Reaching my goal

I doubt that acting school is a waste of time. Certainly you would (a) learn skills and (b) be able to network with people who could potentially help you find work later. Plus you will need a resume, and acting in front of your family and friends is lovely but isn't going to be enough for your resume. You need to be in productions of one sort or another. Casting directors are not going to just hand you roles -- they need some indication that you can do the job. Going to school is probably the easiest way to get experience.

Oh and 23 isn't too old. Neither is 63. People of all ages are needed for parts. Most of the folks in the industry aren't the big, big, big names you read about all the time. There's lots of room for people to play all sorts of supporting stuff, and often someone who is not super-young is chosen for those roles. Things like playing a receptionist or a priest or a bartender.

Perhaps you don't have to enroll in a fulltime program but it can't hurt to take some classes. Not only will you learn something (and regardless of how fabulous you think you are already, there's always more to learn) you will meet people and be in a position to network. Besides, if you've never performed in front of an audience outside of your family and friends, how do you know you can? Getting up in front of an audience is not an easy thing for many, many people.

If your plan is to become an extra or an under fiver, I personally think there is no need for schooling. But if you want to take it a step higher YOU WILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.
I also want to underline that working on the field also has a certain value as a kind of schooling. People who have been doing theatre for years while they never did any schooling LEARNED A LOT by acting on the stage.
BUT IF YOUR PLAN IS TO BECOME A GREAT ACTOR or ACTRESS, I advise you to dive into some kind of SCHOOLING-platform.
Workshops, 12 week training courses, 24 week training courses, bootcamps, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years training. It's all there for you to dive in and absorb.
It depends on what you want. It depends on what you can do at this moment in your life.
If you have 5 children, then I guess that the 4 years will be a bit difficult to implement. Maybe short doses or evening formulas will work better for you.
If you are 19 years old… THAT’S ANOTHER STORY.
I'm working to make a special ONLINE ACTING PROGRAM so that people can jump into some serious basics whenever they want - on THEIR OWN TEMPO!
BOOKS and BOOKS.
If you go to acting school or not, I advise you to read great books about acting. Read, read, read.
There are around five really interesting books out there about Meisner, Checkov and Strasberg - technique - my favourites and which I think is a perfect combination.
What happens a lot is that an EXTRA or an Under Fiver gets the real taste of acting and gets into an acting training program and becomes great and famous.
DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF LEARNING YOUR CRAFT ON THE FIELD.
How?
Well, by just doing it. Get into a theatre group or an IMPROV GROUP. Improv is really helpful to becoming a better actor.
I have learned a lot by doing lots of animation work when I was younger.

SELF STUDY
Some people are really good in studying on their own. Books, THE INTERNET, films, making offs, observing people at the park…
There is so much you can do to LEARN by yourself - on your OWN.

BUT NOTHING IS BETTER THAN HAVING A GREAT MENTOR/TEACHER TO HELP YOU MOVE FASTER.
So go find and look for a great teacher and LEARN, BABY!!!

"DO WHAT YOU CAN AND TAKE ACTION… MASSIVE ACTION."

If you do this… NOTHING CAN STOP YOU.
ONLY YOU… CAN STOP YOU.

Hope this helped.
Greets
George

Hi Mariet
Happy that you want to become actress, best of luck.
I think you should join some classes where you you get guidelines for your future, It's not a "waste of time" if you join classes. And if you want to reach your goal you have to struggle for it because in this line struggle will teach you many thinks for your future and try to perform some act in front of audience so that you can be confident for your profession.
Good luck, Keep trying