“People would be surprised to know that I've gone to regular school my whole life and I don't have one friend who is an actor!” PeopleKnowsWholeWould BeSchoolActorsGoneWhole LifeOne Friend Author:Sara Paxton
“Quite honestly I never had a desire to be an actor. I tell people, I did not choose acting; acting chose me. I never grew up wanting to be an actor. I wanted to play football. In about 9th grade an English teacher told me I had a talent to act. He said I should audition for a performing arts high school so I did on a whim. I got accepted.” PeopleShouldArtSaidPlayWantedSchoolDesireActorsActingTeacherTalentFootballGrewGrew UpHigh SchoolAcceptedHonestlyPerformingGradesAuditionsWhimPerforming ArtsEnglish Teacher Author:Ving Rhames
“It's not like I had big dreams to go to California and become an actor. I loved doing my shows at school and community theater, and I probably would have settled in New York because it was closer. I was going to go to NYU.” ShowsDreamBigsSchoolActorsCommunityNew YorkTheaterCaliforniaNyuSchools And Community Author:Christine Taylor
“For a while I thought about studying medicine at school and becoming a doctor because I've always been interested in psychology and how people's minds operate. But I'm able to explore some of that as an actor and ultimately I think it seems more interesting.” PeopleThinkingMindSeemsAbleSchoolActorsInterestingStudyPsychologyBecomingDoctorsMedicineBecoming A Doctor Author:Rumer Willis
“I like the idea of up-and-coming actors nowadays being a little different and not necessarily the drama-school stereotype, being a bit more edgy.” LittlesIdeasDifferentSchoolActorsBitsDramaStereotypeEdgy Author:Kaya Scodelario
“I came out of school just at the time regional theater was first expanding. All of a sudden, lots of new companies needed actors.” FirstsSchoolActorsCompanyNeededTheaterExpandingNew Company Author:Charles Kimbrough
“I thought acting was all about natural instinct but I've realised, through working with so many talented actors on 'Wild Swans' and 'Run,' that I can see the training. That's why I am back at drama school.” I CanRunningSchoolActorsNaturalActingDramaTrainingInstinctRealisedSwansNatural Instinct Author:Katie Leung
“I was going to be a High School teacher. I was studying at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, up in Canada. I was also acting in a wonderfully supportive theatre community in Edmonton. There's a lot of support for theatre there. So, I was having a great time, but I didn't consider acting as a serious career initially, because even the most successful actors that I know in Edmonton are not super successful. Acting over there is just not a success-oriented career.” KnowsSchoolActorsCommunityActingCareersSupportStudySuccessfulTeacherSeriousHigh SchoolUniversityTheatreCanadaSupportiveGreat TimesSchool TeachersAlbertaHigh School TeachersEdmonton Author:Nathan Fillion
“Acting is not a genteel profession. Actors used to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart. Those people's performances so troubled the onlookers that they feared their ghosts. An awesome compliment. Those players moved the audience not such that they were admitted to a school, or received a complimentary review, but such that the audience feared for their soul. Now that seems to me something to aim for.” PeopleHeartSoulSeemsSchoolUsedActorsActingAudiencePlayerPerformancesAimMovedProfessionGhostUsed To BeReviewsComplimentBuriedStakesCrossroads Author:David Mamet
“My dad was a lovely guy. I had great parents. But he was a conservative shopkeeper, and he said, "Look, I don't know how to help you as an actor, but if you want to be an actor, give it a go for a year. Get a job. And if you don't get a job, then we're going to reevaluate and you're going to go back to school." And I thought that was a fair thing.” IfsKnowsWantGivingYearsLooksSaidHelpingSchoolJobsGuyActorsParentKnow HowDadFairsMy DadConservativeLovelyGreat ParentsShopkeepers Author:John Kapelos
“A Murphy [Eddie Murphy] movie is like a Sidney Poitier comedy - he's that intensely good... He revolutionized acting. He's literally black Brando. Before Eddie Murphy, there were two schools of acting for a black actor: Either you played it LIKE THIS or youplayeditlahkdis. He was the first black guy in a movie to talk like I am talking right now. That did not exist for black actors before him.” FirstsTwoSchoolGuyActorsBlackActingTalkingComedyRight NowMurphyBrandoBlack Guys Author:Scott Raab
“I always wanted to be an actor, even as a little kid. So I went to drama school in the late '60s at Carnegie Mellon.” LittlesKidsWantedSchoolActorsDramaLateLittle KidCarnegieCarnegie Mellon Author:Loudon Wainwright III
“I did a lot of theater in school. I thought maybe I wanted to go to law school or be a judge or a politician. And then I just kind of got smitten by the process of rehearsal and working with other actors and those kinds of challenges. And then comedy.” KindWantedSchoolLawActorsProcessChallengesComedyJudgingPoliticianTheaterRehearsalLaw SchoolSmittenWorking With Others Author:Rashida Jones
“Look for the [actor training] program that's right for you, above all else. It's really about your training and preparation. Once you arrive on the professional scene, the cream tends to rise, regardless of what school you attended.” LooksSchoolActorsSceneTrainingProgramPreparationCreamTraining Programs Author:Rachel Hoffman
“I think a lot of directors, they come out of film school, they don't know anything about acting. Or they're writers that don't know anything about the process. And I think they're afraid sometimes to talk to actors and be honest with actors.” ThinkingKnowsSometimesSchoolFilmActorsProcessActingHonestDirectorsBeing HonestFilm School Author:Matt Dillon
“When a young woman tells me that she wants to become and actor, I say, 'No, be a writer. Or go to business school and learn how to run a studio.' The only real change will come from behind the scenes.” WantRealRunningSchoolYoungActorsBehindsSceneStudiosYoung WomenBehind The ScenesReal ChangeBusiness School Author:Halle Berry
“I'm just looking for things to steal [on working with great actors]. It's like going back to acting school. When you're around people that do it well and you get your head out of your ass, you can really learn something.” PeopleWellsSchoolActorsActingStealingAssGreat Actors Author:Benjamin Walker
“I grew up in Arkansas and that's the law. My dad was a high school basketball coach, so I was raised as a coach's son and I was a baseball player back in Arkansas, and I lived in Texas, too, so I was just surrounded by sports. So that's what I was going to do: Pitch for the St Louis Cardinals. I had no idea I was going to be an actor. So I got my collar bone broken in the Kansas City Royals training camp. And once I got hurt I started doing other things for a while.” IdeasSchoolLawActorsSportsHurtCitiesPlayerSonBrokenGrewDadBasketballGrew UpTrainingHigh SchoolBaseballRaisedMy DadBonesCoachesNo IdeaTexasCampsRoyalCollarsCardinalsBaseball PlayerKansasBasketball CoachArkansasKansas CityGot HurtTraining Camp Author:Billy Bob Thornton
“When I first started out, it was very, very difficult to even get in the room with directors or casting directors because they would see that I hadn't been to drama school and wouldn't want to see me. Now, I feel like it's changing. We have this new generation of a lot of writers, directors and actors who are just breaking through, and they're doing it for the passion.” WantFeelsFirstsSchoolPassionActorsDifficultRoomsGenerationsDramaDirectorsCastingNew GenerationCasting Directors Author:Kaya Scodelario
“I grew up with it. As a young actor, I was always aware of the brilliant work of Shakespeare. We studied Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth in school. As a young actor, you're always mystified and intrigued by such brilliant work. To actually have the chance to be involved in this production was a wonderful thing for me.” SchoolYoungActorsChanceWonderfulGrewInvolvedGrew UpProductionsBrilliantWonderful ThingsIntriguedJulietYoung ActorsRomeo Juliet Author:Ed Westwick
“My film school is making movies. But, I do think that being an actor has served me immensely, as both a writer and director, in terms of knowing what is playable and what will be fun to play, for actors, and also how to communicate to actors on set, and not screw them up and get them in their head.” ThinkingPlaySchoolFilmActorsFunTermKnowingDirectorsCommunicateScrewsFilm School Author:Josh Radnor
“A lot of the films now are more focused on the visuals than on the actors. I think all directors should go to drama school.” ThinkingShouldSchoolFilmActorsDramaDirectorsFocusedVisuals Author:Eva Green
“I know that some great actors can transform, and that's fine. But I come from the school of thought that people put a version of themselves in their films.” PeopleKnowsSchoolFilmActorsFineVersionsGreat Actors Author:Dito Montiel
“There are two schools of thought. A manager would tell you that must make them realize you're a dedicated actor and I took a totally different route than that. I never ever took myself seriously.” TwoDifferentSchoolActorsRealizingManagersDedicatedRoutes Author:George Hamilton
“He [Alan Lomax] started right off trying to find people who could introduce folk songs to city people. He found a young actor named Burl Ives and said, "Burl, you know a lot of great country songs learned from your grandmother, don't you know people would love to hear them?" He put on radio programs. He persuaded CBS to dedicate "The School of the Air" for one year to American folk music. He'd get some old sailor to sing an old sea shanty with a cracked voice. Then he'd get me to sing it with my banjo.” PeopleKnowsTryingYearsSaidCountrySchoolYoungSongActorsFoundVoiceCitiesAirSeaProgramFolksRadioGrandmotherIntroducingSailorCrackedFolk MusicGreat CountryYoung ActorsBanjosYour GrandmotherFolk Songs Author:Pete Seeger
“I don't think RADA wanted me, actually. When I was at Oxford I had a boyfriend at Central [School of Speech and Drama] and it looked like the most fantastic life, but I think not going makes you more free. Nothing can teach you what it's like to work on a film set, and the best education there can be for an actor is to walk up the street and observe human nature.” ThinkingHumansWantedSchoolFilmActorsWalksTeachStreetsHuman NatureDramaSpeechFantasticOxfordFilm SetBest EducationFantastic Life Author:Rosamund Pike
“At school, I was the classroom clown - I was always being thrown out for being naughty. Before I left, a teacher called me in and suggested I became an actor.” SchoolActorsLeftTeacherThrownClassroomClownNaughty Author:David Harewood
“I did one or two plays at school. Once I played a tree, so I never thought I would be a good actor.” TwoPlayWould BeSchoolActorsTreeGood Actors Author:Suraj Sharma
“In high school, theater was all I ever wanted to do. I didnt see that I was going to set it aside for so many years and take a right turn into television. Of course, wanting to do theater is something you hear a lot from actors. I think Ive been embarrassed to be in that big cliche.” ThinkingYearsBigsWantedSchoolTurnsCoursesActorsTelevisionHigh SchoolTheaterEmbarrassedCliche Author:Mare Winningham
“I went to school to be an actor in Canada and realized I hated auditions once I left, which is a huge problem if you want to get a part.” IfsWantProblemSchoolActorsLeftHugeHatedCanadaAuditions Author:Brad Goreski
“You don't go to Berkeley to become an actor. In fact, I don't think you go to any school to become an actor. You've just sort of got to go out there and act.” ThinkingFactsSchoolActorsBerkeley Author:Kurt Fuller