When I left drama school, my fear was that I'd get pigeon holed into comic acting and I did so much to counter it that I got stuck in the opposite.
Drama school is fundamentally practical. I didn't write any essays, so I came out with a BA honors degree in acting.
I went to acting school in New York City for two years. I studied with Stella Adler.
I wish we could have acted quicker on Detroit or other failing schools.
At Murry Bergtraum High I wanted to be as different from my father as possible. So I acted out in school, I was very anti-authority.
I first decided that I wanted to act when I was 9. And I was at a very bizarre prep school at the time; to say 'high Anglo-Catholic' would be a real English understatement.
I got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.
My experiences and training back at drama school were very enlightening. I always believe in improving, be it kathak or my acting skills, and would want to experiment more when it comes to work.
I was very close to my father. At the age of ten I wanted to do plays, and my father was very encouraging. When I applied to different acting schools, he was right there and very supportive.
My stepdad provided me with an amazing childhood. I played outside like a normal kid, I rode my bike, I walked to school, but the happiest times were when I was acting.
You don't learn acting, you nourish it. I don't regret not going to drama school because I was very afraid of all the lessons. I'm allergic to technicality.
I played basketball. I went to school and played basketball and was trying to pursue that as a career path and kind of just fell into acting.
I loved it, but had to forget about acting after elementary school because it was the sort of thing you just didn't do in my rough neighborhood.
I talk about acting to students making the transition from high school to UCLA. Kids going into this profession really need to know the reality of it.
One day I was in school, and the next I was acting opposite Jeremy Irons. That's how quickly it happened. I was in class and then working with Sir Anthony Hopkins.
I've never gone to acting school and I never will, so I'm learning about the business from the people who are in the business. It doesn't seem like I work at all. And the unknown is always exciting.
I graduated from school for graphic design, and I started to get into acting class just to get over severe fright. I was an extremely shy person. I could barely say hello to anybody.
I've focused on making sure we have talented teachers and principals in our schools through proposals like the GREAT Teachers and Principals Act and the Presidential Teachers Corps.
I was a weak kid, not good at what all the boys at school were good at and I found that by acting, by being other people, I could liberate myself from those inadequacies.
I tried acting, liked it, and stuck with it. I saw it as the way I would keep that promise to myself of getting back at those who had made my school life a misery.
At school, I was a shy lad and still am. But acting gives me licence to be up there, demanding the focus. It's the one time in my life where I don't have to shout to be heard.
