My 2 year old wants to be a star haha

[dontcomeatme]

Okay I know everyone thinks their kids are great at everything, but my 2yo (26months), absolutely loves acting and it's all he does. Mimics scenes off the telly, copy people's reactions, and his newest is playing dead, but he is sooo dramatic, if we use a toy gun and shoot him, he flings himself backwards against the sofa and then stumbles falling to the floor holding his chest and then lies on the floor eyes closed 🤣 I don't know where he gets this natural flair from but it's amazing. I'm wondering how to encourage and further this? Do drama clubs start this young? Do I sign him up for some sort of casting site? Or do I just leave him be and let him have fun while he's so small. He is just a hoot and he genuinely loves it.
Some pictures for the giggles, he is doing his "brain freeze" impersonation. Him and his mama are being Hagrid and Harry Potter when they think Harry is dead 🙈 he is obviously iron man, and his very impressive crying face 🤣
I wish I could upload videos, he is like a mimic sometimes, and ridiculously dramatic at everything he does.

Or this is just totally normal for a 2yo, everyone does it, and I just think my DS is the best haha

[Photos now removed by MNHQ on OP's request]

My eldest was like this. From very young she wanted to perform. At 3 she asked to be in the Boden catalogue. She was lucky to be accepted with a great (legit, there are many scammers) modelling and talent agency. She also started PQA, ballet and learned piano. She's had some great opportunities, experience and jobs. It's definitely not too early to start if they are genuinely into performing.

@mustardrarebit he absolutely loves it. He's started making us act out scenes, I don't even think he knows what that means, but that's exactly what we do! He puts us in certain positions and then we have to copy the words he says. He genuinely loves it. Music, dancing, and acting. Your DD sounds like she had some great opportunities! I feel like I don't know where to start.
I'm struggling because we don't have FB and a lot of these clubs/activities are advertised there. I might set up a little dummy account so I can get all the info needed. He definitely needs drama and to learn an instrument at minimum. Everyone says I should get him into modelling but I'm a little hesitant, as you say a lot of scammers out there.
Is there any way of knowing if you're speaking to the genuine real deal? Any tips or tricks you picked up along the way with your DD? x

We've been really lucky to have such a wonderful agent to guide us. I joined a few FB groups to avoid the scammers. Parents of Child models is a good one. They have a featured post of all the scam agencies and the legit ones for north or south based work. It's definitely a very useful community because there is a fair bit to learn about child performance and the rules around it.
That said, it is great fun and they learn so much from the whole process of taping, casting, learning scripts etc. My daughter has had work with some great brands and that's great, but it isn't what she remembers about each job. She remembers the people she met, the advice people gave and fun times she had.

@mustardrarebit thank you that's really helpful. I'm going to create a FB account and join these groups try to get the ball rolling for him. He's now taken to dancing too, gallops around my house trying to point his toes 🥰 he's so full of energy he would love what your DD experienced! The parents of child models sounds really good thank you for that. He's forever strutting his stuff, he would have so much fun doing it for real. That's the most important thing for me, that he enjoys it and learns from it all, even if it's not what he wants to do forever x

At two, I would suggest seeing if you have a nearby Monkey Music. They go from teeny babies up till when they start school. It’s a franchise so of course some are better than others but their curriculum is very well developed to give kids a grounding in music as well as confidence when singing and preventing themselves, without it ever being an acting or theatre environment.

My dramatic child then started the youngest session at a local performing arts school aged 3 and just built and built on that. Started working professionally aged 8, just after lockdown. Might have been earlier without lockdown but honestly starting at 8 was intense enough.

I would warn against sharing photos like this when discussing child acting - there is a certain type of person who loves to hang out and try to save candid photos of the stars of tomorrow and it’s a creepy subculture. If you decide to go down the professional job route and want to apply to agents, they will have no interest in photos like this and will want you to dress child in solid coloured top and stand in front of a plain wall. Get even with their eyes and take one natural face, one smile (not too OTT) of just head and shoulders, and one full body shot. That’s all they will want to see - they basically take you at your word that they are dramatic at this age, and then if they have something in particular they want to see, they will ask you to tape a short video with that. If the first few places you approach turn you down, don’t be disheartened as they will just be looking for children who look different to the children they already have. It’s not personal or about talent really! There are lots of scams out there and they pass details between each other so be very careful to apply to reputable agencies only and run a mile from anywhere that suggest large fees, portfolios, or test shoots.

But I would also be very, very careful about choosing to work and make sure it fits your lifestyle because it is exceedingly, exceedingly rare to make a profit. (My child is one people would expect is making good money but I pay far more in training and coaches. Truth is the pay is less than you think for everything except leads in big budget feature films and top end brand TV adverts.) You would need to travel to London (possibly Manchester if you’re up north) often and at little notice and at your own cost. Children’s working hours are controlled but it is still a lot and they have to keep their commitments even if they are tired or ratty. I would be far more inclined to start with classes and have lots of fun and see if that energy sticks around! Music and drama are both immensely useful for development so you can’t go wrong with that as a wholesome activity with other kids.

@CatatonicLadybug thank you so much that is all immensely helpful! I only added the photo to show off, I am biased and think he's absolutely gorgeous obviously!
This has been really helpful actually, I never really thought about the travelling aspect of it. He is extremely travel sick so we try not to go very far at all!
I think I'll find some musical clubs for now like you suggest and just let him have fun with it all. His cousin is in a lovely drama group but they don't start till 4/5, might see how he gets on with the music one first. I would love for him to pursue whatever it is he wants, but random travelling and long journeys are off the table at the moment unfortunately, poor thing.
I agree that clubs like this can only be a good thing no matter what the outcome! He's a social butterfly he will love it. Thank you again 😊

Call me a bore but I would ask MN to remove the photos you have posted here.

@padronpepper can I ask why? I've posted photos of myself and family members on many a post?

He's a child. People are becoming more and more mindful of their children's privacy online.
Taking it a step further there are many weirdos online who take pleasure in taking children's photos from FB and Instagram and superimposing their faces on children who are being raped and abused.
Have a read of this and it may change your mind about what you are doing.
https://www.iwf.org.uk/about-us/why-we-exist/our-research/how-ai-is-being-abused-to-create-child-sexual-abuse-imagery/

We don't have FB or any social media for this reason. You're right it is a risk. I figured MN was relatively low risk. Especially since you can't "search" for images. So someone would have to sit and sift through threads to find some with images attached. That's a lot of effort for potentially no gain, whereas like you say, FB and Instagram are full of child images easier to access.
I will remove the post though, thank you

Try Jo jingles or similar for music.

@dontcomeatme My dc loved a tv series called Fun Song Factory at that age. Maybe try and find out if it is still available somewhere or other.