How could you give yourself a chance at a career in acting when your parents don't like the idea?

Question

I have a friend who is really good at singing and acting and she would really like to try a career in acting but knows it's not what her parents want and thinks it would dissapoint them. But it's her dream and she doesn't want to spend her whole life thinking she should of given it a go. How could she do this without support from her parents and not dissapoint them?

Answer 1

At her age it will probably be very difficult for her to start an acting career all on her own without the support of her parents. One of the biggest mistakes people make in just about any area of life is to try and convince someone of something that they themselves know very little about.

One of the keys to being able to convince someone is to be very knowledgeable on the subject. If your friend is anything like most younger aspiring actors, she probably doesn't know very much about what it really means to be an actress or a singer other than what she sees on television or at the movies.

So, she has to do a lot of homework. Think about a lawyer who goes to trial with his client. That lawyer, in order to convince the jury that his client is innocent, has to do a lot of studying of the facts, do research, investigate, read, ask questions, talk to experts AND he/she has to be a really good communicator able to get the key points across in a compelling and convincing manner.

Have a look at this page on my site for new and aspiring actors. On it you will find a lot of different links about various aspects of starting an acting career that might be helpful to your friend. Among the very first links you will see are two that have to do with how to convince your parents to support your acting career and the second actually will take your friend through how to conduct the conversation with her parents to have a better chance of convincing them. The other links will get her well on her way to learning about what it means to be an actress and what will be expected of her if she hopes to be successful. http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/teen_...

But like I say at the end of one of those pages, this is not a guarantee that it will work, but one thing is for sure. After doing the work, your friend will definitely and without a doubt, know more about what it means to be an actress than she does right now.

Good luck to her!

Tony

Answer 2

   With all due respect, your friend will soon no longer be a minor, hence not strictly under the control of her parents.

   So many young people come here asking if 14 is too old to start, even 10 is being given as an age?

   Certainly she should already be involved on a school level, or community theater level, so she is already gaining the experiences, and adding to her credibility as well as any resume inclusions. You don't specify a genre she is most interested in, but live performance theater is as viable as film. Beyond that, metro phones books are filled with those involved in multiple tasks, both as dreamers and doers.

   She should probably consider education a fine point of any career choices, and work at the craft as well. There's no sin in acting and having a real job.

Answer 3

Well, she's 18 soon so whatever their opinion is, it doesn't matter anyway, she is legally old enough to make her own decision. I go to stage school, I love acting too, tell her to go for it, it's her life!

Answer 4

well, if she really wants to take that as her career then she should go for it... follow her dreams. if her parents dont agree with it, that doesnt matter because its her dreams and her dreams only no one can tell her what her dreams are. she could somehow get the trust of her parents by telling them how good it would be

hope i helped.

Answer 5

Your friend should just go for an acting career. You said that she is good at singing and acting so there is every chance she will make a success of it. I've heard about other actors whose parents weren't keen on their son or daughter's choice but these people went on to be really good and successful at acting and became wellknown, famous and wealthy. Your friend should continue with her acting plans and could make her parents proud of her eventually.