Could Your Kid Be a Star? ET Goes Inside An LA Acting School For Kids

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ETONLINE

Every parent may say at some point, "My kid could be famous!" But it's not that easy.

Your kid may be a natural extrovert, and be bursting with confidence. But you need time and money to develop that talent. Headshots cost anywhere between $200 to $1000 dollars. An agent gets 10 percent of your paycheck. And acting classes are about $275 a month.

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ET went to one of the most acclaimed schools in Hollywood, where they had some advice for parents of aspiring young actors.

"Don't expect it to happen by next Thursday," said David Gray, who (along with his wife Shanelle) runs Gray Studios, which helps prepare kids for Hollywood. "It is a marathon, not a sprint."

"We're churning out stars and a lot of working actors," said Shanelle.

Among their clients are Raevan Lee Hanan (Cloud Atlas), Kyle Silverstein (Blended), Logan Browning (Meet the Browns) and Eric Lopez (Faking It).

Interestingly, Shanelle is the older sister to Modern Family star Ariel Winter, who now trains at Gray Studios to help further her talent.

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"It is a huge sacrifice," Ariel said. "If this is something you're really passionate about you have to give 110 percent. Sometimes you're gonna have to miss birthday parties, you miss school, you miss out on some fun things normal kids would do to pursue your dream."

A couple more pieces of advice:

"They have to be engaging when they're walking into the room," said Julie Fulop of AKA Talent Agency. "It's harder when a child comes in and they're very quiet and reserved because then we know that that's how they're going to be when they're on set."

"I think they have to realize most of the time the answer is going to be no," said David Gray. "And to remember the reason they started doing this was because the love of the craft they had, not that they want to be a big star but 'I love what I do.'"

Ariel knows as well as anybody the toll that a Hollywood career can put on a family. She gave advice for parents looking to get their kids in the business.

"A lot of parents get very consumed with the whole Hollywood thing and it becomes more about them than their child's dreams," she warned.

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After a lengthy court battle -- including allegations that her mother had physically and emotionally abused Ariel -- Ariel was placed under the permanent guardianship of her sister Shanelle earlier this year. (Ariel's mother, Chrisoula Workman, denied the allegations.)

A Los Angeles judge granted the order and gave Ariel's father Glenn Workman guardianship over her finances. Both orders will be effective until the 16-year-old actress turns 18 on Jan. 28, 2016.

Watch the video for a few audition tips from Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey, who got his start at age 10 acting with Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan.