Joseph Purcell dropped out of community college three months after watching Heath Ledger’s interrogation scene from “The Dark Knight” in his apartment. Now he’s one of the breakout faces in microdramas, the mobile-first format generating billions in revenue and reshaping how audiences consume serialized content.
The 26-year-old Australian-born actor and son of “Prison Break” star Dominic Purcell had a few drinks with friends one night, and re-watched the film. “The interrogation scene came up,” Purcell says in a recent interview over Zoom. “I was floored by it for the first time.” After performing the scene for friends, “I was like, ‘OK, this is what I want to do.’ And I dropped out of school three months later.”
Purcell is based in Los Angeles, where microdramas have become a new source of work for emerging actors. Since landing his first role a year ago, he has appeared in multiple microdramas produced by CandyJar, one of the leading U.S. microdrama platforms, including “His Nerd,” “Rooming With the Devil” and “Private Lessons” — vertical, smartphone-optimized episodes that typically run under two minutes and are designed for binge consumption. “His Nerd” and “Private Lessons” are currently trending on the platform.
“His Nerd” on CandyJar
It’s a format that barely existed five years ago. Microdramas gained initial traction during the pandemic, when isolated viewers turned to bite-sized content on their phones. The format generated $7 billion in China alone in 2024, while the U.S. market reached $819 million last year and is projected to hit $3.8 billion by 2030, Variety previously reported.
That growth has attracted attention from established talent: Taye Diggs (“Rent,” “Private Practice,” “All American”) is set to star in and executive produce “Off Limits & All Mine” for CandyJar, marking what will be the first time a well-known actor has entered the vertical drama space.
Purcell began acting in microdramas a year ago, in February 2025 — through a self-submission on Actors Access after learning a friend was earning steady work in verticals. “I had a friend in the space that was doing them. He was getting paid; he was working as an actor,” Purcell says. “And that’s kind of a hard thing to do. It’s hard to be a working actor. And I tried it, and I got one.”
Purcell submitted for a supporting role, but was instead offered the lead. “I didn’t know what I was getting into, really. I had just heard of verticals, hadn’t even really seen them, and I did it, and I have been working with the same company ever since,” he says.
The work itself is relentless, as production schedules for these microdramas are compressed, typically having five to 10 days of shooting with 12- to 14-hour days. Purcell says he typically shoots five to 10 scenes daily, though he’s heard of actors shooting 20.
“If you’re lucky, you get a week, a couple days to prepare, and you’re just doing the best you can with what you have,” he says.
“Private Lessons” on CandyJar
Budgets can range from $100,000 to $300,000 per series — a fraction of traditional TV production costs. The lean model relies on emerging actors, minimal locations and rapid turnarounds. Purcell’s most recent project should release within two months, a timeline that would be unthinkable for conventional productions.
The genre’s success has caught the attention of mainstream Hollywood players. Former Miramax CEO Bill Block launched GammaTime with backing from Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner. Fox Entertainment has invested in Ukrainian verticals company Holywater. Former ABC chairman Lloyd Braun, ex-Showtime president Jana Winograde and former NBCUniversal executive Susan Rovner unveiled MicroCo in August.
Even its technical approach reflects the format’s DIY efficiency. While most shoot vertically — rotating cameras to portrait orientation — CandyJar shoots horizontally and crops in post-production, framing for vertical ratios during filming.
“They just tell you to go really close. You just stand super close to your partner, to the point where they’re blurry, you can’t even see each other,” Purcell says. “It’s interesting, but I’ve shot more verticals than I have horizontals.”
Purcell attributes the format’s appeal to nostalgia for early 2000s romantic comedies, a genre largely absent from contemporary streaming platforms.
“They feel like those early 2000s, late ’90s rom-coms, in a sense. Obviously, the production value and the writing is different, but I think the feelings that are generated from them are similar,” he says. “It almost seems like those rom-coms aren’t in the space of traditional TV-making anymore. So maybe they’re just hitting a gap in the market.”
He adds: “And they’re also overly dramatic, which is always fun. There’s no pressure watching them.” The work has opened doors for Purcell beyond verticals. After clips from his first microdrama circulated on TikTok, director Sarah Shephard cast him in “Glamping,” a horror film that is available now on Tubi.
CandyJar now frequently offers him roles without auditions, a sign of the trust he’s built with the platform.
Joseph Purcell in “Glamping” on Tubi
But the industry’s rapid expansion has raised questions about working conditions. Most microdrama productions are nonunion, though SAG-AFTRA introduced a Verticals Agreement in recent months designed to bring union protections to the format. The agreement covers productions with budgets under $300,000, offering minimum rates of $250 a day for lead performers and $164 for supporting actors — well below standard union rates, but a significant step toward legitimizing the space.
The format is employing many actors who struggled during the pandemic and labor strikes, with some performers appearing in dozens of productions. The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 in recent months to explore creating a $5 million subsidy for microdrama production, recognizing that tiny budgets often don’t qualify for state tax credits requiring minimum spends of $1 million.
Despite this growing institutional support, many in the space still arrived by unconventional paths. Purcell comes from an acting family — his father Dominic Purcell played Lincoln Burrows on “Prison Break” — though he initially pursued sports and never planned to act.
“I was super reserved and shy, and I love sports, so I just played sport. I wanted to be a professional athlete,” he says. His father’s career ultimately gave him confidence to pursue acting. “I was like, well, he can do it. He has it. He had it inside of himself. And maybe it runs in the blood.”
Asked about long-term goals, Purcell is pragmatic. “I’m not supposed to say that this is a stepping stone, but being a working actor is super hard,” he says. “Obviously, I want to move on to the horizontal format. I’m just doing what I can.”
For now, he’s focused on dramatic roles in any format. “At this point, it’s hard to pick and choose, but obviously, the dramatic stuff. I love drama. I’m inspired by drama,” Purcell says. “Any chance I get to be in one of these, I’m not taking it for granted, and I’m doing the best that I can. I love acting. Any opportunity to act is great.”
Platforms like CandyJar, ReelShort and DramaBox have built sustainable businesses through data-driven production, algorithmic distribution and cost-efficient talent development. Whether microdramas represent a lasting format shift or a temporary trend, they’re currently providing steady work for actors like Purcell — and redefining what it means to build an acting career in 2025.