Are you living in a world with a lot of eye rolling? How about door slamming? Foot stomping and storming out of the room? How about excessive moaning and complaining about everything? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you may be the parent of a teenager. In case your life isn’t interesting enough, I am going to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly reality of when your “baby” actor turns into a teen actor.
For some teens, priorities change. Hanging out with friends may be preferable to another long car ride to an audition. Sports and after-school activities become more important. A child may want to experiment with their look. Your daughter with long dark hair may want to chop it into a pixie cut or dye it pink. While I personally think a pink pixie cut rocks, it usually it not a look conducive with booking jobs. At this age the sacrifices become greater and the choices become sharper.
Your child may find that it gets harder to book jobs. You can’t get by on just cuteness alone anymore, you have to work harder. Your level of preparation has to be greater. There will typically be more lines to memorize and a greater range of emotions will be expected. Your child’s passion and commitment level will become apparent during this time. Do they want to put in the work—study classes, improv classes, and character study classes—while at the same time having greater responsibility at school: a harder work load, more tests, eventually the SATS and the PSATS? We lose a fair amount of clients during this time because it becomes too hard, because as kids get older they are exposed to more opportunities to explore new activities. Acting does get more challenging as the kids become more aware of the competition and more is asked of them as actors. Be prepared for if/when your child tells you that they don’t want to do it anymore. Please be supportive. I have had parents get really angry with their children and freak out about the financial investment that they have made and the time sacrifices they have put in.
For you as a parent, you and your child will find more and more roles that may contain stronger language, references to more real life situations involving drugs, violence, horror, sex, and adult themes. As a family you need to figure out what you are comfortable with and be prepared as these roles pop up more and more.
Each age has its challenges, but it is particularly hard for the 15–17-age group. It is very common for adults to play teen roles. Production companies would much rather hire an 18-year-old to play 15–17 years old. There are a bevy of reasons that it is more cost effective to hire a legal 18 than it is to hire someone under 18: They can work longer hours. They do not require a parent or custodian on set, and they do not have to have the expense of a tutor. They do not have to put aside three hours a day for school. There is a way around that and that is by having your child become “legally 18” without them being chronologically 18. That’s a whole different article that I will address in the future.
As a parent, you know your child like no other. Listen to them. If you know they have the passion for this industry, be patient and encouraging. If your child truly has the love for acting, they will weather the rough times. If you hit a rough patch, you might want to keep them connected and engaged by going to local theater and community performances or actor workshops.
Change is inevitable with our children, so too is it with their acting careers. Yes, change and increasing maturity require you to be more aware with all things going on with your children. At the same time there are many good things involved as your child moves from kid roles to teen roles: The roles become juicier requiring greater depth and skill for your child as an actor. Your child will less likely be a “prop” (where a kid walks through the kitchen and picks up a lunch box and says goodbye as they walk out the door). If your child continues to invest themselves in this career as a teen actor this can be an extraordinary time. As a parent you will marvel at how truly good and capable an actor they are.
Being an actor is a very special talent—how exciting for all of us to witness and participate in it!
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