So my daughter wants to be an actor... just like her dad. I figured this day would come eventually.
When she was 5 I got her first headshots done. Shortly after that my manager sent her out on a few auditions and she landed a print ad right away. She had so much fun on that shoot as it was at the beach. She was spoiled all day long with whatever she wanted. There were two people there waiting on her every need and she had all the food she could want. Best part was she was paid a nice amount for it... at 5 years old can you believe it? Funny part was so many people thaught she was Dakota Fanning (or maybe her younger sister) because she looked so similar to her in person.
She got some more auditions for HBO and for the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 movie but didn't land either one. After awhile I started noticing that she was more interested in going out to eat or to the store after the audition then the actual audition itself. So I gave her a break. I figured she now has a taste of it and if she wanted to later she could pick it up again. But even though I wasn't submitting her out for roles I did cast her twice in two of my films I directed. She had a speaking line in each and had a fun time with it.
Fast forward to 2010 at age 12. She is watching the Disney channel and suddenly she starts to ask questions about the acting world. I think she is getting star struck with the characters on tv and remembers doing some of the same things years before. I ask her if she would be interested in auditioning again and she quickly replies yes. So I talked with the director of a film I was doing and she was able to walk on for a day and have a small role in it. She did such a good job of paying attention but I noticed she really wasn't into it that much. I think it was because she didn't have a scripted speaking line and she was there for several hours. I told her sometimes you have days like that and suddenly I saw the sparkle leave her eyes.
I thought I was done with that conversation until just two days ago. I enrolled my son in baseball for the Spring and he had his first tryout last Saturday. Jealous that he was doing something he wanted to do she asked if she could do something as well, so I gave her a booklet that showed different activities in our area and told her to find what she wanted. Within moments she comes back with, "How about this acting class for film and television?" Yup, I knew it was in her blood again.
So today, I took her to her first class. It wasn't that elaborate because it was mainly for 7-13 year olds learning the basics but I figured it was just what she needed to see if she wanted to continue this for the future. Actually some kids were so hyper-active that I thought maybe it was for kids with ADD. I could invision their parents dropping them off for 1 1/2 hours there so they could have a break. But right before class started a few kids her age started showing up and I began to feel better, and after the first 20 minutes I felt sold on the class myself. I figured even if she didn't want to continue acting at least she will be able to losen up a bit and learn to be a bit more open-minded. (Not to get off the subject but a few months ago my daughter called her brother "open-minded" because she thought it meant stupid. I thought that was funny).
Anyhow, after class I asked her what she thought and you could just see the elation on her face that she was coming back next week. So I took out my credit card and paid for her 2 month class.
I am actually excited for her. I don't want to predict how the future will go but I think this is an area that she can excel in if she lets it. I don't even care if she gets any paid jobs right now... only that she is able to experience this for herself. Best of all is this was something SHE chose. I never understood the parents that FORCE their kids to act. I mean why take the fun out of it?
I can see my artistic vision in her brain already. She loves drawing and does very good at it. She also has been learning photography and she got a calligraphy set for Christmas. Now acting. I'm already proud of her... but I'm also proud of myself for knowing I have taught her well.
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