‘Santa Clause’ Star Reaches Breaking Point After 34 Years in Hollywood: ‘Frustrated, Fed Up, Fried’

David Krumholtz is stepping back from the spotlight.

According to a report from Page Six published on Wednesday, August 19, the Oppenheimer actor, 48, wrote in a since-deleted post on Threads that he would be taking an “indefinite break” from acting.

“I kinda sorta put my acting career on hold the other day. It’s been something I’ve been petrified to do for years,” Krumholtz wrote in a now-deleted post on Threads Monday, August 17. “Specifically, the fear was that I’d go broke and not be able to handle being out of the game.”

He added that a “huge wave of relief washed over” him after sending the “definitive email” to announce the decision.

“Not sure what I’m going to do for money instead, or how I’m going to do it, but I just removed a humongous burden, one that I truly didn’t fathom the weight of until it was gone,” the 10 Things I Hate About You star continued, per the outlet.

Krumholtz summed up his feelings about his career in three words: “Frustrated, fed up, fried.”

He then took aim at what he believes are bigger problems in the entertainment industry as a whole.

“Exploitative art isn’t art. And artists deserve a fair pay percentage for work that assists their employers in making profits.”

Krumholtz also claimed that when he first began working as an actor as a teenager, “pay was fair.”

“The momentum could be built,” he added. “And while talent was never a surefire marker of success … if you helped make a Studio money, you were guaranteed to get another opportunity to do so. But with conglomerate corporatizing of Hollywood, those unwritten rules of mutual respect have shifted … Drastically. I’m being asked to ‘hang in there’ by my own union and reps.”

Krumholtz said the pressure goes beyond simply finding acting jobs, and he claimed performers are expected to build their social media followings in order to land other opportunities.

“[I’m] asked to reinvent myself on social media for likes and follows so that I can be considered for fan conventions and internet ads just so I can make the money that simply acting on a TV show or film or stage refuses to pay me anymore,” he wrote, according to Page Six.

After more than three decades in the business, the Santa Clause actor said he feels as though he and other entertainment industry workers are being “mass demoted.”

“Imagine you excel in your career for 34 years, just to be drastically demoted for it,” he added.

However, Krumholtz isn’t completely walking away from acting and said he would still be interested if the right opportunity came along.

“If you want to work with me as an actor, I am interested. If you believe in what I can do as an actor, I believe in you,” he continued.

However, the actor said he is finished “begging” for work from those who don’t believe in him and plans to approach his career differently moving forward.

“I can still act. I can act to make an impact, rather than a measly buck,” Krumholtz said. “And that’s my choice. And that’s exactly what I plan to do.”