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"My" dreams not "hers"
Ok so i wanna be an actress!!!! i have done comunity theater, I am a good actress and I wanna live in NY. But my mom...Im only 13!! She wants me to go to college so i thought, i will go for an arts degree right? Wrong!! she wont pay for an arts degree and college is way more $ than im gonna be able to aford and i know, i should'nt be thinkin bout college at 13? right? well my mom says i really should be "focusing on my future"?!??!? what does that mean? I wanna be an actress sooooo badley! what should i do?
ps. Please help!!!
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Acting is a very hard thing to get into, and I'm guessing that's what your mom is worried about. You can make an attempt to become an actress (take Drama in highschool), but also focus on something else, as a 'back up'. Since you're only 13, you may change your mind.
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Why NY? All the shows for Fox, Warner Brothers, NBC, and the Disney Channel are taped in Burbank, California. Not much is taped in NY. You have up until yor junior year in most cases to declare your major, and plus you can always minor in theater. There are already so many good actresses out here in Burbank ( where I live), I am friends with like 10 who are/were pretty famous. (The twins from Full house, the boys, Nicky and Alex go to my school) Theater and television acting are very, very different, and it's not fun to be a professional singer or actress. Your call times are often extremely early in the morning an d don't let out until late at night. You often lose friends or gain fake friends, and that's not realy a position any girl should be in. Also, you don't get to go to school, which means boyfriend chances slim down considerably. If you want, ask me a private question for more details, since I know this isn't what you want to hear.
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Dont worry about it yet! You have to explor all the different oppertunitys in life. Your only 13 and you will probly find somthing else you like even more (no offence!) Reality Check: 1 out of 10,000 actors act in movies and broadway. hope i helped.
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your mom wants the best for you . you should be thinking about college now . for example if your mom let you talk only art classes in college and you went out there and for some reason didn't make it big you could be come a " starving artist " and have nothing to fallback on and make a living and your mom doesn't want that for you. at college you can minor in the arts and have a buisness major or something like that so incase it didn't work out you could do something with a steady pay . if your mom wont agree to that then get a job and pay for a arts course on your own !
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It can be very difficult to convince a parent to allow you to go into the arts. Parents just worry for your success and security in life. Acting is not a very secure profession by and large, it has the reputation of being even worse then it really is, but it is highly competitive. The best way to make your mother take your dream seriously is for you to take it seriously.
Keep participating in community theatre, the connections and friendships you make there might help you find other opportunities. Join any youth theatre or club you can and research, research, research. Learn about schools, acting unions in your area (Yes most professional actors are members of a union), training programs and theatre history and acting styles.
Use the information you gather to help sell your dream to your mother, tell her about successful graduates, about other opportunities for actors and fallback plans. You have four years to convince her of your seriousness and dedication.
Keep your grades up as well. Good acting programs are highly competitive! The program at my university only accepts about 30 of over 300 applicants. Your talent will get you noticed, but your grades can make the difference.
But I do need to tell you, if worst comes to worst, it is possible to go to college without your parents support. Lots of people do it. It's harder. It's tiring, and you have to work that much harder for it, apply for grants and scholarships and still go into debt anyways. But it is possible.
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Your mother isn't taking your wish to be an actress seriously, obviously. The bad news is that there's no easy way to quickly change her mind. The GOOD news is that there are some things that you can do to change her opinion before the time comes for you to choose a college.
So here's what I'd recommend:
Do a lot more community theatre. It's all good experience, a chance to stretch your abilities and learn. Other acting opportunities may come up through the connections you make there; take them, if they feel right to you.
If you have an allowance or some other source of money, you might consider saving some of it towards acting lessons. But right now, experience is the best teacher. You might also learn some useful stuff by reading books about acting; check your local library.
In the meantime, you need to allay your mother's fears. She probably thinks that you're chasing a hopeless dream, and fears that you'll waste your education in the process. So at the same time that you're keeping up with community theatre, you need to work hard at school.
Sorry, I know that may sound boring, but if acting is what you really want then this is your best chance to do it. If you can show your mother that you can both act AND do well in school, her opinion may - slowly - change about acting.
You have four years. I think that will be enough time. And remember, getting good grades will also improve the range and quality of acting schools that you can enter.
This is your big chance. It may not be easy. But please believe me, your dreams are worth it.
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