Expert: Peter Messaline - 6/9/2008

Question
I just got down with an audition with John Robert Powers, are you familiar with
that company and the guy named David? Are they a good company or a rip off?
they wanted money right away but they also said they put many people on the
disney channel! They said i wasn't ready yet but really close so u got any hints on
how to get going in the acting business? Thanks

Answer
The simplest thing for you to do is enter "John Robert Powers" into a search engine. Google gave me ten pages: half of each was advertisements of the various JRP schools, and the other half was a series of stories about people being ripped off.

Save your money, do not believe that untrained and inexperienced people have a chance of appearing on the Disney Channel. The only people making any money from JRP are the people he hires to sell dreams to people like you.

If you want advice about being in the acting business, you will have to follow up with more information about where you are and what you are doing now.

I think that maybe you are confusing the life of an actor with the movie magazine version and the stories the films tell. In reality, most beginners, even with university training, never make a living out of being an actor. People routinely spend many years taking classes and trying to get auditions, while working a low-paying job that allows them time to do these things. They sleep on other people's couches and they get neither money nor artistic satisfaction. You don't have to be mad to be an actor, but it helps.