There are no hard and fast rules about the ways actors must initiate a career in acting. Some thespians who achieve great acclaim start in commercials, others in improv, some come from a modeling or dancing background—the list goes on and on. But 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, countless of the most revered actors in cinema history learned the fundamentals of acting via the theater. Here are three Hollywood legends who honed their craft over the course of years in the collaborative, imaginative, and wonderful world of theater.
Daniel Craig
The “blond Bond” will soon be back with the long-awaited October release of No Time to Die. This will be Daniel Craig’s fifth time playing the coveted role of 007. One of British theater’s most famous actors, Craig was initially drawn to the profession as a child while growing up in Liverpool where he’d go to the theater with his mother and sisters. His mom was an artist with many friends who were actors. The 53-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, young Daniel 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 performance 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, Cate decided to enroll in Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art. Blanchett took to the Sydney stage where, as a student, she received acclaim for her performance in Sophocle’s 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. And shortly thereafter, her portrayal of Ophelia in the Belvoir Street Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet received much praise. Blanchett would come to international fame for playing 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. Rather, in college, he began 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,” the movie star recalls. “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, Denzel 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 Denzel’s life. Sure enough, Washington returned to college in the fall and changed his major to Drama and Journalism. While there, he was cast as the lead in classics like Shakespeare’s Othello and Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. And 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. It was 1982 when he shared a Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for A Soldier’s Play.
The two-time Oscar-winning actor has returned to the theater several times throughout his prolific film and television career. Indeed, his performance in Fences earned him a Tony Award.
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