Is your child right for casting?
A question I get asked a lot is “Is my child right for casting?” Well the answer is, if you’re looking to start a child young, then Casting Directors are not really looking for stage school kids. They are looking for natural children. Yes as time goes by children learn how to take direction, but you really don’t need any experience in acting for most castings, with the exception perhaps of theatre but again children can be taught and they will go through so many rehearsals for theatre by the time they have finished they know it inside out!
Your child doesn’t need to have attended stage school to get a part in a commercial, TV, film or photography. Look at Daniel Radcliffe from “Harry Potter” he went to see a play with his mum and dad called “stones in the pockets” and in the front row of where he was sitting was the producer and writer of the films. They saw him and went to speak to him and his parents in the break and went along to a few auditions and got the part! Apparently it was his eyes and his look they just knew he would be perfect. He didn’t attend any stage school or have any acting lessons prior to him getting the part.
In my own opinion it’s a great way to get your child into work and more importantly learning a work ethic, learning how to save, learning rejection, time keeping and many more things to add. It gives them some great life skills and prepares them for the real world, and the best part of it is they don’t even know it! They just have fun and do so many things they would not ordinarily get the opportunity to do.
With my own children I gave them 20% of their earnings when they got paid and saved 80% of their earnings for when they reach 18. My son turned 18 recently and this gave him the money to go to University. It’s a great way to start saving for your children for the future. My children didn’t have an interest in performing at a young age I just thought I know what’s best for them, to give them an understanding of work and help them learn how to handle money. I just took them along one day and see if they were ok with it. Yes sometimes they might moan if they have lines to learn but its all part of learning discipline, as long as they don’t hate it, then obviously it’s not for them. Overall they have enjoyed the experience and although my son isn’t going to be an actor he has decided to perform as a musician/singer so no doubt it has helped him get where he is today.
