If that is what you want to do, go for it. If it is not something movie businesses are looking for, create it yourself. You can try going for content creation online. Be who you want to be.

This is coming from a 41 year old who struggled his whole life finding his purpose. Still not there yet. Didn't dare to make choices and take the road I wanted to go. I could have been a good e sports gamer, but was too afraid of making the jump. My wife pointed me last year to a college where they have esports teams, but they didn't have one for the games I like to play. So yeah, still not jumped.

There's so much (too much) pressure on people to make decisions, set goals, achieve. My life has gone so differently to what I thought at 20. We have a teenager feeling similarly and it's so sad. I was forced into a career path through having to choose subjects and then apply to uni that I just wasn't ready for. I'm now still in that sector (which I've disliked all along) but I'm sliding sideways out of it with immense work. Some of my advice to my child is that unless there's a particular job you want then keep it broad and choose something you have a bit of passion for. Give yourself the option of flexibility. Side hustles are a good option here. You may think differently in 10/20 years time. Find a path that will fulfil you and allow you to sustain the lifestyle you choose. It might mean having to spend 70% of your time in a job you don't enjoy wholeheartedly in order to spend 30% of your time in a job/hobby you love so be prepared not to enjoy something 100% and prepared to fake it before you make it. Back up plans are great.

32 here with plenty of unspent ambition.

 

At that age, I would honestly say: feed that ego. You have the energy and drive to pursue something. Your truth. You have a rather concrete dream- something I, and I don't believe a lot of people had, at your age. Don't waste it proactively humbling yourself. You'll fail plenty.

But you'll learn so much. Networking, interpersonal skills, rote memorization are just a few things I can think of that actors are fantastic at. These skills are invaluable, hardly taught in school, and are often credited to natural talent or charisma.

 

It seems like you're worried about losing your "self" in vain pursuit and all the time that goes into it. But wanting to follow your dreams isn't being vain. It's being true to yourself.

I'm 42.

If my kid came home as an "eSports player" I'd mock him relentlessly and cut him out of everything.

I would first see how good my daughter would be and if that is good to make real money, I'd let them. But! They still would need to finish school and learn a real job if everything would fail.

[removed]

Yeah I would. I wouldn't think twice about it either.

Life is a marathon.

You may not like what you try but you'll learn from that and can try something else.

I would say instead of follow your passion (that comes and goes) learn what you're good at and find joy in doing that.

eSports is shockingly hard and takes a lot of talent and hard work to be good at. The chance of getting rich from it is about the same as being a professional player in any sport. That being said, just like sports, there are local teams that are chill and can be a ton of fun. Don't shut a kid down for doing what they love.

If you have any doubts about surgery then hold off until you have zero doubts. Don't do what cannot be undone until you have considered everything you cannot do once it's been done.