I am a teen actor, I'm 15 and I want to know what Im getting myself into...?

Question

I'm a kid who wants to fame, money, and most of all THE EXPERIENCE of being infront of the camera. I started acting because I was dramactic, and funny. I have different voice tones and I can do a good fight scene.

The only thing I'm worried about is how this will impact me in the future.
Should I start acting for the fun of it. Because I like it...
Even though it is at the risk of being in magazines, rumors, could possible start drugs, starve myself, and enter this dog eat dog world?
Is It Worth it ?
What do you think... I really do need help on this one.

Answer 1

Wanna be famous

Hi,

Some years ago when I played football in college, we were on the practice field at the end of August right when the new school year started. It was hot and we sweated our butts off! To get to the practice field we had to walk across campus and our college mates were out playing Frisbee. The girls were laying out in the sun. The guys were drinking beer and laughing and having a good time. And what were we doing? We were going to put on our equipment in 95° heat and go out and practice for three hours.

You can imagine that in that kind of heat, practice was hard. Sometimes we wanted to rest or get a drink of water, but we couldn’t. Our coach saw that we were tired and wanted to rest and it was always at those moments in the middle of practice when he would call us all in, tell us to take our helmets off and “take a knee”. He used to tell us a lot of things during those little speeches of his. One thing that he always used to tell us was, “Men, when it’s too hot for the other teams, it will be just right for us.” Something else that he used to tell us was, “Men, if you’re out here practicing in this menacing heat, you gotta love it.”

First and foremost you gotta love acting or singing or whatever you want to do. If the reason you are doing it is to become famous, then I would strongly advise you to seek out some other field. I know that this and the other answers you received might be difficult to digest, but it’s all good advice.

Your first priority as an actor, should be to learn the craft and try to be as good as you can be.

Another time, when I was in college in my sophomore year, I was trying to decide what to major in. What I really loved was languages, but I thought that I should really major in business administration, because that’s where the money would be, but I didn't like it enough to make it my major. I talked to a professor in whom I could confide and told him that I was undecided. He told me to do first and foremost what I was most passionate about and be as good at it as I possibly can at it. He told me that if I did that, then the money would come and fame too, if that’s what you want.. He said that one day I would be thankful that I chose to do something that I really love to do. And you know what? He was right.

It's important to know what it really means to be a working actor. Maybe you already know. I don't have much information about you other than what you wrote.

Here are some of the issues that actors face before they even get close to working as an actor:

*New to show business and just seem to be wallowing around to find out what you should be doing to get started in the right way!

*Not being sent out on many auditions.

*Rarely getting called back.

*No agent and not sure how to get one.

*Not many industry contacts and can’t seem to meet that industry professional I would really like to meet.

*Difficult to balance work and the demands of an acting career.

*Able to book jobs, but not always able to keep them and don't know why.

*Sending out materials—audition tapes, headshots, and résumés—but not getting the types of responses you would like or none at all!

*Don’t have the money to take classes, so just taking a workshop every now and again instead of going to a school or regular classes. It’s been the situation for months. Maybe even years.

*Having difficulty getting off work for auditions, because the boss doesn’t support employees' acting careers!

*Difficult to prepare well for auditions, because of work. Either too tired or just not enough time in the day to work on your acting career!

*Have to work at a club or restaurant or in a job they don't like until the wee hours of the morning and end up going into auditions looking and feeling like a zombie.

*Having to work at a job that robs them of valuable time they could be using to spend on developing their acting career, auditioning or something else.

*Don't have the cash to make a show-reel or audition tape, get headshots.

*Not sure how to choose a headshot photographer!

*"Don't know how on earth it's possible to make a résumé, if I don’t have anything to put on it! How on earth can I start an acting career!"

There are certainly more of these issues, but this my friend is the reality. I certainly don't want to rain on your parade, but rather to help you understand that you need in my opinion four things that will help you get started so that one day you will have a good chance of getting work as an actor and then MAYBE get to be famous.

Knowing that many, many, many young actors and even older ones have the same issues and hearing about them over and over again, and knowing that I had the same issues not long ago, I decided to create a resource for this same group of people. It takes you through four critical and crucial steps that I consistently see actors overlook and skip, because they’re too impatient and want to jump in right away instead of first creating the base. For actors who think they have their priorities in order, but believe that the real goal is something other than to be a brilliant actor, to be the best actor they can be.

I say all this to let you know, something that you already know which is that there will be a lot of things to do before you get there. You will need clarity of what you really want and for you, why being famous is so important to you, motivation, determination, thick skin, a method of planning, business skills and you will need to see how these things can actually bring success when you interact and hear the stories of other actors, working actors.

Click on this link below and go take a look at the actor quiz. It will help you to see some of the things you know or that you need to know about your up-coming acting career: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/actor_quiz.html

After all this, you need to study, study, study. I would advise you to get information about the different techniques that there are and then choose one. Here is some other information that can help you in choosing classes and schools and to learn more about the different techniques there are:
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/acting_classes.html

One last thing. Don’t disregard all the other types of acting possibilities there are:
Film, television, theater are the obvious ones. There is also hosting, industrials, commercials, commercial print, student films, independent films, spokesperson. They can help you to get your feet wet and help you get started.

I hope this gives you some insight and I hope to have made you think. Unless you get lucky, becoming famous can be several years out, if it ever happens at all. Statistics say that it probably won't. If you are an exceptional person, then you can make it happen, but will come with a price and sacrifice.

One last little lesson I learned that I would like to share with you. When I first started acting, my teacher told me that it was probably my football and military training that taught me that I had to strive for the goal and that I achieve my goal, when I reach my objective. She told me that acting is not like that at all. She told me that it is not about “nailing” a scene, but rather about living each and every moment of the scene. That’s what makes it more real. We have to be “in the moment”. It’s not about the final destination of becoming famous. It’s about doing something you really love and enjoying your development and your experiences along the way.

Study, learn, be the best actor that you can be and enjoy it; each and every moment of it. If you become famous, I’ll be happy for you. If you don’t, be happy for yourself that you did something that you really loved and enjoyed. If you don't think you can do that, then you might want to think again about what it is you really want.

Best of luck!

Tony
http://www.actingcareerstartup.com

Answer 2

Yep, you are 15. With stars in your eyes and the whole bit. Being an actor is being your own business. It's not about being famous, that's simply a byproduct. Seriously, you need to worry about school and college because if you don't have an education you will not go very far. That should be your foundation. This business will eat you for breakfast if you don't. The ones who make it are smart. They know that you have to know the ins and outs of legal contracts and negotiations in all of your dealings, the makeup of corporations and where you stand in all of it, and how to navigate through all the bs they try to throw at you from every angle so that you don't get screwed in the end.

And on top of that, you have to be talented, lucky, & super likable at least until you're famous. Then you don't have to be as likable. Just smart.

For now, take classes and workshops in acting, especially if there's an on camera workshop. Get into every theatre production you can whether at school or in local theatres. Once you gain some humility and a lot more experience, and you want to find a legitimate agent to represent you for commercials, TV & film go to Sag.org. Use the dropdown menu on the right labeled 'resources' and choose 'agent information'. On the next screen, on the left choose 'Find a SAG franchised agent' and follow the directions. You can look up agents all over the US, but there are higher concentrations where the work is (Los Angeles, NY, IL, FL, GA etc.)

Then you can send them your headshot, resume, and a cover letter stating that you are seeking representation and wait to see if they call you in for an interview.

Once you have an agent, they will get you the auditions, but until then you can check out actorsaccess.com. You can also see if your state has a film alliance. Sometimes they post audition information for projects filming locally. For theatre, you can go to backstage.com or http://www.actorsequity.org/castingcall/... If you find the audition on the Equity site, you still may be able to go, as long as their not taking appointments from equity actor's only :-) On backstage.com you have to pay to get all of the info, but the initial search is free and you may be able to see enough info to find out the rest on your own without paying.

Backstage is also good for student and low budget films as well as some other misc. projects,

Good luck!

Answer 3

You're kidding? Right? Please tell me you are. Fame and money? Being in magazines and the subject of rumors? Do you know anything at all about the reality of acting? There is an incredibly tiny percentage of actors who become rich and famous. The majority of professional actors don't even make enough money acting to live on. They have to work another job, often full-time, to make the rent every month. Acting is a brutal, thankless field to try to go into. You need a lot of talent, a thick skin, an incredible work ethic, and a lot of luck to make it as an actor at all, let alone become a big-name star. Do yourself a favor. If you really want to act, do it for the love of the craft. If you don't love it, then never, EVER try to make it more than a hobby. And if you've got the passion for acting and the drive to work for it, go ahead. But remember that your worries when you're trying to "make it" are going to be more about where the next month's rent is coming from and how you're going to pay the postage to sent out a couple hundred more resumes and headshots to agents and casting directors than they are about being in a magazine.

Answer 4

You are getting into acting for all the wrong reasons. Only a 0.01% are the ones who are famous and have lots of money. You are completely over thinking it. Yes, you should act because it's fun and you enjoy it, but why are you worried about "being in magazines" and crap like that when you haven't even been in anything legit? Get a grip and realize you have a hell of a lot of competition out there before you need to worry about the burdens of fame.

Answer 5

personally, i think 15 is too young for drama, or any other major, time-consuming career [including music], wait another 3 years at least, or even until you finish college. i know that when i did drama [up until a year ago], there were so many kids with problems... you know, psycological, physical even. its not worth getting a full time career until you actually need it. just keep up the drama for fun, and to make friends, not money. good luck for the future though!

remember that hollywood isn't all it's cracked up to be... most celebs are hounded night and day by paparazzi, some get "messed up" and end up in rehab. why not stick to indie movies, or theatre, or even television.

Answer 6

Blah,blah,blah. Most people NEVER attain fame or vast amounts of money. If it's experience you want, do community theater and high school plays. I wouldn't worry about the rest (fame, fortune, starving yourself and all that other nonsense, etc.), as you will in all liklihood, never attain it.

Answer 7

Remember to be yourself. No matter what, remember who you were before fame, and who loved you before the money.