Q: Do I need to go to drama school to be a successful actor?
A: Not necessarily....! There’s lots of reasons why drama school may not be the best option for you: work, money or family constraints for instance. And whilst drama schools are generally a lot more inclusive than they used to be in terms of diversity of age and looks, you may feel that you’re ‘too old’ of ‘too set in your ways’ to commit to a long full time course with lots of much younger students. There are many successful and well known actors who didn’t train at drama school (or got kicked out!). Try a google search and see who you can find!
What drama school will provide you with is accredited training (so you know it’s of a good standard and reasonably relevant to the industry). Drama school will also provide you with useful contacts particularly during the latter part of the course where you may well work with established directors or showcase in front of agents and casting directors. Drama school is a kind of passport. Any prospective employer looking at your CV and seeing that you trained at drama school will assume that you have been trained to a recognisable standard. There maybe certain subject areas tackled by a drama school syllabus (accent and voice work, stage combat, for instance) that are more difficult to access outside. Drama schools will also give you formalised feedback, lots of practice and a proven structure in which to improve your acting range and skills including professional help with promoting yourself.
However....
There are absolutely no guarantees that you will find work as an actor once you leave drama school. You may be well trained, reasonably talented and ‘know’ a few important names in the business and not get work - even after you’ve fired off 100 CVs to the top players. Going from a fairly sheltered environment where your days are time-tabled for you to the big outside world where no-one gives a damn about your fabulous performance in your final year production can be a bit of a shock! You will almost certainly have student debts and have to find a ‘real’ job to tide you over until your first Hollywood leading role.
Regardless of whether you’ve been to drama school or not, your motivation, passion, self-esteem, persistence, experience (of life, of acting, of everything), people and communication skills are what will count in finding work as an actor.
What about talent? Obviously important as well - but when you are auditioning for that perfect part you can be the greatest actor in the world - if the part doesn’t match with your looks, mannerisms or the particular vision that the producer/director/casting director has in mind, then you won’t get the part.
As you can see, there’s no simple answer. Drama school will be a perfect way in for some, but not for others. Acting itself isn’t a precise science, and there is no proven formula that works every time to ensure career success.
More coming soon....
