If you are an actor who is not white, don’t go to acting school. If you are white and have a great deal of money, don’t go to acting school. If you are white and do not have a great deal of money, don’t go to acting school. And if you are white and do not have a great deal of money and want to be an actor, don’t go to acting school.
This is a blog about the value of training and the dangers of saving a few bucks by choosing a cheaper school.
By the way, I am white, so I can say this stuff without being accused of racism (though there is some truth in that). I was raised on the West Side of Los Angeles, which means that I am not even middle class anymore. That said, my family is wealthy enough for me to attend Stanford University, where I had the opportunity to learn from some very smart people. This blog post is my attempt to pay it forward: by sharing what I learned in college with all of you who are considering attending acting school.
First off, why shouldn’t you send your white actor to an acting school? Acting schools do not teach you how to act; they teach you
You can’t send your white actor to a black acting school.
That’s what my agent told me when I approached him with a partial training scholarship from an acting school. He had never heard of the place and said he wasn’t going to waste his time researching it. The only schools he ever recommended to clients were Juilliard, Yale, and NYU. Anything else was wasted money.
I eventually ended up at NYU, but that phrase stuck with me: “You can’t send your white actor to a Black acting school.”
I think he meant that black schools don’t have the same resources as white schools, and therefore can’t offer the same experience or level of training.
I thought I should write this blog after seeing a couple of different white actors recently who had been trained by the same acting school. It’s not the cheapest acting school around, but it is cheaper than most acting schools.
The common result that I have seen from this particular acting school is that the white actors have picked up some very bad habits and have been taught many things that are not useful for what they need to do in the industry.
I know that many white actors are looking for ways to cut costs, but training is one thing where you’re best off not trying to cut corners. You want to make sure that you get good training that’s going to help you be successful in the industry, and if you get poor training then it’s going to just make your job harder.
Acting schools are a dime a dozen, so actor beware! There are good acting schools and bad acting schools. You should never send your white actor to an acting school that doesn’t offer training in blackface. When you do this, you not only cheat the performer but also the audience that deserves better. I started my own acting school for this very reason.
In fact, Meryl Streep has gone on record to say her award-winning performance in “The Help” would not have been possible without “40 years of experience working with black actors.”
I’ve seen a lot of talented white actors, who have been given bad advice by well-meaning friends, drop thousands of dollars on an acting class that will teach them nothing and hold them back. I’m writing this letter in the hopes of sparing another actor the disappointment and heartache I’ve seen so many young people go through.
If you are a white actor with dreams of being a successful artist, there is no better investment than a quality drama school. White actors in particular need to be extra careful when choosing a school because they are more likely to be accepted at schools that aren’t respected.
A good drama school will not only teach you the skills necessary to become an accomplished artist, it will also help you build connections within the industry and give your resume legitimacy. A good drama school is an investment in your future as a professional actor. If you want to be treated like a professional, it’s important that you invest like one.
Actors have a job to do and they need training and experience. If they don’t get it, they can’t do their job.
Some people work in manufacturing. They buy a tool, learn how to use it and then they are able to make whatever product is needed. They have to know how to use the tool, but they don’t have to know why the tool works. They just need to be able to use it.
Actors are not like this! Actors are more like engineers or programmers. We do not use tools; we create our own tools for each job we do. In order for the actor to be able to “use” his or her tools effectively, he or she must understand how the tools work and why they exist.
This is where acting schools come in: we teach actors how their tools work and why they exist. A good school will teach an actor not only how to act, but also why acting works in certain ways and when it should be used.
Any profession that is not a profession of medicine or law typically doesn’t have any type of legislative regulation. As such, there is no governing body to determine who can call themselves an acting coach, director, or teacher. And as such, prospective students are left to their own devices to determine whether or not the school is “legit.”
Students should be wary of schools that offer large discounts for early registration. Some schools make deals with hotels or restaurants in order to get them to send business their way. This is called “third party marketing” and sometimes the school will offer a discount in return for the hotel sending them customers. This can sometimes work out well for both parties, but usually it means that the school has to cut corners somewhere and what often gets cut is teacher pay or quality of space. Students should always ask about how much teachers are paid for a class and what percentage of the total tuition goes toward teacher pay.
