstream - early morning kids cartoons and a few prime-time institutions like "The Simpsons." Narrowing the field even further, a select few tend to voice several different characters, making it even more difficult for an actor not only to break into the business, but to market him/herself as a type. In extreme cases, desperation for enough work has driven union actors to assume pseudonyms for non-union projects - something union actors have to do if they want to work in anime.

"If you're on a show like 'Pokémon,' then you're a full-time voice actor because of how many episodes you have to crank out," says Crispin Freeman, a voice actor who has worked in numerous major anime titles including "The Slayers," "Revolutionary Girl Utena," and "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor" among others.

"Otherwise, voice acting for anime is a side career," says Freeman, who is also a full-time stage actor aiming to break into film and television. "Maybe things will change and I'll be able to support myself only with voice acting, but unless you're on 'The Simpsons' or something big on Cartoon Network, no one in this country is a full-time voice actor."

And as far as the anime industry is concerned, the problems don't necessarily sprout from "evil" production companies exploiting their actors by refusing to become union.

"The number of people who come to anime conventions increases every year - 10,000 this year at Anime Expo," says Brad DeMoss, who's done background voice work for Pioneer's "Nazca." "But anime is still a niche market. There's limited potential, so it doesn't make economic sense to dub anime using union talent. I'm not justifying their behavior, but, unfortunately, the companies can't spend a lot of money."

Anime companies in the US are bigger than they have ever been before, however their size pales in comparison to the financial giants of the live-action film industry.