Well, this is a thinker.

[Elyra]

I am not sure what I think about this. My oldest son just came up to me and asked if I could please get him auditions to be in movies. Hmm. This is something he does have a talent for I think. He is quite dramatic and charismatic and has always loved pretending but he has never been in any kind of production before. I don't think this is a phase because he has been asking me for a couple years if he could ever be on TV or in movies. I always told him maybe one day if he wanted to. Hmm. I am not sure I am crazy about this, but I don't want to keep him from something he may be good at. We don't live in an area that would be very conducive to going to auditions, but I could make it happen if I really wanted to. Hmm.

So, if it were you, what would you think and do?

[BelgianSheepDog]

If it were my kid, I'd find a way to sign him up for acting classes (group, not private) and participate in community theater.

How old is he? I guess I should have asked that before answering.

[Elyra]

Sorry I didn't even mention that. He is 8 years old.

[BelgianSheepDog]

Yeah, I'd definitely just start out by letting him take some classes. There's probably something available from the local parks and rec department if you live in a medium to large city. Otherwise maybe community college noncredit classes.

I would go through that first rather than jumping right into auditions for movies. At 8 he doesn't really understand what kind of work is involved in acting as a profession, so better to start him slow and realistic than to jump in headfirst.

[NaomiLorelie]

Definately group classes and community theatre. That is so fun!Then just go from there.

[daniedb]

My first thought was also community theater, I think it's a great idea for summers and other breaks. If that's not satisfying enough for him, you can always explain that it's like a springboard, sort of like learning what's it really like to learn lines, have to rehearse and be on a schedule. Sounds fun, and you can always talk about the cache of Broadway, too - that those are the *really* talented actors, and that they all started small and most in community theatre.

[A&A]

Ask him if he really wants to spend eight hours or ten hours working just to get a 30-second commercial produced. (A movie would obviously be more work.) He'll have to miss a lot of school (unless you homeschool, of course), and will he be able to handle rejection when he inevitably gets cut from auditions sometimes?

Plus they will want professional pictures of him, which will mean upfront $ that you are shelling out. And keep in mind that you'll be sharing all of your son's physical info (age, weight, height, picture, etc.) with people who are strangers to you. (Directors, etc.) Hopefully nice strangers, but you never know.

[elmh23]

Is there a youth community theater group anywhere near you that you'd be willing to drive to? That is how I started out when I wanted to be on TV. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work and made me realize I really didn't want to be on TV anyways.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Read this.

Hollywood Elementary (NYT, login required)

And then enroll him in community theater.

[LynnS6]

Ditto community theater. My niece did community theater -- loved it, and got the 'bug' out of her system. She learned what hard work it was, and that it might be something that she wants to pursue later, but not now.

Check with your local high school too - sometimes they do musicals or other plays that require young children and they're hard to find!

[trmpetplaya]

Community theatre is so much fun! I definitely think you should start there I was in many productions from the age of 6 up through high school (ended up being in the orchestra all four years of high school after having acted in the earlier ones). The last one I was in was last year and I was still able to be lead trumpet even though it had been several years since my senior year musical which was the last one before that

love and peace.

[marybethorama]

Originally Posted by flyingspaghettimama

Read this.

"Hollywood Elementary"

And then enroll him in community theater.

I was going to post the same thing!

[Jessy1019]

I would let him persue it, personally. If he likes it, keep at it . . . if not, you stop.

I desperately wanted to do that from the time I was about four years old, and didn't stop wanting it until I was in college and wanted other things (namely to be a SAHM) more. I still have some resentment over the fact that my parents wouldn't help me at least try and see what came of it. I did community theater from 15 or so on, but it's not the same and IMO isn't going to really quench the desire to do more. It was also *very* difficult for younger kids to get cast in any kind of decent role (at least in our local groups), as most of the productions were geared toward adults.