will majoring in actting help me as an actor?

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
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<p>i just finished reading “7 Reasons Why Professional Acting Programs Are Simply Not Worth It”
at
[7</a> Reasons Why Professional Acting Programs Are Simply Not Worth It | Getting Trained | The Acting Room - A Blog by Actors for Actors / Acting Technique, Insight & Guidance for Actors of all levels and ages](<a href=“http://theactingroom.com/2008/01/16/7-reasons-why-professional-acting-programs-are-simply-not-worth-it/]7”>http://theactingroom.com/2008/01/16/7-reasons-why-professional-acting-programs-are-simply-not-worth-it/)</p>

<p>is majoring in acting really going to help me as an actor? how many Professional film actors have acting degrees? would a minor be a better option? also what schools have acting programs that focus more on film? im sorry to ask so many questions but i want to be an actor and i just need some guidance i don’t want to get BFA and it just have been a waste of my time. any info would be fine BUT, preferablyfrom someone experience</p>

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<p>Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Val Kilmer, Kevin Spacey, Cate Blanchett, Marlon Brando, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Denzel Washington, Alec Baldwin, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and Woody Allen.</p>

<p>All respected actors, and they all have undergone some sort of acting training at a conservatory or University.</p>

<p>To answer your question, yes. Though you can make it in the business without formal training, rarely do those actors go on have respectable and critically acclaimed film careers (Two notable exceptions are Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp). It is possible to make it without training, but it is a hell of a lot harder. And those who haven’t gone to a conservatory or University still typically take classes and workshops on the side.</p>

<p>As far as film acting is concerned, stage is relatively close to film and talented stage actors usually can make the bridge to film with minor adjustments. Student films being created at places like NYU, UCLA, and USC will certainly afford you the opportunity to work on film acting.</p>

<p>Ultimately, you determine whether a BFA is worth your time or not. Acting is not as easy as it looks. Decide your level of commitment to the profession and the actual artistic expression of it, then go from there. If you believe you are talented enough to make it without one, than go ahead. And as stated in the article you posted, you can always leave a BFA whenever you feel you are making enough headway in your career.</p>

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<p>My daughter acted professionally during her teen years both on camera and on stage and was wrestling with this question as well. All it took was one audition, once she turned 18 and began competing with adult professionals, for her to learn the stakes were much higher, auditions much more crowded, and odds much greater for her to land a role even with her experience.</p>

<p>It does take a lot of hard work, a lot of maturity, professionalism, and mostly a lot of luck to get where you want to be. Can you get it doing community theatre and student films for four years, taking the occasional acting class on the side? Maybe. Can you get it being committed to your craft for four years in addition to making connections? More likely, but still not guaranteed. If you’re looking for guarantees this is the wrong career for you.</p>

<p>This guy sounds like he chose the wrong program for him. USC was one of my daughter’s possible choices but she decided ultimately it was not right for her. One of their big draws was the film department and the possibilities of working on student films during your four years there (which she is doing by the way at her current school). This guy just sounds bitter but he’s not totally wrong, he’s just more wrong than right, IMHO. But as Joehascoal says above, only you can decide what works for you.</p>

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<p>I think that the right path is the one that each individual will be most receptive to at that point in their life. If someone really wants to be pursuing a BFA but feels that that they “should” be getting a broader education, it is likely that the learning will be a grind and not particularly productive or inspiring. The converse is true as well, if someone pursues a BFA because they’re afraid that if they don’t, they’ll be at a disadvantage.</p>

<p>I think an education – of any kind – is only as good as what the student brings to the process.</p>

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<p>I don’t know when the author of that went to USC. She wasn’t in the most recent production of Cherry Orchard, which was in 2004. </p>

<p>I think going to college is helpful for a young actor. Aside from the training aspects, there is so much creative work about the college years that those who go to college won’t have missed out on that. Plus college is a great experience to have, regardless of being able to draw on it for acting. I’m really enjoying my experience majoring in acting at USC right now.</p>

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<p>Each individual’s path as an actor will be different-- so there are many paths to achieve a career in acting and also many many more paths that lead, alas, to none. Whether one attends college, grad school, or just moves to NY or LA and gets a job as a waiter/waitress and tries to find auditions and workshops–many will wind up like the author of this article–disappointed. And, frankly, no one in Hollywood will tell an actress to her face that she needs to lose 20 pounds–they will just not cast her or represent her. Four years later, she’ll still be in workshop productions or looking for an agent and wondering why her luck is so lousy.</p>

<p>For high school seniors who want to pursue acting as a career, you get to choose how your days and weeks will be filled. For talented and creative people who want to study and grow and choose to spend ages 18-22 with like-minded talented peers, and are lucky enough to have family or FinAid to support this education, BFAs and BAs from top programs/universities are the place to start. By the audition process, schools attempt to draw dedicated young people with potential. If you are selected, you will get to live, work, study, and perform among this company of peers. They will be your best friends, love interests, inspirations and network into the business in years to come. OTOH, some 18 year olds are fully prepared to move across the country, find a way to afford to live (work? find roommates among a city of strangers?) and beat the pavement trying to break in. </p>

<p>While it’s true the second method is faster, cheaper, and gets the younger version of you out into the casting world, it’s certainly not for everyone. </p>

<p>As for the tone of this article, it seemed remarkably bitter considering the writer got her MFA 20 years ago. Who, after all, promised the writer that she would gain an acting career if she got an MFA? No theatre department website or brochure I’ve ever read makes such claims. </p>

<p>Finally, I think it does bear considering that talent-based, creative careers do not require any college education or advanced training at all. Which may be shocking for many middle class families with good students, where the idea of college is a given and there is no discussion on if the student goes, but where. My best advice is to decide how strong the individual is, how mature, how competitive and street smart, and how ready they are to step into the real world. The article states the writer was afraid to move to L.A. on her own as a stranger so enrolled in school there–only to regret not just moving to L.A. on her own without paying for school. Huh? I mean we all grow and learn and adapt–so why the bitterness?</p>

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<p>Well said madbean. This: </p>

<p>" For talented and creative people who want to study and grow and choose to spend ages 18-22 with like-minded talented peers, and are lucky enough to have family or FinAid to support this education, BFAs and BAs from top programs/universities are the place to start. By the audition process, schools attempt to draw dedicated young people with potential. If you are selected, you will get to live, work, study, and perform among this company of peers. They will be your best friends, love interests, inspirations and network into the business in years to come."</p>

<p>is exactly what my D is looking for. But there are other paths forward, none guaranteeing success.</p>

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<p>Nobody can answer this question for you. It always depends on the individual actor, his goals, and which school(s) he is talking about. I know screen actors who went through reputable BFA and MFA programs who feel like they wasted their time though they tend to be the ones who don‘t work much. I also know others who went to no-name BA programs who think it was the best thing since sliced bread and vice versa. I know some who didn’t go to college at all but wish they had and I know others who trained exclusively in non-scholastic studios who are glad they didn’t. (They tend to be kind of obnoxious.) There are some who’ve had sustained success with no formal training at all though I haven’t met or worked with any since they‘re about as common as seeing Pluto in the noon day sun. There are also more “film actors” than you can shake a stick at with very little formal training who “can’t catch a break” and are totally kidding themselves about not needing it. It just depends …</p>

<p>It was definitely the best choice for me since half my work so far has involved using accents and dialects. I doubt I would have discovered that I have a real knack for it had I not gotten that training in school and I don’t know where I could have gone to acquire the tools to make learning them accurately quick and consistent even if I had. Some actors work with coaches on that, but I don’t need no stinkin’ coach. I could BE a coach. :slight_smile: Then, there are many other schools I could have attended that don’t offer it to any serious degree, so who knows? I suppose I could have learned combat had I just taken some workshops, but would I have done it? Again, who knows? The star that knocked me around like a pinata in my last gig was certified as was the fight director, but many apparently aren’t. Another thing I can say for myself is that these TV and film scripts I get are for the most part as transparent and easy as it would be for a concert pianist to be asked to prepare “Chopsticks” after doing all that work in the most difficult roles of the classic stage. From others, however, you might get a different answer. Again, it just depends … </p>

<p>One thing I will say is that while I feel the BEST screen actors come from a theatre background, I’m not sure I would recommend BFA or MFA training for someone whose first love is not the stage. These intensive programs are all about THEATRE 24/7 and you need to not only love it, but be somewhat obsessed if you’re going to last. Theatre should not be viewed as a means to an end, but as an end in itself. </p>

<p>Here’s a thread I started awhile back that lists some of the studios that have been repeatedly recommended on the Backstage message board. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/950803-non-scholastic-training-la-nyc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/950803-non-scholastic-training-la-nyc.html&lt;/a&gt; Choose your flavor. Got a pulse, some cash and no outward signs of psychosis? Congrats! You’re in! :slight_smile: You could go to college in New York or LA, major in something completely different, enroll in one of these classes at night, and gain experience shooting student films on weekends if you can afford it and you’re someone who has the self discipline to pull it off without letting anything slide. </p>

<p>Some people aren’t going to like me saying this, but there is something else that is absolutely non-negotiable if you want to be successful as a screen actor no matter which training route you pursue. It is that the camera must find you to be an interesting subject in the first place and that‘s at least 90% genetic. It doesn’t mean you have to be a pretty lead, either. Even the character actors and “everymen” have that intangible quality. Often moreso. Have people commented that it’s impossible to take a bad picture of you? Do you stand out in group photos without trying? Have others commented that you always steal the picture even though you didn‘t mean to? Really? REALLY??? This is kind of mean, but I sometimes think they should place Simon Cowell types at the gates of New York, LA and the other major markets that anyone claiming to be a “film actor” must pass by to gain entrance. Sadly, they leave that to the dispersed casting community who will under no circumstances tell anyone straight up leaving a lot of bitter people walking around. </p>

<p>Now that I’m warmed up, I’m going to get a little mean-spirited about that blog. The author said she took several years of private acting classes after she got her MFA implying that the training was better. She is now in her 40s. Find her name and look it up on IMDB. Do you see any acting credits? If you have IMDB Pro, do any of her non-acting credits entail anything resembling a substantial budget? Also do the same for the guy who got cut from the Rutgers MFA and went on an extended internet rampage bashing it and MFA programs in general. Some things speak for themselves …</p>

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<p>Fishbowlfreshman seems to have extensive experience in Hollywood. So have I. I guess it’s not surprising we have virtually identical opinions on this topic. Perhaps what is surprising is that we have both posted our unvarnished opinions here.</p>

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<p>do you know any good acting schools in florida? i doubt im going to be going to college out of state.</p>

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<p>This is just off the top of my head, but they have BFA programs at Florida State, U. Miami, Central Florida and U. Florida. It seems like they have good BA programs at Rollins and Florida International as well. Florida State has one of the top Film schools around, so you could potentially get a lot of experience doing student films there as well as getting a reel going even in their BA. There are apparently a lot of commercials shot in Miami as well. </p>

<p>Oh, and I’m actually a New York based fresh graduate, but I’ve been exceedingly lucky to have signed with one of the agencies that packages films and has started looking to me as a go to for certain types of roles. Besides my showcase, I’ve only been to Lala Land once for a callback. I’m still fairly green to the biz and just calling it like I see it, but it‘s good to know someone who‘s been around longer has seen the same. :)</p>

<p>Some of the old timers who remember my early days on the forum and my total lack of interest in on-camera work are probably chuckling a bit. My ambition starting out was playing the classics in the top tier Regionals and I still look forward to my return to the stage. I actually crave it and am doing all I can to keep those chops up though it might be over a year before that happens … Yin. And. Yang. :)</p>

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<p>o welll thanks for the info but i do you know any legitamate acting schools in fl just in case i dont want to major in theatre</p>