So, you want to be an actor? Cool. Anybody can do it, right? The best actors are the ones who don’t appear to be acting, so clearly, there must be nothing to it. So is the key to “keeping it real” to avoid formal training and rely on instinct and intuition? Are self-taught actors better at being real than those with theater arts degrees and formal training from the best acting schools? Except in extremely rare cases, no.

The Path To Success

If you’re an aspiring actor, the best path to success is to find an acting conservatory or accredited drama school to teach you the fundamental skills you’ll need to pursue acting career opportunities. Just like other trades or disciplines, acting requires that you be completely comfortable using the tools of the trade. If you’re trying to do everything on your own, you don’t have the benefit of someone directing you, interacting with other actors, or practicing your craft on professional sound stages with the latest cutting edge equipment and technology. Academy of Art University gives you all of that and more.

The Best Acting Schools 

To be a convincing actor—on stage or screen—you have to be able to convince an audience that you are the character you’re portraying. And to be able to convincingly inhabit the life of someone who may be very different from you, you have to learn who YOU are first. The best acting schools teach you how to be comfortable in your own skin—physically, mentally, and emotionally. That self-awareness leads to a greater ability to experience empathy, which in turn leads to the ability to truly understand and embody the life of a character on the page.

Acting Internships

Of course, you can take all of the full-time acting courses in the world and still not have any idea about how to pursue acting internships and apprenticeships or market yourself professionally. At Academy of Art University, we not only have acting technique classes and voice and speech classes for actors, we teach you the business of acting. From day one at the Academy you’ll be working on acting portfolio development; when you graduate, you’ll have a reel that will rival those of working actors. And our facilities—which include five sound stages, two black box theaters, and dedicated wardrobe and costume rooms—are some of the best in the country for stage acting training or pursuing a film acting degree.

Professional Acting Programs

In today’s world of how-to videos and DIY books, it may seem that teaching yourself how to act is the affordable, easy route to a career. But acting workshops and classes will give you a much stronger foundation—from the Meisner method to the Alexander technique—to build upon as you pursue your dreams. If the cost of a formal acting education is a concern, the Academy offers acting scholarships and financial aid. Yes, all the world’s a stage. But professional acting programs can help you become more than just a player.