The case for the actor who is too old to start (who is actually not too old to start)

When does acting start?

As the co-founder and moderator of what is probably the most active Discord server for professional actors, this question, in all of its glorious variations, has been asked so often that it has become a running joke among us staff members.

No kidding - every time I open Discord or Reddit, there it is: Another 17-year-old child asking if they are "too old". Or a 30-year-old asking if they're late.
















And you know what? I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. As someone who has seen those questions a million times over, we must remember that those baby actors are stepping into this industry for the first time. An industry that too often has been misrepresented and glorified, leaving the youngest and newest entrants in the dirt and the dark, not knowing how to climb that invisible ladder that is somewhere out there. They need that guidance. They need that help.

Because we all know the default answers. I can literally recite them. No, you're not too old. Go to drama school if you can afford it. Don't come here looking for fame and riches. Be prepared to face tons of rejection. Get out there and audition for anything and everything. Whatever you do, just keep training. Get a survival job so that you can pay for headshot costs. Regularly update your resume.

But here's what we always miss out on: That one-size-fits-all advice simply does not always work in the real world. I come from a country that has perhaps two or three BFA in Acting equivalents (Performance Making from NAFA, Acting and Musical Theatre from LASALLE, I got them all right?). And I count myself lucky. Some actors don't even have access to training. Some actors have no industry in their area at all.

Because when I started out in April last year, the world has just collapsed from a pandemic. The film and theatre industry had yet to adapt to the isolate stillness of total lockdowns and empty black boxes. I approached countless people for advice, from photographers who dabble in filmmaking to seasoned actresses. Each one of them gave me personalized and specific answers I wouldn't find anywhere else, certainly not in the sidebar of a subreddit.

And now, about one year on, I am now in a position to look at the young actors entering my Discord server and seeing my younger self in them. I've also been following a recent debate sparked by this post on Reddit:





As a few people mentioned in the comments:


I don't disagree. Those are perfectly valid opinions to have, especially after all this time we've spent practicing our craft, the answers are obvious to us. And yet I admit that one year ago, I was that 17-year-old. I asked countless people if I was too late to start. I felt deadly insecure about my lack of training. I worried about what people would say if they found out that I wanted to pursue this path.

The truth is that it has always been a battle of wills. We have learned to shut that self-doubt down (on most days, at least). We conditioned ourselves to treat a self-tape and a camera like its no big deal, we can sing and act and dance in front of total strangers because its what we're so used to doing. The young actor has yet to learn those skills.

Sometimes I feel surprised at where I am today. If I had told the girl one year ago that she would be pursuing a BA in Theatre Studies with a foundational acting class down and an upcoming advanced class to go, she'd probably say that I'm suffering from pandemic insanity. And everything I've managed to achieve so far was because of the people around me. The family members who saw acting as a worthwhile pursuit. The friends who listened as my singing progressed from insecure humming to an unrestrained belt. The teachers who guided me along and who introduced me to the tools of an actor. The strangers-turned-close-friends who assured me time and again that I wasn't too old to begin. I didn't do it alone.

And that is why I will never tell a serious baby actor that their questions are invalid. If five minutes of my time is all it takes to create a lightbulb moment for someone out there, then why shut them down? Just tell them. That's all it takes.