Expert: Kenneth D. Plonkey - 4/26/2009

Question
QUESTION: hi my name is Derrick torres, i am 15 years old, january 6, 1994, and its ALWAYSE been my dream to become an actor, mostly on disney though, and i have some questions..
1.)I live in San angelo, Texas and if i were to get a agent in Dallas, am i still able to get on Disney?
2.)how much per month will it cost my parents for my dream job? like for gas, hotel (la quinta), all that.
3.)i do not have enough money for sessions in acting camps, so the only experience and training i will have is from school, is that ok for my resume?
pleaseeee help me and answer my questions, also leave me some tips ok, thank you
sencerly: Derrick Torres

ANSWER: Hi Derrick, I will tell you what I can about your situation and your dream.  Isn't San Angelo closer to Austin or San Antonio than Dallas?
But even so, you have to live within an hour or two's drive time to your agent, otherwise you cannot get to auditions without great expense that is not worth it on so iffy a thing as an audition. It is unlikely that an agent in Texas is going to get you on Disney, because most Disney auditions are in LA. 2. no one could possibly estimate the monthly cost of trying to get you a part on TV. You could go an entire year and not get an audition. Acting is very unstable work and it is even worse for teens. 3, If you cannot effort acting camp or professional classes,not only cannot you afford the costs for your second questions, you cannot get very far as an actor. But your high school plays are indeed a good start for a resume. If you want to start preparing for being an actor as an adult, write me at kencosp@aol.com and tell me all about your acting background and I can give you more advice. Your being a teen actor is quite impossible given your situation and location. Best wishes and God bless, Doc

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: how can you say that? its like crushing my dream!!!
and also Debby Ryan (from the suit life on deck)and Demi Lovato (from camp rock, sonny with a chance, princess protection program) started in Dallas, and had a agent in Dallas and now they are in California working on Disney right now, so do you think you can find demi lovatos and debby ryans agency and agents in Dallas?
please don't  hurt me, and i meant like what all will my parents be spending on for me, my father is rich but he had a baby barley, and my mom doesn't have much money, so i cant get classes, only school.

ANSWER: Derrick, you did not have the facts about being a teen actor, that is what gives you your 'dream.'  If you did have the facts, these and others, such as making films and tv shows is often quite boring as you sit around for hours waiting for the production crew to be ready for you and then you have to do the same scene over and over and over again, perhaps you would have a more realistic approach to becoming an actor. They "started" in Dallas could mean many things, that they had been in theatre and classes for years in Dallas or that they moved there after having a long background. I am sure that demi and debby have agents in LA now. Did they get cast in one of their shows while they were still in Dallas or did they go to LA after being in Dallas and then get cast?  You just have to live near or where the action is as I say in my first sentence above. The huge expense of going long distances for auditions is just impractical.  And you sound like money is a problem in your first question. IF it is -- that problem has to be overcome to continue. Finally, the way people become teen actors is that their parents make it happen for them, the parents find them performance opportunities, give them professional lessons and classes,and find then an agent, then keep making contacts on behalf of their kids to get them jobs.  Now, if your parents cannot or will not do that, it is the end of your dream. Because parents have to sign for everything their kids do professionally.  You cannot sign a contract until you are 18. Finally, you are one of a million teens in this country with the same dream, based on a lack of information about how one becomes an actor and what the chances are of becoming an actor.  Young people like yourself often say, "I know the chances are slim."  But what they are thinking is " I am special and I will make it."  Well if you were truly special and your parents were truly supporting you, you might make it, but otherwise, I am sorry, it will not happen. Those are the facts you did not have when you began to dream. God bless, Doc


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well my parents DO support me, but the thing is i barly like in december, i finnaly told them that i wanted to become an actor, especially on disney, and they said they will try thier best and support me.
i just need to find out information about it and well see what happens.

Answer
I don't mean moral support. I mean making it happen. They are humoring you, not working for your career. That is the difference. They would find out all the information and work on it themselves if they wanted you to have it to the extent that it takes, and not tell you "we'll see" which is parentese for "probably not." I have already told you what they need to do. Did you tell them that?