Attention Parents of Child Actors – Nobody Likes a Diva

Admit it, you have considered what your child’s life (and yours) will be like after some visible success in acting. After some big success, so-called stars can get too big for their own good. Even before reaching success, some people are tempted to be “helpful” in a manner that ends up appearing overbearing and demanding. Integrity and the quest for excellence are good things, but not when presented in the manner of a petulant child or bossy so-and-so.

In short, nobody likes a Diva.

Sure, if your child actor is making enough money for people, they will put up with a certain amount of Diva-ness. But, have a few poor performances, stop making money for the people kissing your butt, or worse, not making much money for anyone else including yourself…and the Diva act will get you nothing more than a bad reputation.

The newer you are on the scene, the smaller the part, the less leeway you have and the less likely you will get away with Diva behavior. There is a definite hierarchy on TV and film sets. The lower you are, the less input you have on anything more than whether you will take the job assuming one is offered to you.

Unless you are extremely lucky, on most jobs you will get in your first few years as an actor, you will be Supporting Cast (also sometimes Featured Extra) or Background Extra. Even if your child is hired as “Hero Child”, you may not be considered more than “Supporting Cast.”

On TV Commercial shoots, which are short (2-3 days at most, often 1 day or part of a day) you will be treated respectfully, but certainly not given much input to the production. To attempt to discuss your child’s motivation with the director or to question your child’s part or lines is presumptuous at best, un-earned Diva behavior at worst. Your child is expected to show up, on-time, know the lines (if there are any) and to wait quietly, patiently, and without complaint until called.

When called, you are expected to get your child to wardrobe and make-up, and on set on time. There, you sit quietly while your child actor must do their part, over and over and over again with exactly the same energy and movements until the director has all of the shots, angles necessary to cut down to 15 seconds of pure magic – in other words, a typical TV commercial.

On shoots for TV series and films, time may be tighter and tempers shorter as the stakes are even higher. Anything you as a parent or your child actor does to make that process more difficult is a problem.

Anything you do to act professionally will not be praised…it is expected. To get to the point where you have any right to express your input, your child actor needs a strong history of bringing in audiences.

It may be your child’s face on screen, but “talent” on a typical set is not considered much higher than the level of a trained chimpanzee. (O.K., that was maybe unnecessarily harsh, but it got your attention).

It doesn’t matter if you’re child actor has been on 2, 10 or even 100 shoots, unless you are a bona fide star, don’t try to pull rank on anyone if you expect to continue working. It is a very small industry. You can’t afford to gain the reputation of being a difficult parent of a difficult child, because there are too many actors just like your child waiting in line to gratefully step in.

We can’t say it often enough or with great enough emphasis…Nobody likes a Diva!