Should You Go to Drama School?

What actors are deciding on when they choose where to train

ACT III Students in rehearsal for Inside TV Comedy Showcase

Maybe you've heard your favorite actor say, "I never went to school. I just learned on the job." Or a celebrity influencer say, "I got a lot of followers by dancing with my friends on TikTok, and now I'm starring in Chicago on Broadway." And, honestly, I can see why that might sound appealing to many actors who are starting out in their professional careers.

The cost of education has gotten out of control. The industry feels like a roller coaster. It's not like law school, where you spend a bunch of money and then make a bunch of money (so we hear.) And for a lot of families, the idea of taking on that kind of debt for a career in acting just doesn’t make sense.

The Wrong Question

But I don’t think the conclusion should be to skip training altogether. I think the better question is: what kind of training are you choosing, and why? Because the issue isn’t drama school itself. It’s the outdated models that a lot of people are still working from. A four-year degree that leaves you with six figures of debt and no clear connection to the industry is a very different experience from a program that is focused, connected to the work happening now, and built to graduate with you with a multi-hyphenate mindset needed in today's entertainment industry landscape.

Training Still Matters If It's The Right Kind of Training

Training still matters, both foundational craft training and also practical career training that reflects the reality of the industry you’re entering.

That means understanding how casting actually works. (And why you shouldn't say "casted" or "casting agency.") It means building materials for your actor portfolio while you train. It means learning from working professionals and being in the places where the industry exists instead of frolicking in a bucolic setting in the mountains somewhere. (Beautiful, but not conducive to learning how to be an actor in a major city one day.) And most importantly, it means training that develops you as an individual instead of some outdated idea of the "perfect" actor that died around the same time the studio system did.

The Problem With the "Ideal"

One of the long-standing critiques of traditional acting programs, both conservatory and four-year, is that they flatten actors into an "ideal." They promise to teach them the "right" (and only!) way of working, of talking, of moving, of dressing, of looking - often with slightly problematic undertones.

That's not the world we live in anymore. The industry is looking for specificity, voice, and point of view. They are looking for actors who tell them who they are instead of waiting to be categorized into some little box. Your acting program should sharpen that voice, not smooth it out.

Actors Who Don't Wait To Be Given Permission

Not to mention that the performers who are consistently working are the ones who know how to create momentum for themselves. They're creating their own work by writing, producing, collaborating, and taking their place as storytellers in the creative ecosystem. They don't even notice when the business is slow, because they have learned to create opportunities for themselves. Actors should leave school knowing how to do that with a community of peers they can continue to work with long after graduation. (Hello Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson!)

The Actual Choice

So no, I don’t think the answer is “don’t go to drama school.” I think the answer is: be intentional about where you train. Because the right environment can accelerate everything. And the wrong one can leave you stuck for years trying to figure out how to bridge the gap on your own.

That gap between training and working is exactly why we built ACT III alongside LAPAC.