Get Your Child Involved in Acting

Get Your Child Involved in Acting

Getting a child involved in the entertainment industry is an operation for the whole family. Auditions and castings take place during daytime business hours, so parents of aspiring child performers must be willing to put a lot of time and energy into pursuing stardom.

Parents may choose to have head shots taken and film reels made for their children. Those photos and tapes can be sent to casting agencies. This is not the end of the process, though. If the agency sees promise in the child, the family will have to travel to meet with the agents and, if all goes well, ask them to sign a contract.

While it is ideal for the child to possess talent, most children at are cast based on their resemblance to the adult actors who will be playing their parents. The children must be well-behaved and quick to learn lines. Many children work as catalog models before they are old enough to get acting roles in commercials or on television shows. Serious commitment to this goal almost always requires a move to New York or Los Angeles in order to be closer to new casting calls for kids, so a career in film and television is a big but rewarding commitment.

School plays and local theater productions are good testing grounds for aspiring child actors. To find success, every opportunity must be taken seriously, even if the job is less than glamorous. Many child actors go on to keep working for the rest of their adult lives.