Actor Crisis: Child Stars & Nepo Brats
I’m writing about actors this week, and the industry’s problem minting stars. Yesterday I outlined why this is an existential crisis. If you have any thoughts on the problem and how to fix it, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com.For the first half of Hollywood’s history, getting discovered by showbiz was merely a matter of getting yourself here, so the legend goes. Park yourself at Schwab’s soda counter and wait to be discovered. As the song went:
While the legend of Lana Turner’s leap to fame may not have been precisely how it played out IRL, it was more or less in the ballpark of truth. Here or there, the studio discovered a young person with a little charm, and before they knew it, they were thrust into a machine built for minting stars: taught to sing, dance, and act a little, given screen tests and then bit parts. If they caught fire, up the ladder they went. There is, needless to say, nothing like that today. The studios are not in the business of investing time and money in raw talent to see how they grow. Performers are expected to arrive at the studio gates fully formed, and then to sink or swim — generally sink — as whatever talent and luck they bring with them ordains.
The more modern myth about where stars come from is also long due for updating. The fable of coming to L.A., waiting tables, taking classes and dropping off your headshot at agencies is not completely dead, but it’s become much rarer than it was. If nothing else, the cost of living in Los Angeles has largely priced out the ranks of the struggling anythings. So looking at the state of the acting profession, the first question to ask is: Who makes it past the studio gates in the first place? Who gets those breaks? If the old myths are breaking down, then where are these people coming from? And what does that say about the state of the industry today? Looking at the question of who gets to break through, when you survey the field, one very large bucket predominates. From that come some major pluses and minuses. Start 'Em Young
Where did today’s stars come from? If you look at the names that dominate the trending results this year, they overwhelmingly have one thing in common: They started out working as children.
Let’s look at the big breakthrough names, the next generation of would-be stars. Timothée Chalamet made his TV bow on Law and Order at age 14 . . ... Subscribe to The Ankler. to unlock the rest.Become a paying subscriber of The Ankler. to get access to this post and other subscriber-only content. A subscription gets you:
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