What Are the Benefits of Acting
Quite often, parents of younger children will apply to join Bubblegum Casting in the hopes that their child will land a few modelling jobs. It’s not until they are actually part of the agency that they consider acting as a possibility. And yes, you guessed right; it’s at this point that we’re usually asked the question — what are the benefits of acting? After all, it’s a pretty big step from modelling for catalogues to learning lines and acting in a scene.
Now, we’re not by any stretch of the imagination saying that modelling is easy, far from it! But parents who have been in the industry long enough to have helped their kids through modelling and acting assignments will know only too well that for some roles, there is a LOT more acting preparation involved.
Since we get asked this question a lot, we decided to outline the exact benefits of acting for children. And you might be a little surprised at some of them!
Acting boosts confidence
Despite the fact that children and teen actors often feel nervous before going on set, the fact is that acting actually makes them feel more confident. It’s a great way to bring shy children out of their shells and give them the confidence to speak up. We’ve noticed this in the past with kids at Bubblegum who were shy at first but then became a little more outgoing once they started acting.
It’s a super outlet for a child’s energy
Some kids are natural performers and love to be the centre of attention. They like to make people laugh and smile and are often full of energy. But sometimes this can get them in trouble at school especially if they love to talk! Acting offers these natural performers the perfect stage to show off their talents. It provides them with an outlet for their boundless energy and something to really focus their attention and talents on.
Acting improves speech and pronunciation
No matter what acting role your child takes on, the director will want them to speak clearly and pronounce their words correctly especially if they’re acting with an accent. This will encourage your child to spend a little more time thinking about their speech so they can make sure that they can be understood when saying their lines. And this is really beneficial for your child’s public speaking skills — something that they will certainly appreciate in later life.
It’s a great memory workout!
As you can imagine, taking on any acting role means that your child will have to memorise some actions and quite possibly some lines. The various acting techniques you can use to do this can actually help your child or teen to improve their ability to memorise which is a really handy skill to have for school, right?
Acting teaches good habits
We’re not talking about washing your hands or saying please and thank you here. We’re actually talking about working habits like listening to and following instructions carefully. This is particularly noticeable when you see your child working on set and taking direction from the director or crew.
Perhaps one of the best acting career benefits for children and teens is that it encourages them to be responsible. Acting is fun but it’s also a serious business. Your child will learn that people on set are all relying on them to try their best at all times creating a sense of responsibility that is hard to find elsewhere in a child’s life.
It promotes teamwork
Acting is rarely a solo job. In fact, it’s entirely possible that the only time your child will act alone is during their auditions. Typically, they will work with at least one other actor if not more for any scene. They will learn to work together with their co stars (sounds good!) to get the job done and deliver a performance that the director is happy with. Not only that but a child actor will also learn to work closely with everyone else on the set from the cameraperson to the makeup artist.
Acting teaches a child about emotions
Acting with emotion is one of the toughest things to master in this industry, but if your child is going to be a successful actor then that’s what they must do. No matter what role they take on, the director will certainly ask them to use a particular emotion. They might need to act sad or happy, excited or frustrated. And to do this correctly they’ll need to understand exactly what those emotions mean.
This is a superb benefit as it teaches a child or teen to talk about their own experiences and emotions. And as we all know only too well, being able to speak openly about your feelings is something that is wonderful for our mental health.
As you can see, some of the benefits of acting for kids and teens are truly incredible. Boosting confidence, improved speaking and memory skills — what more could you ask for? A word or warning though; children and teens really need to want to be involved in acting before they take it up. There’s a lot of hard work and preparation involved and it’s not a job where they can just show up and wing it.
So if you’re really sure that your child has an interest in acting, you can feel free to apply to join us here at Bubblegum Casting. You could even check out our online acting school Bubblegum Academy where we have both live and recorded acting classes to suit all ages and levels of skill.
