Expert: Phil Nemy - 8/25/2009

Question
Hello, my name is Alex. I am a 13 year old girl, but I turn 14 in a few days. I have wanted to be an actress since i was 4 and i begged my mom to put me on Barney. I just dont know what to do about it. I'm from Baltimore, MD and there isn't much oppurtunity here. I would love to go to acting classes and do anythying possible to make my dream come true. However, my family doesn't have the money to help me do this. I have little experience in acting. I have taken middle school and elementary school theatre arts classes (and soon to be highschool drama classes)and i've only done middle school plays. I would be willing to do any sort of acting job possible that is offered to me. I would like to be in movies (any genre) or act in a series on disney or theN and things like that. I have patients to wait but I want to do some form of acting before im 16. This is the only career i would want to spend my life doing. I know that I'm no Julia Roberts, but my drama teacher told me that i'm fairly good, and i believe that i could be great. I can handle whatever people might throw at me. Can you give me some advice as to how to reach this goal under my circumstances?

Answer
Alexandrea,

Thanks for writing. You're correct when you say that there are probably not as many opportunities to pursue an acting career in film or TV in the Baltimore area. There is, however, some excellent professional theater. You might contact some of them and see if they offer classes in acting - you'd be learning from some of the better theater actors in the country.

If you want to be an actor in Hollywood, you need the following:

1) the best acting training you can obtain
2) a terrific headshot
3) a good resume
4) a terrific talent agent
5) move to Los Angeles (95% of all auditions for film & TV in the USA are held in LA)
6) lots and lots of luck!

Once you have these things, your own your way to pursuing an acting career.

Good luck!

Phil