How To Become An Actor At 13 - City Headshots

How to Become an Actor at 13 (in 2024)

1/10/2024

​​How to Become an Actor at 13

1. ​Create a profile on 2-3 casting websites. Start by visiting the three main casting websites (if you're not based in the USA, these sites might be different) – Actor's Access, Backstage, and Casting Networks. Create a profile and make sure it's up to date by including some photos of yourself and any credits or training you have. If you have nothing yet, don't worry! Some casting sites charge a fee, so you might need to discuss joining them with your parents if you don't have money (we'll discuss how to get your parents on board soon).
2. Create your three basic marketing materials. The three main things you'll need as an actor are a headshot (if you can afford it I recommend hiring a professional headshot photographer, but if can't, any un-retouched photo of yourself that shows your face clearly will do), a professionally formatted acting resume (it's OK if you don't have credits or training yet), and footage of yourself performing (just use a smartphone to record yourself doing 2-3 monologues). Upload all three of these onto the casting profiles you created in Step 1.
3. Submit yourself for lots of projects. Try to submit yourself to at least 5-10 projects every week (make sure to follow the submissions instructions attached to each project). As a 13 year old just starting out, you should wind up getting at least 1-2 audition or self-tape invitations each week.
4. Some of those auditions will result in bookings. You can expect to book 1 out of every 5-10 auditions you get (as long as your acting technique is good and you're decent at natural acting).

​​How to Get Your Parents on Board

• "Kids are naturally talented and creative." Talent and creativity are very important for actors, and a vivid imagination almost always results in great acting, which casting directors love.
• "Kids have less inhibitions." Most kids are less worried about what people think, meaning they don't let their emotions and fears get in the way of their performance. That means you'll probably be better at auditioning than many adults!
• "It's WAY easier for kids to build a career in acting." There are fewer kids performing than adults, and since most parents think their kids need years of training before being able to audition for real projects, you'll have a much higher shot of booking the role (since you're one of the few actors who knows you don't need to spend years training first).

• Explain how passionate you are about acting. Why do you love it so much? How would you feel if you were unable to do it? Remember – acting is about more than fame, so if that's all you want, you're unlikely to convince your parents. Focus on what you love most about being on stage and why you find acting to be so fun.
• Explain that you'll keep up with your other responsibilities. Will you be able to keep up with your household chores and schoolwork? Why are you so sure, and can you prove it? You might want to ask your parents for a trial run, where they let you try acting for a period of time, such as a month or two, and you show them you're able to keep up with everything.
• Buy (or rent from the library) some books on acting. If you read books like these in your free time (instead of playing video games or hanging out with friends), your parents will see how serious you are about acting and might be more inclined to let you try it out. I recommend checking out my book Get Cast if you're looking for a good, easy read to start out.
  • Related: Books for Actors: 9 MUST READS
• Get a work permit (but only after you've done some free acting work). Anyone under the age of 18 is generally required to have a special work permit to get paid acting jobs, so your parents might need to help you get one. That said, you won't need a work permit for unpaid projects, so you can start by submitting to unpaid student films and other small productions to get experience (you can find student films using the acting websites we discussed earlier).

​​Some Things to Keep in Mind

• Take 1-2 acting classes a week to further your training, but don't do more than that. Classes are great because they can help you improve your technique and learn how to deal with challenging situations that might arise in your acting career, but spending too much time in classes and too little time actually finding acting jobs and performing in real productions will cause you to get stuck. Spend about half your time in classes/workshops and the other half submitting to real auditions.
  • Related: How Much are Acting Classes on Average?
• Joining a local theater is a great way to meet people and get experience. You can find community theaters by Googling or asking friends in acting classes. You'll learn how the industry works, make new connections, and get familiar with the process of stage and screen acting in these small groups.
• ​Take every rejection as a "close, but not perfect yet!" Don't get discouraged when you get rejected at an audition – it happens all the time! In fact, even the best of the best actors only book 1 out of every 4-5 auditions they go to – and that's the best of the best! Use rejection as an opportunity to find one small thing to improve each time, and if you keep improving, eventually you'll start getting lots more acting work!
• ​You gotta be good to get anywhere. Remember – casting directors are smart. If you're not a great actor and your acting looks fake, you'll NEVER book the role, no matter how many auditions you go to. That's why having a good understanding of natural acting is so important. Record yourself on camera and play it back, taking note of anything that looks phony. Be strict with yourself because if you're not, you're only hurting your own career in the long run!
• Make sure to have at least two monologues prepared. Oftentimes, when you go to auditions, in addition to performing the sides, you'll also be asked to perform a monologue. I recommend reading this guide to learn how to find a good monologue: How to Find the Right Monologue for You.

​Getting an Agent Should Be Your 6-Month Goal

​​Don't Waste Your Time on These Things:

• A Website: As a kid actor just starting out, a website is way too much. In your first 1-2 years, I recommend sticking to the basics of submitting yourself and looking for an agent. Don't worry about a website until you have at least 5 paid acting credits on your resume.
• A Personal Brand: Figuring out your brand and aesthetic is difficult when you're first starting. It's better to first find out your Type and then just start submitting. Focus your time and attention on getting more auditions and booking them, and only work to figure out your personal brand once you've got at least 3 credits on your resume, which is probably going be about 3-5 months from now (if you have no experience yet).
• A YouTube Presence and/or Creating Your Own Productions: Although it's helpful to have videos you've created online to demonstrate your acting ability, most casting directors and agents are too busy to spend their time looking through your YouTube profile and watching your short films/plays. For that reason, unless you absolutely love making your own videos, you can generally ignore advice that tells you to create your own productions and try to build a YouTube presence.

​How Can I Become an Actor at 13 With No Experience?

​Enjoyed this article? ​ Book more work by thinking "Outside the Industry." ​

• How to network easily and authentically with casting directors – even if you hate self-promotion.
• How to find your Type and Brand in just 18 minutes (it doesn't require awkwardly asking lots of random people for feedback)
• How to find a hardworking and reliable agent – even if you don't have a strong resume or reel
• And much more...

​​​​​Martin Bentsen (author of this guide) is an actor marketing coach who uses “outside the industry” thinking to help actors book more work. He’s helped over 6,000 actors with their careers and actor headshots since 2009 and his photography studio City Headshots is ranked #1 on Yelp. He’s spoken at NYU, The New England Theater Conference, The Actor’s Green Room, and other venues. ​ Want to book more acting work by thinking different? Start with his free Actor’s Toolkit to create new opportunities right away, or visit his website at www.martinbentsen.com.

Some Additional Q&A

Is Netflix Looking for Kid Actors?

How Do I Start My Child in Acting?

​​​Further Reading:

• How to Become an Actor at 13 on Netflix​
• I Want to Become an Actor... Where do I Start?
• How to Become a Child Actor with No Experience?
• Acting Resume for Beginners
• How to Become a Voice Actor​​
• How to Become an Anime Voice Actor