“When I entered college, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. My advisor happened to be from the theater department, and he encouraged me to take some classes there, which I did.” ClassHappenedCollegeTheaterDepartmentAdvisors Author:David Selby
“I was always the only black in the movie theater, the only black in class, the only black in the library, the only black in the discotheque. I always felt observed and judged.” FeltBlackClassTheaterLibraryJudgedMovie Theater Author:Concha Buika
“I consider theater, this is a vacation for me from LA, I sort of view this as I get to have this vacation and during my vacation I get to work on acting. It's like an acting class. And if I go too long without doing a play, I just feel empty. Like approaching a role, I feel like the pool is very shallow, like I'm drawn from it. So I need to come back and do a play, fortunately I've been able to, every couple of years.” IfsNeedsFeelsYearsLongPlayAbleViewsActingClassRolesCoupleEmptyTheaterPoolVacationShallowActing Classes Author:Alan Tudyk
“I started acting when I was, like, three. My brother was really smart, and he wasnt being challenged enough, so my mom put him in the theater class. And I obviously followed him.” EnoughThreeActingClassBrotherMomSmartTheaterMy MomMy BrotherReally Smart Author:Nolan Gould
“I think everybody should act! I would encourage everybody to do one thing, join a theater class or something. It's so good to take a character that you think is wildly different from who you are, and to try to relate to that person and become that person is very helpful. It's hard to articulate what you learn, but you can feel the effect of these characters that you play and take with you.” ThinkingFeelsShouldTryingPersonsDifferentHardPlayCharacterClassOne ThingEffectsTheaterWho You AreRelateHelpful Author:Ryan Gosling
“As a kid, before I got into music, I did all the drama classes, went to theater camp in the summers, so it wasn't totally a foreign world.” WorldKidsClassDramaSummerTheaterCampsDrama Class Author:Carrie Brownstein
“I played a little basketball, but basketball interfered with theater season. That's when we did our term plays and did nutshell versions of Shakespeare for English classes. And, believe me, I got a fair amount of looks from the guys on the team. 'You're in theater but you can play football?'” BelieveLooksLittlesPlayGuyTermClassTeamFootballAmountBasketballFairsSeasonsTheaterVersionsBelieve In MeEnglish Class Author:Dennis Haysbert
“The Miss America contest isthe most perfectly rendered theater in our culture, for it so perfectly captures what we yearn for: a low-class ritual, a polished restatement of vulgarity, that wants to open the door to high-class respectability by way of plain middle-class anxiety and ambition.” WayWantAmericaCultureClassDoorsMiddleMissingAnxietyAmbitionLowsTheaterEntertainmentMiddle ClassRitualCaptureContestsPolishedVulgarityRespectabilityMiss AmericaHigh Class Author:Gerald Early
“I've taken [acting] class with Larry Moss, who's more kind of in the theater world, so he's really educated me about playwrights.” WorldKindActingClassTakenTheaterEducatedPlaywrightLarryMossActing Classes Author:Eva Mendes
“When I was in high school, I was the guy directing plays after class. I started my first theater company at 19, and my second theater company at 21. I've always been a guy who doesn't do well with the passive nature of being an actor.” FirstsWellsPlaySchoolGuyActorsCompanyClassHigh SchoolTheaterPassive Author:Matthew Lillard
“Learn as much as you can about performing. Live theater, improv classes, music, stand up comedy, dance, anything to make yourself confident and comfortable in front of an audience. It'll all come in handy when auditioning for producers and performing with other actors. The best voice actors all have a live performance background. And are competent, fearless, incredibly creative actors.” ActorsVoiceClassAudienceCreativeComedyFrontsComfortablePerformancesTheaterBackgroundsProducersFearlessPerformingCompetentHandyStand Up ComedySelf ConfidentLive PerformanceLive TheaterPerforming Live Author:Rob Paulsen
“In my early childhood, I was a performer by nature. I used to do puppet shows as a kid and entertain kids in classes and the teachers would make it a point that I was the entertainer of the class, but only after high school and in college that I started doing theater and acting classes, because I thought it would be fun.” ShowsWould BeKidsSchoolUsedFunActingClassTeacherChildhoodCollegeHigh SchoolTheaterPerformersEntertainersPuppetsEarly ChildhoodActing ClassesAfter High SchoolPuppet Shows Author:Michael Jai White
“I grew up in a very loving middle class family. My parents were educators. I'm not even the first PhD in my family. They tried to shield me, just as other parents in my neighborhood tried to shield their children. But you knew there was a reason that you couldn't go to that theme park or to a movie theater or to a hamburger stand. They couldn't shield you completely. What they did though was they never let it be an excuse for not achieving, and they always said racism is somebody else's problem, not yours. They tried in that way not to make us bitter about Birmingham.” WayFirstsChildrenSaidReasonProblemParentClassMiddleAchieveGrewGrew UpRacismMy FamilyTheaterExcuseBitterParksThemeMiddle ClassNeighborhoodShieldsEducatorHamburgersMovie TheaterBirminghamPhdsMiddle Class FamilyTheme Parks Author:Condoleezza Rice
“I love stage actors. The pool of world class actors that have done theater [is big], there's a higher opportunity of grabbing somebody from that pool.” WorldDoneBigsActorsOpportunityClassStageHigherTheaterPoolWorld ClassGrabbingStage Actors Author:M. Night Shyamalan
“As a kid, I was fortunate that we grew up near a children's theater, with all different classes and things; so as a kid I took classes there and as I got into high school I did all the community theater stuff. Then I came to college here in New York, going to Marymount Manhattan, and studied acting there. But most of the training I got was from working. Working with really great people.” PeopleChildrenDifferentKidsSchoolStuffCommunityActingClassNew YorkCollegeGrewGrew UpTrainingHigh SchoolTheaterFortunateReally GreatGreat People Author:Andrew Rannells
“I always saw my peers finding some cool passion, but every time I tried one of those things, it never clicked. I would leave school and go to my theater class, and that's when I'd actually sit down and listen.” SchoolPassionClassSawsFindingsTheaterDown AndPeers Author:Liana Liberato
“I actually got started in acting when I was in pre-school. I was really into dance and performing, so my mom had me in dance classes, and then I got involved in a local theater company.” SchoolActingCompanyClassMomInvolvedTheaterMy MomLocalsPerformingDance ClassPre School Author:Fiona Gubelmann
“Literally, walking down that path. I was walking to work and I passed by A.C.T. (American Conservatory Theater) in San Francisco, and they had night education classes for adults. I said, "Yeah, why not?," and walked in, just for the fun of it, to see what it was like.” SaidNightFunClassPathWalkingAdultsTheaterYeahWhy NotSan FranciscoConservatory Author:Tim Kang
“I'm the youngest of five kids, and I wanted attention. And in Santa Barbara, there was lots of theater going on, so for that area, it was a little bit like playing Little League baseball. There were dance classes, theater classes, and I just loved it.” LittlesKidsWantedBitsAttentionClassFiveLittle BitAreasBaseballTheaterLeagueSantaBarbaraDance ClassLittle LeagueLittle League BaseballSanta Barbara Author:Anthony Edwards
“In the neighborhood around Waseda, there were all these movie theaters, so every morning I left the house and watched movies instead of going to class. The experience of encountering films then is one of my greatest memories. Before that I'd never paid any attention to directors, but there I was taking a crash course in Ozu, Kurosawa, Naruse, Truffaut, Renoir, Fellini. Because I've always been naturally a more introspective person, I was more interested in becoming a screenwriter than a director.” PersonsFilmCoursesHouseLeftMemoriesAttentionClassMorningBecomingDirectorsPaidTheaterNeighborhoodEvery MorningCrashIntrospectiveScreenwritersMovie TheaterKurosawaRenoir Author:Hirokazu Koreeda
“No matter what, when you major in theater arts whether you want to write or be a director or design scenery or whatever, when you are a freshman at UCLA then - I guess it's still the same way - you had to take an acting class.” WayWantWritingArtStillsMatterActingClassDesignDirectorsMajorsTheaterNo Matter WhatSceneryFreshmanActing ClassesUcla Author:Carol Burnett
“I've been acting since I was a little kid. It was my escape from my day which had to do with a father leaving, and a mother not being home, and her struggling and doing her best and all that. But it wasn't fun. I would go into theater class. If she were a stay-at-home mom, I wouldn't have that discomfort inside that kept me pushing.” IfsLittlesHomeKidsMotherFatherFunActingClassStruggleMomTheaterLeavingPushingLittle KidDiscomfortStay At HomeStay At Home MomFather Leaving Author:Daphne Zuniga
“I dropped out in middle school. I dropped out in, towards the beginning of the ninth grade. And then I started studying -I started taking acting classes at a, well first I was like in a community theater at that time in Torrance, California, so I finished up like my season with that community theater just acting in, you know, acting in a small part on this play or a big part on that play or a stage manager or assistant stage manager in another play.” KnowsFirstsWellsPlayBigsSchoolCommunityActingClassStudyMiddleStageSeasonsTheaterFinishedManagersCaliforniaGradesAssistantsSmall PartsMiddle SchoolActing ClassesNinth GradeStage Managers Author:Quentin Tarantino
“I grew up in such a small area that there really weren't any acting classes. So I had to wait till I got to college, at the University of Washington. I was a theater major there and got my training. Then after college, I packed up my Honda Civic and kind of fulfilled the cliché of driving down to Los Angeles, and literally, brick by brick - you know, the slow and painful way - I built my career.” KnowsWayKindWaitingActingClassCareersCollegeGrewMajorsGrew UpTrainingBuiltAreasTheaterUniversityPainfulDrivingLos AngelesFulfilledBricksCivicsActing ClassesHonda Author:Mariana Klaveno
“I always honestly dreamed of coming to Second City in Chicago, although I've never even been there to see a show. But I did a ton of sketch comedy at the Second City in LA, which (at the time, in a different location) wasn't really a theater, it was just a space where you took some classes.” DifferentShowsSpaceCitiesClassComedyTheaterHonestlyChicagoLocationSketch ComedySecond City Author:Simon Helberg
“These days, most of my interactions with young people are centered on the poetry or theater classes I teach, so the students I know are reading contemporary poets (they love Willie Perdomo) and scripts (No Child, by Nilaja Sun and Twilight by Anna Deavere Smith). I don't know their reading habits outside of our class, but I believe that they enjoy stories that they can relate to, learn from, be challenged by - you know, the usual good writing that every reader craves.” PeopleKnowsWritingBelieveChildrenStoriesYoungReadingI BelieveEnjoyClassTeachSunStudentsPoetReaderHabitTheaterScriptsContemporaryRelateThese DaysUsualInteractionTwilightCraveGood WritingAnnaReading Habits Author:Renee Watson
“I was 20 years old, working as a roofer and a telemarketer and driving a taxi, just barely getting by. A friend of a friend suggested I try acting. I was like, 'Why? What am I going to do? Community theater?' But I took a class, and the teacher thought that I had potential, so I moved to Vancouver and started auditioning.” TryingYearsCommunityActingClassTeacherTheaterMovedDrivingTaxiVancouverBarely Getting By Author:Cory Monteith
“I was always talking in weird voices from the time I was two. I guess I just found a way to keep doing it! I did get a degree in theater and took some voice-over classes... but most of it is just the same stuff I was doing as a kid!” WayTwoKidsFoundStuffVoiceTalkingClassDegreesTheaterVoice Over Author:Grey DeLisle
“When I was in New York after I left the Army, I studied for two years at the American Theater Wing, studied acting, which involved dance and fencing and speech classes and history of theater, all that.” InspirationalYearsTwoLeftActingClassNew YorkInvolvedSpeechArmyTheaterWingsDanceTwo YearsFencing Author:James Earl Jones