Expert: Peter Messaline - 9/14/2007

Question
Hey I'm Gia. I'm young, 13 years old without much experience but I really want to get into Modeling and Acting. My dad actually was in photography so if he needed to he could take some headshots.I don't live in LA or NY so I know its more difficult..  I live in Houston Texas and i cant spend tons of money on it. How do I get started? Any ideas?

Answer
Unfortunately, there is little opportunity for girls your age. Unless you look VERY young, a production will prefer to go with some eighteen who looks thirteen. This is partly experience, and partly the strict rules governing minors as actors.
Your best bet now is to get all the acting you can, and Houston is not a bad place for that.
Look at this website for the gossip around town:
http://www.theatreport.com/
The Alley has an acting studio, which I find expenseive, but it's a great theatre:
Alley Theatre Young Performers Studio
Here are some points about choosing an acting teacher (by an acting teacher!)

http://www.kimtobinactingstudio.com/faqs.html

Beware of agencies, model and talent, who offer classes, or who charge large sums of money to sign up or have their photographer work on you. there are plenty of scams out there, and also small struggling agencies who are basically honest but really need to pay the rent. Legitimate agencies get their money from commissions on the work their artists do. And there's not a lot around Houston that they are involved in.
If you go through your teen years volunteering for student film, working in community theatre, volunteering for anything to do with film or theatre, then you'll be in good shape to get into college. most young professional actors have a degree or certificate. The competition is so terrific that you need everything you can to make you look good. It's not easy even to get into a decent acting school. Find out al you can, read everything about being an actor (not star biographies, -- they're written by the star's publicity people) Ask your librarian for acting career books (around Dewey Decimal 790)
And as you start on the long road to success, remember to enjoy the trip!