Expert: John T. Aney - 2/27/2008

Question
Hello,

 I am 16 years old. I am having much trouble in high school. I have no family. My mother and father do not work. My father is located in PA. I am located in the Bronx. I have been threw hell and back, difficult times, and dramatical experiences. I cannot trust anyone, I am sad most of my time but the only thing that runs threw my blood when I am walking solo is the feeling and desire to become an actress. I want to convey these tangles up emotions into scenes and films. I want to show the world that I am not a nobody just because I have nothing. I record myself acting,I get my websites revolving about acting on google,yahoo,windows live, I rewind movies from the library and study each actors emotion, I watch behind the scenes and on set documents to learn as much as I can. I go to a regular high school in the Bronx, but I have absolutely no body to guide me. I have no help, my counselor does not give me much advice and I feel like a sinking ship and like I have nothing to offer but my acting passion. I want to be known - I am a misunderstood person and in acting you are not yourself so I don't need to give people the time to understand me but to understand my emotions that I am delivering for the plot. I go into casting calls from acting websites and have landed in a short film. One thing I want to know is, is it possible for me to live my dream of becoming a well known respected actress? What does it take to become a professional actor besides years of training and being able to except rejection? I need to know if I stand a chance in this tough industry. I wake up seeing my face on that TV screen that sometimes I feel time is running out for me, I should already be on television expressing what others need because I want to feel needed and the retaking of scenes makes me feel happy I am spending my time on set with people who love helping others. How can I truly start my career? Thank you so much for reading.

-Antoinette Acosta

Answer
Antoinette,

I feel that I must suggest that you not only speak to your counselor about your acting dreams, but also about your feelings of failure, lack of trust, and trouble in school.

Regarding your acting dreams, you need to decide what it is you want out of acting.  If you are looking for acting to be a way of becoming respected, of being listened to, of being understood, then I am afraid you should think again.  Acting is a form of self-expression, to be sure, but the acting profession is very difficult, and you will be hurt many more times than you will feel loved.

If you truly want to pursue acting, then my advice to you would be to forget about the movies. You mentioned watching scenes from movies over and over, studying actors emotion, etc.  If you do that, you are only duplicating what others are doing.  You need to find a way to do it your own way.

You live in the Bronx - I suggest you sign up for some acting classes locally to work on your craft (try http://acting.meetup.com/cities/us/ny/bronx/?offset=100&sort=rel).

Time is NOT running out for you - you are only 16!  You have your whole life to learn to become an actor.  Everyone stands a chance in the industry, but you have to work hard, and study hard.  Finish high school, no matter what you do.  If that means putting your dreams on hold until you graduate, then you should do that.  You will always need something to fall back on when you are between acting jobs, and that will be very difficult to do if you don't have a high school diploma.

Learn to type.  Seriously.  That is the one thing that I did in high school that was the most beneficial to me.  I learned how to type, then I was able to get secretarial jobs when I got out of college to pay the rent while I was doing theatre.

Finally, Antoinette, be an actor because you love acting.  Not because you want to see yourself on the TV screen, or in the movies.  Take your acting classes and doing stage acting before even considering anything else.  Learn your craft on the stage, and then later you can adapt that to work in film or TV.  The world is full of actors who just wanted to work on TV or film and have failed and are miserable.  Actors who learned stage acting ended up much happier in the long run.

But first, make another appointment with your school counselor and talk about your feelings of failure.  You might be depressed - and they should help you.  If they don't help you, find an adult who will.  Ask at a local theatre if you can get involved, volunteering backstage, anything to work in the theatre.

Good luck!

jta