Is your child a natural-born performer? Are they first in line when it comes to starring in the school play? Do they have a precocious understanding of acting as a craft that could mark them as the next Daniel Radcliffe or Keira Knightley? If so, you might be wondering how to help them take their passion for acting further.
Becoming a child actor requires talent, focus, and hard work, and parents need to be just as dedicated, what with auditions and potentially chaperoning on set. So, what can you do to help launch your child’s acting career? Start here.
1. Discuss the realities
Enjoying the fun of a local amateur dramatics group is very different to pursuing a career as a child actor. Before you uproot your life to turn your child’s hobby into a profession, check in with them to ensure it’s what they really want. Are they actually interested in the craft of acting or do they just want to be famous? Are they aware the reality involves hard work, occasional boredom, stiff competition, and rejection along the way?
Also, think about your family life. Are you ready to drop everything to chaperone your offspring to auditions or filming? How much time could you feasibly give up to pursue your child’s ambitions?
For the average actor, the job doesn’t equate to a life of red carpets and limos. Child actors will be confronted with knockbacks from an early age. They, and you as their carer, need to know how to handle that.
If they’re not sure they’re ready, then there’s no harm in sticking with amdram and school plays for now.
2. Prioritise training
If your young performer is confident they want to give professional acting a go, then it’s time to think about training. Many local drama schools and community centres offer courses specifically for children, so check out listings for your area. Stagecoach, which has hubs around the country and runs holiday workshops as well as weekly classes, is also worth checking out. However, to really advance their potential, it might be worth applying to the UK’s top theatre schools. Sylvia Young Theatre School and the Anna Scher Theatre School in London, and Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead, have a great record of training child-turned-adult actors including Kate Winslet, Billie Piper, and Nicolas Hoult.
Formal training isn’t mandatory for success, but most aspiring child actors benefit from a supportive learning environment when they’re starting out. Kids get used to an audience, taking direction, learning the foundations of acting, and meeting like-minded children.
There are opportunities for interested kids nationwide. Summer acting programmes are run by prestigious bodies like the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Cinta Stage in Cornwall, as well as RADA in London. Plus, there are part-time after-school drama programmes operated by the aforementioned Stagecoach and the Pauline Quirke Academy.
Basically, the more experience your child gets, the better. No one expects child actors to have years of jobs behind them, but not being freaked out by an audience or a studio goes a long way with casting directors.
3. Prepare the materials
Part of getting your child out there and audition-ready means getting their admin and marketing materials prepared. They’ll need headshots, an acting CV, and eventually a demo reel featuring recorded snippets of their past work.
The CV should list any productions your child has been in so far. Local amateur shows, student films, and community projects can all bolster their credit list at this stage. A demo reel can really help you get noticed by casting directors because it showcases your best performances in motion. If your little one is new to the game, you can record them reciting monologues or poems and edit these into a showreel.
Children 6 and older should have two monologues memorised and ready to perform at an audition. Make sure your child is comfortable with the material and that it is age-appropriate. You want to really show off your child’s acting talents, so take some time to get this right.
4. Search for work
To find auditions, you have to be proactive. With your child’s CV and headshots prepped, it’s time to create a profile on a casting platform to boost their chance of getting noticed. Big players like Disney, Netflix, and the BBC all regularly post jobs on casting sites, as do smaller productions. You can filter out unpaid work and search by age and location to find the jobs most suitable.
Keep your eyes peeled on social media and elsewhere for open casting calls. Follow casting directors and agents on their social channels to stay informed about their projects. You never know where or when you’ll get a break, but remaining open to opportunities is key.
5. Get an acting agent
Representation from an agent will increase your child’s chances of getting seen for auditions and provide an opportunity to meet industry figures. You shouldn’t have to pay to be represented, but they’ll take a cut of your earnings – usually around 10%. Being represented also means your agent will negotiate fees and support you as you navigate the industry.
Many child actors have agents. UK agencies such as the Sylvia Young Agency, Bonnie and Betty, and Alphabet Kidz all deal solely with child actors. Research agencies thoroughly before applying for representation. What names do they represent? How have their clients’ careers progressed? What kind of jobs have their clients booked? How many children do they have on their books? Ask lots of questions before you sign on any dotted lines.
You may have to audition to join an agency, but the application process will likely begin with sending in your CV and headshots.
6. Remember, acting isn’t everything
Being a successful child actor isn’t easy, so it’s a good idea to have a plan B. Education is important, as is growing into a fully rounded adult with varied interests. Whether your child makes it or not, they’ll still need friends and a fully functioning support system. It’s also important to recognise the brutal truth that lots of actors – children and adults alike – spend periods out of work.
That said, an acting career at any age can be creative, fulfilling, and fun. Child actors are exposed to lots of different people and scenarios. They’ll learn about the world of work ahead of their peers, and hopefully they’ll enjoy the ride – just ask Emma Watson, Maisie Williams, or Dev Patel.