To ask how to get my young DD into acting as a child?

[LNAME]

DD has always been dramatic - she loves performing, singing, dancing and has done since she was first walking (she’s 4 now).
She attends a local dance school, but I’d really like her to do something more serious and stimulating with her interest rather than just her little class each week.

I am based in the midlands but am considering enrolling her in one of the London theatre schools for weekend classes - is something like this much more ‘serious’ vs the very casual type of lesson we attend now? Where do the young children in TV and films get selected from?

Posted in AIBU for traffic and just to hear others experiences with stage school etc.

I would have thought a local stagecoach or similar would have been more appropriate to start with, to see if she actually stands out compared to other children. If so maybe ask the leaders there for advice on next steps?

you’ll need to get her an agent, I’m not sure how you go about doing that but a friend’s child did this at a similar age and I believe she had to send off videos. Castings are mostly from videos to start with now too from what I’ve heard.

Four is very young to be travelling to London for weekend classes. She'll get exhausted and miss local fun things. I would stick with the local class for a fee more years and encourage her to do creative things with friends or on her own.

We did do a few classes with Stagecoach and didn’t think they were very good at all! More like a baby group than trying to teach them anything.
I would like to find somewhere more serious but being in the midlands, there isn’t much around here.

If you’re wanting her to act professionally you need to register with an agency. That world though….it doesn’t work out well for many child stars.

She’s 4.

Get a fucking grip.

From someone who used to work in the industry.

Four is very young to be looking for 'serious' classes - let her just be a child having fun!

Where do you think the 4 year olds that you see on film and tv come from?!

She’s 4. It’s entirely unnecessary at that age and potentially damaging to put a child through that. You couldn’t pay me to put my child into professional acting or modelling.

I'd guess, mostly from families where at least one parent is already heavily involved in the trade.

Tbf, I was a 4 year old that got a speaking part on a tv show in the 80s, I have no acting ability whatsoever. Think my mum just answered an advert.

Stagecoach is a very good start and they tend to have links to local theatres. My daughter does it and there are often emails via them about local productions looking for child actors. There was one recently about an extras agency looking to recruit for a film being produced locally (not London btw).

She’s very little so of course the classes will be age appropriate but don’t write it off.

Stagecoach at 4 years is about having fun, building confidence and learning the basics. It's not meant to be serious at that age. Once they move up to main stages it gets more in depth. Stagecoach is perfect for 4 years old. My DD is 7 and acts, she has 2 agents and has been in several productions plus a movie. She started age 4 in stagecoach. I think you're overthinking this. She needs to really enjoy it before you start putting her forwards for acting seriously.

Stagecoach are approached by productions for children this age for screen and stage. I’ve had children from my class miss school for such opportunities and they are always through stagecoach.

What I’ve also observed is unless dancing or singing is involved, generally the children are not “talented” or “trained” under about 8, they are children that listen well and follow instructions and are well regulated.

If she’s good and has a look thru want she’ll likely be signed up through her theatre classes if they have agents that come in. You don’t have to go to London, we’re not in London but our local classes all have agents who come and talent spot.

I would say though that classes for age 4 will be focusing on fun rather than anything serious, even when agents come.

There are actually very very few parts for children this young on stage and screen as they are too young to be reliable performers. If you look at CBeebies for example you'll see the vast majority of acting parts are for children aged 8+. It's really just advisable to keep it as a hobby until at least that age.

At 4 it will be entirely based on if they look right for the part as children that young can’t really act. If a 4 year old on tv is saying more than a couple of words they are almost certainly not being played by a 4 year old, but an older child who is small enough to pass for 4.
Stagecoach and the like get more serious at 6, and most child actors are between the ages of 8 and 13 ( after that they get too tall to play younger children, and young adults tend to get cast as teenagers as there’s fewer restrictions on how much they can work). I don’t know much more than this, as while my DD was interested she probably doesn’t have what it takes for what seems quite a brutal career.

Mostly friends/family of adults already in the industry, honestly.

Also they want older kids who look young. One of my kids has a growth condition that means they look 2-3 years younger than they are. Until their front teeth fell out I had a couple of neighbours who work in the industry suggest they would be sought after to play younger DC. Nothing to do with acting skills, just someone who can behave like a polite 7 year old but looks 4.

Agencies.
Looking the part- usually 'cute'
Natural confidence.
Parent already confident in the industry.
Living in the right place - usually London but sometimes other cities eg Birmingham, manchester where the productions are based

Not from dragging a 4 year old to London.

They are 10+ and have spent a few years training or they ai these

I work in the industry and everyone is correct that we avoid kids under 6 (or 9 even) wherever possible because they can’t shoot for as many hours as older kids and it’s a scheduling nightmare. Also for confidence/performance reasons. I’d let your daughter do it for fun and if there comes a point where she tells you she wants to do it more seriously, or someone from the classes suggests she’d be good at that, then you could pursue a more professional route. From experience there’s two types of child actor/families - pushy parents and miserable kids, and kids who genuinely adore it (but they’re usually a lot older). Being on set is very boring and very long. Kids are stuck in random holding rooms with chaperones or tutors and acting very briefly. And yes re agents - it’s normally connections sadly, but I’m sure there are other ways / cold email possibilities.

Pushy parents

Poor kid

Watch improv classes at stage school with young adults - they look like they are messing about. Many improv skills are built by playing games, but also young actors need to listen and take direction so there will be lots of that.

Your whole post raises alarm bells to me. You want her to do “something more serious”. You are asking where the “kids in films get selected from”. It’s pretty transparent what you’re pushing her towards (and what it is you are really after).

She is 4. Why does she need to do anything seriously? Maybe she really likes “her little class each week” (despite your obvious disdain for it), and even if she says she wants to do more, it’s your job as her parent to give her an actual childhood - so let her develop her passions, whilst also being a little kid.

No good comes from being a child star. Find one famous person who was first famous under the age of 10 who is a happy, well rounded person.