The most common misconception parents hold is that being a child actor is easy and everybody can do it. It’s a job. It usually starts as a hobby, but if the child shows potential, they have to make sacrifices. There may be no time for sports teams and music classes, and the child may spend summers working long hours on a set instead of splashing in a lake at the cottage. What’s more, it can easily take a year or more of audition cattle calls before anything happens – if it ever does. And if a child’s career does take off, parents will have to make sacrifices too, from leisure time to potentially, their jobs. While every parent thinks they have the cutest, most talented child, to make it kids need strong, outgoing personalities. It may sound harsh, but blond, blue-eyed six-year-olds are a dime a dozen; it’s the children with unusual looks or skills, such as a tiny tot who can read, who get work. I suggest parents approach show business the way they would a new sport: try it out and see if the kids enjoy it.
“Ask them, ‘Do you want to go to the soccer game or do you want to audition for the McDonald’s commercial?’ If the kid says soccer, the answer should be soccer.”
Child actors rarely get rich – while they won’t have to worry about paying for their post-secondary education, their lifestyle dont change much.

REALITY CHECK
Most important, you should ask kids regularly whether they want to stick with it. “Make sure you stay in the business because your kid likes it, not because you like it.There are people who are super-talented as kids, but what if they don’t go on to the NHL? All we can do as parents is help him develop his self-esteem in different ways.”