What is the average that people should quit trying to become an actress?

Question

I know you should stick to your dream, but sometimes you have to face reality. Most of the actress i know got discover really young. I'm 15 years old and at the rock bottom no experience knowledge or any of that. I know it take me at least 1 and a half to get where i need to be as far as knowledge and skills. Than i have to find a gig. There no telling how long that will take. How much time do i got? Is my dream slipping away? i wish i could have been put in acting school when i was younger

Answer 1

You should never quit. You may think it seems difficult. That your dream is slipping away but you are 15 and to me that is still young. There are plenty of people like you in this world. Plenty of aspiring actors and actresses. Some will never make it, that is the truth. You may, or you may not. But if you quit then you will never know. And that, mon ami, is the worst thing. Worst than failure itself. I know how it feels, when you dont know if you can make it but push for it because if you have the talent then you are likely to succeed. And look at it this way, if you have the talent and you quit then you are doing the whole world a disservice, no?

So do not give up. Even if you, one day, find yourself at 40 as a receptionist. Because who knows, your break may come the next day. Just keep fighting for your dream and standing up for yourself. Then maybe, we hope, you will succeed. And acting is more than just going to acting school. It is nothing you learn at school, it is more than that. It is much more. If you have it then go do your best.

Answer 2

It's different for everyone. But, you have one thing going for you: you appear to have a little PERSPECTIVE, which is something that many would-be actors lack. Basically, you have to "know when to say when," if you're not achieving the level of success that you deem appropriate.

Are you attending auditions on a regular basis? Are you getting cast in the sorts of shows/roles you want? If the answer is "yes," then you're doing fine.

Don't make excuses for your lack of success ("I wish I would have been put in acting school when I was younger..."). There's nothing you can do about what's come before. You can only control what's to come. If you think that further training is going to get you close to where you want to be...go out and get it.

Answer 3

I know an actress in her 70s that works regularly in theatre. She is not giving up. She gets a lot of work in New York City. Never give up on a dream.

Answer 4

Never!!
Look at people like Julianne Moore-she never became wellknown until her late 30's.
The later the better I reckon. Older characters are always more interesting- who want's to get typecast as a bikini babe?? Even all the little Hollywood girls are gonna look hideous in midriff tops one day.

Answer 5

When you are tired of auditioning.

Answer 6

A while ago, I did a little research on this very question, and I was kind of surprised at what I found.

Three caveats: First, I discovered that it's next to impossible to compare actresses who came up in the 1950s and 60s, since they had the benefit of hour-long variety television shows. Shows like "Kraft Mystery Theatre" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," which used entirely new casts for every segment, offering many many opportunities.

Second, it's difficult to determine when someone has "made it." A great many actors had early movies which are only of note now because they show the early work of these actors. Many also have single appearances on television shows, or television movies, which no one knows about. Or background roles.

Third, it's hard to classify foreign-born actors' rises to success in American film. The resources for foreign films are severely lacking, and it's difficult at best to ascertain how early someone like Lorraine Bracco or Shorheh Aghdashloo really "came of age" as an actress.

That said, I started with three people I like, all of whom didn't really do much work until they were in their thirties:

Catherine O'Hara, who did a small television release called "The Rimshots" when she was 22, didn't do a feature film until "Double Negative," when she was 26. Her first role of note, "Beetlejuice," came when she was 34.

Kathy Bates performed as a singer (credited as Bobo Bates) in "Taking Off" when she was 23, but her real debut came with "Come Back To The Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean" when she was 34.

Camryn Manheim was a background actor in movies like "Sudden Impact," and had a recurring role on "Law & Order" (three episodes stretched over 4 seasons,) but it was "The Road to Wellville," when she was 33, that should really be listed as her first role.

Then I began looking at Academy Award nominees and winners from 1980 to today. This is where the caveats come into play. Three of 1980's nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role had a string of single-episode television credits: Ellen Burstyn (Resurrection) worked on "Hallmark Hall of Fame, " "77 Sunset Strip," "Michael Shayne," "Letter to Loretta," "Maverick," "Surfside 6," "The Dick Powell Show," "Cheyenne," "Bus Stop," "The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor," "Checkmate," "Kraft Mystery Theatre," "Ben Casey," "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster," "Perry Mason," "The Real McCoys," "Laramie," "The Defenders," "Wagon Train," "Kraft Suspense Theatre," and "The Greatest Show on Earth" before her first feature film role, "For Those Who Think Young," at the age of 32.

The same goes for Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People). Single appearances on "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, " "Richard Diamond, Private Detective," "Steve Canyon," "Bronco," "Bourbon Street Beat," "Johnny Staccato," "Overland Trail," "77 Sunset Strip," "The Millionaire," "The Tab Hunter Show," "Checkmate," "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "Riverboat," "Bachelor Father," "The Deputy," "The Aquanauts," "Surfside 6," "Lock Up," "Hawaiian Eye," "Straightaway," "Thriller," "Pantomime Quiz," "The Danny Kaye Show" - all before she became a regular on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" at the age of 33. The following year, at 34, she would play in "Thoroughly Modern Millie," cementing her big screen career.

The third actress in this category is Gena Rowlands (Gloria). After single appearances on "Robert Montgomery Presents," "Kraft Television Theatre," "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "Studio One," "Appointment With Adventure," "The United States Steel Hour," "Goodyear Television Playhouse," "General Electric Theatre," "Laramie," "Johnny Staccato," "Markham," "Riverboat," "Adventures in Paradise," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Tab Hunter Show," "The Islanders," "87th Precinct," and "Target: The Corruptors," she put in her first feature film appearance - in "Lonely Are the Brave" - at the tender age of 32.

That year also saw Eva La Gallienne (Resurrection) nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Born in 1899, she wouldn't appear on television until a 1950 episode of "The Ford Theatre Hour," and wouldn't receive a big screen credit until five years later with "Prince of Players," at the age of 56.

She ran that year against Eileen Brennan (Private Benjamin), who was 34 when she did a made-for-television movie called "The Star Wagon," and 35 when she debuted in a theatrical release, "Divorce American Style." Her first "major" movie was four years later, at the age of 39, with "The Last Picture Show."

As I say, it's hard to compare these beginnings with those of an actress heading out into today's world. But more noteworthy, perhaps, is Marsha Mason, who was nominated in 1981 for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work on "Only When I Laugh." The former Mrs. Neil Simon was thirty when she did a made-for-television adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac," and 31 when she appeared in "Blume in Love."

Up against her that year was Meryl Streep, for "The French Lieutenant." Ms. Streep had done a few bit parts and background work, and at 28 she would appear in "The Deadliest Season" on television. But she wouldn't achieve any amount of notoriety until two years later, with "The Deer Hunter."

1981 saw a trio of late bloomers in the Best Actress in a Supporting Role category: Namely, Melinda Dillon for "Absence of Malice" (first appeared in "The April Fools," at the age of 30); Joan Hackett for "Only When I Laugh" (first appearance, other than assorted television roles, was "The Group" at the age of 32); and Maureen Stapleton for "Reds" (33 when she did "Lonelyhearts," after assorted television appearances.)

The following year, Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Frances," and she also won Best Actress in a Supporting Role the same year for her work in "Tootsie." Ms. Lange first appeared in "All That Jazz" at the age of 30. In the latter category, she beat out Glenn Close ("The World According to Garp,") who had done some forgettable television movies, but hadn't appeared in a theatrical release until this film ("The World According to Garp,") when she was 35.

Also running against Ms. Lange and Ms. Close was Kim Stanley ("Frances,") who first appeared in "The Goddess" at the age of 33.

1983 saw Jane Alexander ("Testament") and Julie Walters ("Educating Rita") nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Ms. Alexander had done one episode each of "Adam-12" and " N.Y.P.D." when she was thirty, and then followed it up with "The Great White Hope" when she was 31. Ms. Walters had done some television movies (all with fewer than five votes at IMDb.com.) Her first role of any import whatsoever was in a miniseries, "Boys from the Blackstuff," at the age of 32. Her first film role was in "Educating Rita," at the age of 33, for which she was nominated.

The same year saw Linda Hunt ("The Year of Living Dangerously") win Best Actress in a Supporting Role. At the age of 31, she first appeared in the television adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" (12 votes on IMDb.com), and two years later she was in the acclaimed television movie, "Fame." It wouldn't be until "Popeye," which she did at the age of 35, that she would see a theatrical release.

In 1985, Whoopi Goldberg ("The Color Purple") was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Though she did a forgettable arthouse film called "Citizen" three years prior, "The Color Purple" was her first film with any distribution. She was thirty. Her co-star in "The Color Purple," Oprah Winfrey, was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She was 31, and it was her first role as well.

Ms. Winfrey ran against Amy Madigan ("Twice in a Lifetime,") who did single episodes of "Hart to Hart" and "Crazy Times" when she was 30, followed them up with a single episode of "CHiPs" when she was 31, and segued into film at 32 with "Love Child." They were both beaten out by Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor"), who was the very definition of a working extra from 1967 to 1976. The year of her thirtieth birthday, she finally broke through with "The Postman Always Rings Twice."

The following year saw Sigourney Weaver nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Aliens." She was an extra in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall," but her first actual role was in "Alien," when she was 30 years old.

1986 also saw Dianne Wiest ("Hannah and Her Sisters") beat out Tess Harper ("Crimes of the Heart") for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Wiest debuted in "It's My Turn" at the age of 32; Harper was a year older when she appeared in "Tender Mercies," her acting debut.

1987's Best Actress in a Supporting Role was won by Olympia Dukakis for "Moonstruck." Dukakis did a few bit parts on television shows ("Dr. Kildare" and "The Nurses") when she was 31, before breaking through with the Dustin Hoffman vehicle "John and Mary" at the age of 38. She beat out Anne Ramsey ("Throw Momma From The Train,") who was 42 when she appeared in her first role in "The Sporting Club."

In 1990, Annette Bening was nominated for Best Supporting for "Grifters." Bening first appeared in "The Great Outdoors" when she was 30. Mary McDonnell, who was also nominated for "Dances With Wolves," first appeared in "Garbo Talks" at the age of 32.

1991's winner for Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Mercedes Ruehl, who had appeared as an extra in a few titles, but did not get an actual role until "Twisted," when she was 38.

In 1995, Joan Allen was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Nixon." Ms. Allen was thirty when she appeared in "Compromising Positions."

The following year, Brenda Blethyn ("Secrets & Lies") was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - she appeared in one episode of "Can We Get On Now, Please?", at the age of 34. She was nominated alongside Emily Watson, who was nominated for her first film appearance, "Breaking the Waves," at the age of 31.

In 1999, Catherine Keener was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "Being John Malkovich." Though she had done a variety of background work in film and television, she was 30 when she had her first speaking role in "Survival Quest." 2000 Best Actress in a Supporting Role winner Marcia Gay Harden is a similar tale - plenty of background work, but no speaking role until "Miller's Crossing," when she was 31.

2004 Best Actress in a Leading Role nominee Imelda Staunton ("Vera Drake") was 31 when she had her first film role in "Comrades."

I've weeded through most of the recent influx of foreign-born actresses. For example... though 2003 Best Actress in a Supporting Role nominee Shohreh Agdashaloo ("House of Sand and Fog") had done a few Iranian films before, it wasn't until the age of 41 that she had her first American film role, in "Twenty Bucks."

So it's not empirical evidence, but I think it's safe to say that you're still in good shape here.

The key is to keep pushing your craft. Take classes - and take them seriously. Network, network, network. And audition - even a bad audition should teach you something. All of these actresses were, of course, working on their craft well before they were ever "discovered." Get as much performing experience as you can. Either way, 15 is definitely not too old to give up the ghost.