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Teenage daughter and acting career

21 replies

cupoftea2003 · 07/01/2020 14:38

Hi everyone,

My daughter wants to pursue acting as a career. She has even said she may want to skip university and apply straight to drama schools. She says if necessary she can do a law conversion course later in life if the acting career doesn’t take off. My daughter’s school however is saying that she should be aiming for universities like oxbridge and Harvard. I think she is too intelligent to pursue acting (by this I mean she won’t have a mentally stimulating sustainable job in between acting jobs) and definitely too intelligent to skip uni. I want her to at least take a degree first but she says she won’t be able to get the parts she wants in teen dramas and other shows because she will be around 24- 25 at that point and she wants to act when she’s “young and pretty“. I never want to hold her back but I want her to be safe, what are your opinions?

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Mrsjayy · 07/01/2020 14:51

What will she do when she is old and ugly Hmm

HollowTalk · 07/01/2020 14:56

Young and pretty? What exactly does she think acting involves?

If she's thinking like that then she's probably not Oxbridge or Harvard material, OP. Tell her to do some research into actors' backgrounds.

squeaver · 07/01/2020 14:59

If she's clever enough for Oxbridge, she should go to Cambridge and join the Footlights.

She needs to do some research into drama schools too. It's not easy to get in straight from school.

Of course, all young, pretty actresses are full employed all the time....

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LilQueenie · 07/01/2020 15:04

she could do an acting course but she will be expected to have in interest in theatre and have some experience of acting possible. Things like an amateur dramatics club. She could also apply to be an extra as this will all help. Acting also includes stage makeup, dance and a lot of theory and writing amongst other stuff. She will also have to audition to get into even college acting classes.

LilQueenie · 07/01/2020 15:05

Drama schools usually take on kids and teens. Its a bit late for those I think.

ECMOR · 07/01/2020 15:08

LilQueenie I think the OP means drama schools such as RADA, LAMDA etc rather than stagecoach...

If that's what you mean OP then she can get a degree there, but an acting/stage acting degree or something similar.

LIZS · 07/01/2020 15:10

The big drama schools like RADA often prefer more mature students with some experience. She could easily do a degree and apply to one afterwards. We know several who have been refused until early 20s and even then take a foundation year. She may be lucky and get accepted onto a course at 18 but it is not the be all and end all. She could apply to uni and audition for drama school as they are separate processes.

FramingDevice · 07/01/2020 15:15

She is quite likely to have to take several cracks at auditioning for the big drama schools, so she should definitely have other plans.If she’s genuinely Oxbridge material, surely it’s obvious to her how many people get their starts through OUDS, Footlights and all the rest of the student drama scene there?

JessJonesJumps · 07/01/2020 15:16

If she's an age to be considering university then I'd expect her to have already taken serious steps towards an acting career. What does her current acting/drama school suggest? I assume that she has one and has an agent, etc.

Most young-looking 24 and 25-year-olds play teenagers anyway ime (I have a relative who is an actor - they attended a weekend acting school all through high school, studied acting at university, and landed their first role in a TV series within months of graduating but they were both lucky and hard working. Their experience isn't usual).

Whatdayisit2 · 07/01/2020 15:16

Big mistake, go to uni and get a normal job fit when you're old and ugly !

Mrsjayy · 07/01/2020 15:19

You can get get acting and drama degreesbut places like Rada are hard to get into. Sounds like the girl wants to be on Hollyoaks which is fair enough but a lot of those kids will come from stage schools.

unbaffled · 07/01/2020 15:51

If she goes somewhere like RADA or the Bristol Old Vic theatre school, she won't be skipping university. They are degree courses in their own right.

How old is she, and what experience in the performing arts does she have so far?

PhoenixMama · 08/01/2020 09:02

I work in the industry & I can tell her that a huge number of drama schools don't take straight from school and most people audition multiple (2-4!) Times before they get in. That's 2-4 years that she could have gotten a degree in. She actually has a better chance getting in with a bit of life experience & a degree. Also as PP have said going to Cambridge & joining footlights would set her up incredibly well for the industry & drama schools. My dd wants to do drama school but I've always said, uni & degree first & then she can go for it. A lot of the people in teen shows are in their 20s & if she's not working in film & TV it usually takes a few years to get going. There's nothing stopping her from going to uni & auditioning for shows alongside.

eestokes · 08/01/2020 09:52

Honestly auditioning at a drama school and applying for university and picking there is the best option. Whether she applies for a drama ba at university is important as they're very different to drama school bas and less likely to score an agent. Acting is an incredibly mentally stimulating job, you're constantly considering not only embodying and speaking as an entirely different person but how the audience sees you are you lit what to bring onstage the next costume stage learning pages of text etc. I mean just look at Shakespeare lol. Everyone I know who wants to persue acting and has parents stopping them is very unhappy and if I was a good university I wouldn't want to take someone who'd rather be somewhere else.

MaryleboneSt · 08/01/2020 10:26

Hi OP. I teach BA and MA Acting at two conservatoire drama schools in London that have been mentioned here. You don't say how old your daughter is. It does sound as though she has not done enough research into this, but if she's only 13 or so it would make sense. If she's nearer her A Levels then I think she needs to undertake this research properly. She is somewhat misguided in her views re her age and naive about the work in 'teen dramas' - sorry to sound unkind. Firstly, an actor's casting is something that is largely determined by their natural looks, and their intrinsic acting 'persona' and will be used by agents to obtain work. It's not something you can 'choose'. I work with one actor who's been incredibly successful in tv and theatre and who has been cast as a young 'working class' teenager in a number of tv dramas and she's now 31. She just has that look. Casting age is often just about looks. Other actors come into their own as they get older and are castable as professionals, parents etc. She can't determine this herself. The work an actor gets offered is down to what the casting directors want and see, alongside the actor's reliability and professionalism.

On a broader note, as others have said, it often takes years to get offered a place at drama school, and the statistics about how many actors are still in work 10 years later are low, even at the top schools. Only 2% of actors make a living and 98% are out of work at any one time. Generally, actors' average earnings are under £10k a year.

If she has the talent / grades to make it to Cambridge, I'd very much recommend aiming for that, joining Footlights and getting involved in as many productions there as possible, including the Edinburgh Fringe shows. The success rates of Footlights actors are significant and the contacts and opportunities the privilege of an Oxbridge education affords can open more doors than an undergraduate degree at drama school. Plus an English degree from Cambridge will offer many opportunities to earn as a jobbing actor- one of my MA graduates did his BA Cambridge and now gets high paying tutoring in between acting jobs- from prestigious clients who will pay a lot for an Oxbridge graduate to tutor their child.

After gaining a degree from Cambridge, if acting is still the goal and she hasn't managed to gain representation through her exposure at Footlights, then a good Acting MA in a small cohort at somewhere like Drama Centre would suit, and would be quick (although intense) to complete and would almost certainly lead to an agent assuming she has the talent.

ElphiasDoge · 08/01/2020 10:40

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Footlights_members

This is quite the list! If she’s Oxbridge material surely this is the way to go! And if it doesn’t work out she’s still got a highly regarded degree.

LemonPrism · 08/01/2020 10:42
  1. who aims for Harvard? You'd be in half a mil debt.

  2. I have plenty of friends who went to uni at age 21-27. Let her TRY.

  3. if she isn't talented she is unlikely to get into drama school anyway. Try not to show how much you doubt her.

LemonPrism · 08/01/2020 10:43

Oh and acting's is mostly nepotism

lightlypoached · 08/01/2020 10:47

If she's got a passion for acting she can do a theatre / acting degree. Somewhere good like UAL or Bournemouth.

For The big schools like Rada etc it usually takes a couple of tries and most people who get in have some formal training already (like BRIT school or Italia Conti). You have to pay for all of the auditions and fees for these are higher than uni and don't qualify for student loans. There's a lot of prep and she'd need to be excellent as the competition is fierce.

If she's oxbridge material she can do that and acting - lots of contacts there which is s big boost to job chances as connections are vital to success.

Academic success isn't everything. If she really wants to follow her dreams. Why not ?

squeaver · 08/01/2020 10:51

OP - I would show your daughter the informed, expert response from @MaryleboneSt

Dancingdaughters · 08/01/2020 11:29

My daughter is an a grade student currently doing a levels but wants to apply to dance college to so musical theatre. We are behind d her all the way. They have years to do a job stuck behind a desk and will probably have to work until they are 80. I say let them go for it now so they don't regret it. It's a shirt lived career if they do get in!

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