There are no hard and fast rules about the ways actors must initiate their acting careers.
Some thespians who achieve great acclaim start in commercials, others in improv. Some film actors even come from a modeling or dancing background. Regardless of which avenue a person ventures to learn the craft, all aspiring actors must roll up their sleeves and start acting one way or another.
That being said, many of the most revered actors in cinema history learned the fundamentals of acting via the theater before their first film role. Some have even won a prestigious Tony Award or Laurence Olivier Award to go with their Academy Award and Emmy Award collections.
Here are three Hollywood legends who honed their craft for years in the collaborative, imaginative and wonderful world of theater before their many roles in film.
Daniel Craig
One of British theater’s most famous actors, the Glass Onion star and five-time James Bond was first drawn to the profession as a child while growing up in Liverpool where he’d go to the theater with his mother and sisters.
Craig’s mother was an artist with many actor friends. The 56-year-old actor told Interview magazine, “I kind of fell in love with the idea of acting … I liked the idea of it—you know, shouting a lot and dressing up and all that.”
When he was 16 years old, Craig dropped out of school to audition for the National Youth Theatre (NYT). Once accepted, he moved down to London and made his stage debut as Agamemnon in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.
The budding talent worked in restaurants to pay for his education, allowing him to tour across Europe with the NYT. He repeatedly auditioned at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and, thanks to his persistence, was eventually accepted, allowing the rugged actor to study alongside the likes of Ewan McGregor and Alistair McGowan for three years. From there, Craig made his first film debut in The Power of One in 1992, but it was his breakthrough role in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001 and, of course, his take on James Bond that vaulted him to international fame.
Cate Blanchett
Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, Cate Blanchett attended Methodist Ladies College in Melbourne where she was the school drama captain.
After her sister saw her perform in an amateur production, she told Cate, “I can’t see you anymore on stage—I can only see the character.” Thanks to this encouragement, Blanchett decided to enroll in Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art.
When Blanchett took to the Sydney stage where, as a student, she received acclaim for her performance in Sophocles Electra, and shortly after graduating in 1992, she received more acclaim for her performance in David Mamet’s Oleanna for the Sydney Theatre Company.
As The Herald reported, Blanchett’s stunning performance attracted the attention of critics and theater-goers alike.
Having developed a tremendous passion for performing, the rising star wanted to give herself a fair shot at making a career out of acting. “Acting had become like this terrible addiction. I felt I needed to give it five years and see where it took me,” she told The Guardian.
Theater roles in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and Tim Daly’s Kafka Dances earned Blanchett more accolades, including the 1993 Newcomer Award from the Sydney Theatre Critics Circle.
Soon, the luminous actress transitioned into television, first co-starring in ABC’s primetime drama Heartland in 1994 for which she received more critical acclaim. Shortly after, her portrayal of Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet received much praise.
Blanchett would make her feature film debut in 1997’s Paradise Road, and come to international fame for her breakout role of Elizabeth I in the film Elizabeth in 1998. She currently holds two Academy Awards for Blue Jasmine and The Aviator.
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington didn’t start off planning to pursue a career in acting. Oddly enough, the star of the Equalizer franchise was conflicted about what he wanted to do with his life. For example, Washington entered college as a premed student but soon switched to prelaw and then to journalism.
“With no academic focus, my grades took off in their own direction—yeah, down,” Washington said. “I had a 1.8 GPA one semester. And the university very politely suggested that it might be better to take some time off. I was 20 years old. I was at my lowest point.”
That summer, the American actor worked as a counselor at the YMCA camp in Connecticut, and the staff put on a talent show for the campers. “After the show, another counselor came up to me and asked, ‘Have you ever thought about acting? You’re good at that,’” he remembers.
That encouragement was enough to change the trajectory of Washington’s life. When he returned to college in the fall, Washington again changed his major, this time to Drama and Journalism.
During school, he was cast as the lead in classics like Shakespeare’s Othello and Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. He spent the summer of 1976 in Maryland in summer stock theater before graduating from Fordham University.
Washington would go on to attend graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. A year later, he returned to New York to continue pursuing acting, making his film debut in 1981’s Carbon Copy.
He also shared a Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for A Soldier’s Play in 1982, the same year he found his breakout role as Dr. Phillip Chandler in NBC’s television hospital drama St. Elsewhere.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor has returned to the theater several times throughout his prolific film and television career, earning a Tony Award for his performance in Fences. He would also star in the Fences 2016 film adaptation.
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