Question: I want to be an actress so bad its my life long dream! but my mom doesn't want me to. Can you help?

ANSWER:

If you were an adult and a young person came up to you and asked you to do something against her parents' will, would you help them do it?

What would happen if your mother found out you had an agent and were going to auditions and getting acting jobs...every now and then?

If you really want to act, you will definitely get your parents on board. If you are young and still at home, you will need them. They can protect you from the hyenas and give you guidance.

I wrote two articles about how to convince your parents on my website for aspiring and new actors. They are about the approach as well as how to structure the communication.

Basically and with regard to the approach, you need to know more than she does about acting and acting careers. If she knows just as much as you do about the industry, what actors do, the value of taking classes, how to get an agent, what agents can do and how they work, then it will be difficult to convince her. You will have a much greater CHANCE if you know more than she does and even then you still might not convince her, but at least YOU WILL KNOW MORE than you know now about what it is you say you want to do.

Also, if I ask you, "Why is it that your mother doesn't want you to be an actress?" Do you know the answer?
If you want to convince someone of something, you have to know what it is REALLY that they don't believe in and not what you THINK it is that they don't believe in.

Then, with regard to the structure, you should know that persuasive communication has a structure to it. My personal favorite structure of persuasive communication has 7 steps to it, BUT it will only work if you go through the first step, because you will need ALL that information to make your communication more effective. This answer is getting too long or I would take you through the 7 steps. You can also go to the site and look it up. Here's the structure layed out in detail.

The last thing is, "Are you ready to get an agent?
Where have you been studying acting?
Do you know what agents look for in an actress?
Do you know what to expect when an agent calls you in?
How many monologues do you have?
What's your type? (And I'm not talking about guys either.)
What would you say to an agent if you found one?
What do you have to offer to the world of acting that is unique?

And that's what I like about this technique if you will, to helping kids convince their parents that they want to become actors. It forces them to meet with their parents on the subject face to face and talk about it and it forces them to learn a lot FIRST about what it's going to mean to be an actor.

Let's say your mother agreed to let you start acting, but only if you show her that you are really serious and mature about it.
How would you demonstrate that to her? What kinds of things would you do to show her that you are working hard every single day? Be specific when you think about the answers to those questions.

Think about it. If you are really serious, you're in for a lot of hard work. If you do work hard though, the rewards can be great. Not necessarily stardom, but rather doing something that you really love. Have a look at this page on my site. You might find it useful: http://www.actingcareerstartup.com/how_to_get_an_agent.html .

Good luck!

Tony