Devin Kelley is a working actor (her latest movie, the horror-thriller Chernobyl Diaries, was released on Memorial Day). But she still recalls the sting of not getting a role she wanted, in a community theater production, when she was in fourth grade. “I remember crawling under my bed, crying. My mom let me go for a while, then assured me there would be more acting opportunities ahead. Then we did something fun together to take my mind off it,” she says.
Kelley, who grew up in Eagan and now lives in Los Angeles, says the routine hasn’t changed much. “I still don’t get some roles I want, and while I don’t crawl under the bed anymore, my mom has her ‘it’s not the end of the world’ speech down pat.”
In Kelley’s estimation, her parents achieved a good balance between supporting their daughter’s dream and not pushing too hard. “They opened up the doors and let me choose which ones to walk through. My mom always said it’s the parents’ job to be behind the child, not in front, and they managed that very well.”
Achieving a perfect parental balance is the goal, of course, but things can get complicated when the glamour of show business enters a family’s life.
“Everybody thinks their baby is beautiful,” says one of the Twin Cities’ top show business agents, who asked not to be named in this article. (Her clients can be seen in Target and General Mills commercials, print ads, and even some feature films.) She is often contacted by parents who are convinced that their darling should be the one modeling new clothes in the next Target print ad; or that their tween could be a breakout star on Disney Channel. Her biggest advice to parents is to keep things professional to avoid jinxing a child’s career. “If I have 10 great candidates who have easy-to-work-with parents, and one child whose parent is difficult, who do you think will get recommended to the casting agent?”
“Hoping that your child might get to have fun on stage or in a commercial is a terrific goal,” says Beth Chaplin¸ actor and author of The Acting Biz/ A Career Guide to the Twin Cities, “but deciding that your child is going to earn enough to pay off your mortgage is a terrible idea.” She adds, “In the Twin Cities, acting work is sporadic even for adults, and for kids it’s even more so. If your child is lucky and lands some jobs, perhaps there will be enough to start a college fund, but that’s probably about it.”
One word:
Theater
Parents often wonder about the best way to prepare a child for a show business career, and the experts agree on a single word/ theater. “School plays, church shows, synagogue revues, whatever lets your child gain experience in front of an audience—that’s good,” Chaplin says. Kelley focused her youthful acting efforts with Minneapolis-based Youth Performance Company (YPC) and was part of their Young Artists’ Council. There are also a plethora of kid-focused theaters in the Twin Cities, however (see our “Kid- focused” sidebar for a list).
Jacie Knight, YPC’s founder and artistic director, remembers that Devin Kelley’s parents did a great job of vetting her organization, introducing themselves to her, and then letting their daughter make her own way with the group. She says that parents should, “First, make sure your child is in a safe, nurturing environment, and then get out of there. If you want to help, ask about volunteering or serving on the board, but don’t sit in on classes or rehearsals.”
But even kids who are thrilled at the idea of being in front of an audience can find the audition process daunting. Children’s Theatre Company has taken steps to change that experience from frightening to fun. “We are committed to making the audition experience here an absolutely joyous one,” says Peter Brosius, artistic director. He credits associate producer Nancy Galatowitsch, who handles youth casting. “She calls back every single child who auditions with us, even if we have 500 kids show up. She lets them know if they didn’t get a part, but mentions what they did well and encourages them to keep trying,” he says.
Once a child is a working actor, the parent also takes on another job, too. “If your child is cast in a production, it may mean hours in the car, an outlay of capital or arranging your schedule endlessly,” Brosius says, “but try to keep the larger perspective that arts experiences are so positive to a child’s overall development, no matter what career they pursue as an adult.”
Performing arts education
If your teenaged child has decided on acting as a career, it might be time to investigate a dedicated high school, such as Perpich Arts High School in Golden Valley or Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Arts (SPCPA). Brian Goranson is the artistic director for SPCPA, a charter school serving grades 9 through 12. His students enter at all levels of ability, from those who have appeared in shows at the Guthrie, to those who are just beginning to think about acting. “We tell our students that if you have a passion for acting, and can’t imagine not doing it, then stay committed and persevere and ultimately your life’s calling will find you.”
Still, there will always be more rejections than “you got the part!” phone calls. “Our rule of thumb,” Goranson says, “is that for every 10 theater auditions, you’ll get one role, and for every 20 commercial or print auditions, you should be getting about one job. The message is that most of the time, if you’re not getting cast, a director or casting agent is looking for something very specific, and that ‘something’ isn’t you.”
Goranson reminds parents that talent is a highly subjective commodity, and says that, as long as your child is having fun, keep at it. “If someone tells your kid they don’t have what it takes, let it go in one ear and out the other,” he counsels. “Just show an interest in your child’s interests, and be gentle in seeing where it leads.”
I still want to be an actor
Still, the one certainty in show business is that there will be disappointments. Kelley says her worst day as an actor occurred when her uncle, who worked in advertising, offered Kelley and her brother a chance to appear in a Mall of America commercial. “We were going to ride the roller coaster for free and be on TV,” she recalls, “and I thought, I LOVE being an actor.”
When they arrived at the shoot, however, five-year-old Devin was too short for the ride, and had to sit it out on a bench, watching her uncle and brother zip around on the coaster. “It was awful,” says Kelley. “I watched them ride by, time after time, and I thought, ‘I don’t care. I still want to be an actor.’”
