More Than A Stage: Empowering Self Esteem and Confidence in your Young Performer
In today’s Industry Pros Series, we are delighted to introduce you to Susan Godfrey. Susan’s daughter has been working in the industry for 17 years and has appeared on Nickelodeon, Hulu, and Amazon Prime!
And so it may begin similar to this:
Your timid fourth grade daughter comes home from school and she tells you she wants to try out for the school spring musical, Annie Jr. Immediately your home is filled with the lyrics and sounds of "Tomorrow" and “It’s A Hard Knock Life”. She is showing such enthusiasm, you notice her focus and memorization seem above average. But maybe it’s just the mom in you, pleased with her enthusiasm.
She eagerly starts learning the music and lyrics of Martin Charnin, “The sun’ll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there’ll be sun ….”. She doesn’t know it then, but she will soon meet Martin for a final callback on the Broadway National tour just a few years later.
Fast forward, one week! Casting is posted and she is cast as Annie’s understudy; meaning that if Annie gets sick, it's up to your timid nine-year old daughter to carry the musical. The school has a student body of 1300. Parental panic sets in and all hands are on deck to help her prepare for the role of Annie.
Of course, Annie does get sick and your daughter plays Annie once. Someone in the audience that night is affiliated with the union playhouse in your city and they contact you to request your daughter audition for their summer series. She will earn union credit and a small paycheck. She says “YES!”
And so it goes, in the span of a few weeks, you go from the parent of a timid fourth grader to the parent of an actress with the “it” factor, whatever that means. You naively enter a world of stage parents, egos, unions, paychecks and industry professionals.
What’s Next?
Many parents have called me over the last decade asking for advice on the next step for their budding performer like the one in my story. I always feel honored to share the experience we had with our own daughter. It brings me joy to hear the excitement in the parent’s voice and the untainted enthusiasm to help their child move forward.
My daughter was the little fourth grade girl in my story above and is now a senior in film at UCLA. She has been blessed to average over 150 auditions per year, callbacks, pinnings, producer sessions and chemistry reads. She has booked two series regular jobs on Nickelodeon. She has been a guest on countless episodes and even played opposite Jimmy Fallon. She recently won an award at Tribeca that landed her a current recurring role on an Emmy nominated Hulu series.
We have had to navigate her education and travel, which will be a challenge for anyone not living in California or New York. She has faced hundreds of “no’s” for each “yes”. We created a “NO” jar when her auditions became really plentiful. In the jar, she would write the project and part on a small piece of paper, fold it and submit it like a coin in a piggy bank. The theory was that as the “NO’s” got closer to the top, she was closer to a “YES”. In this industry, you must learn the perspective of the glass half full.
I share our story so that new parents to the industry can see that with the right motives, tools, and family support your child’s journey can be ultimately very rewarding from all aspects. The arts can provide a benefit at every level in your child’s education and social skills. Your village can help them attain their dreams.
The path to their success is not linear. There are many steps in the direction of becoming a professional actor. Your child’s education and age appropriate experiences will help them become more relatable actors, and people, in the future. Be careful to not deprive them of formative experiences due to entering into a professional world at a young age. Follow your instincts, utilize all of the professional tools and information available to you, no question is too dumb, and have fun with your child creating great bonding memories! Remember, it takes years of hard work to become an overnight success.
Sincerely,
Your Parent Advocate
Susan Godfrey
