In our special How I Manage My Money series, The i Paper speaks to Jason Barnett, the stage and screen actor who has made his mark with eye-catching roles in Bridgerton, Agatha Raisin and Seize Them! to name but a few. The father of three lives with his wife Samatha in south London.
What was the festive season like when you were young?
We didn’t have much money, but it would always be a big thing, and a chance to get together with the family. Mum was a nurse, so she’d work most Christmas Days, but she’d be back in the afternoon or evenings and crack on with everything. It was magical, a real mix of Jamaica and south London, with our little Christmas tree festooned with all the baubles and hand-made malarkey.
Now, we throw everything at it. You can’t get into the room because most of it is tree! We spend as much of it as possible together, although this year’s a bit different because I’m doing The Tempest.
Did you have a Christmas budget?
My sister-in-law runs a little savings club for the family. We all put in a monthly amount and she pays out at the beginning of December. I put in £100 a month, which means you get a nice surprise that covers some presents and the shopping.
Are you swayed by deals?
I try to resist deals, but if it’s clothes then I can’t, really, and I don’t just mean at this time of the year. If I do a voice recording it’s always in Soho, and given these jobs are just a little extra earner it’s always nice to be able to go off to some beautiful shops and pick up some fine clothes. I really should find detours that don’t take me past these places.
How did you settle on your career?
I remember watching a version of The Wizard of Oz at school. I was five, and so smitten by the atmosphere that I ended up in the school play the next year, and it got into my blood. No one in the family had done acting. It was pretty impossible to get a grant and my parents didn’t quite get it, so it was hard work. They wanted me to do an English degree, which I did, and after that I set up a theatre company with friends.
What was your first job?
My first job after university was as a home help – helping people with their daily lives – in Hammersmith and Fulham. That paid the rent. It was one of those boroughs where you got everything. One minute, you’d be in one of those incredible Victorian stucco villas, cleaning and shopping for someone up in the penthouse.
A little time later, you’d be down in the basement helping the woman living in one room with pigeons all over her bed because she’d cover it with crumbs and flung open all the windows. It was the extremities of society, Dickensian even. But I got around £200 a week with bed and board, which was fine for the early ’90s.
When did you commit to acting?
After that job, I concentrated on our firm, Generation Dance Theatre. We did all the fringe venues around town. I did DJing, cabaret nights and so on, as well, basically anything to keep going.
When did you feel financially secure?
In a way, I’m still waiting for that moment, because being an actor, you sort of never are secure. If I was going to give anyone any advice about this industry as a career is to hold on to that concern because you’re never that secure. You always feel a little like an imposter. It always seems slightly strange to say to people that you’re an actor, because it feels ephemeral as a career. For the most part, it’s so wafer thin, the stability, which is why you can’t take your foot off the pedal.
Was there a moment when you thought you’d made it?
You know what, it’s probably when you first get reviewed. Even if it’s a bad review, you know that the world knows you exist. That gives you a validation.
Are you a spender or a saver?
I wish I was more of a saver, but I probably fall onto the spender side of things.
Do you have a pension?
I do, although I wish I’d started it earlier. The Equity pension, which is the actors’ union here, is really good, and something I pay into after every job. I count myself fortunate in that I tend to go from job to job, which is a huge benefit in this and other respects. I think this is partly down to my south London upbringing, the work ethic in me means I hold my profession as precious, but I’m not precious about taking on work, in film, TV, on the stage, voice work – I need to work and earn for my family.
Do you have a money-related New Year’s resolution?
Yes. I want to get ahead of the game by saving more. I want to properly squirrel that tax money away, rather than spend it on the next beautiful suit that I see.
What do you have coming up?
I’m playing Stephano opposite Sigourney Weaver’s Prospero in The Tempest at the Theatre Royal. It’s amazing to be on stage with such an actor. Just to flick through the programme and see what she’s been in and won is mind-blowing. I think I spent most of the rehearsal process with my jaw dragging on the floor, with people whispering “Jason, it’s your line”.
Jason Barnett is appearing in The Tempest at the Theatre Royal in London’s West End. He’s next on the screen in The Count of Monte Cristo, an eight-part adaptation for Netflix, showing in 2025.
