Over the Moon with Judith Moreland

Judith Moreland is living the dream. Not the dream her parents had for their daughter, but her dream: to act and teach.

After graduating with a BA in Human Biology from Stanford, Moreland jumped the track from pre-med to pretend, and landed at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT), where she received an MFA in Acting. Of the dramatic change in her career path, Moreland says with a laugh, “My father jokes, ‘You’re not a doctor, but at least you’ve played one on TV.”

Ironically, Moreland landed her first part in a play, Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” while she was a pre-med student at Stanford. “And, I just loved acting. That was it for me.” She notes however, “I can always go back to med school.”

That doesn’t seem likely for the successful actor and dedicated adjunct assistant professor. It’s a balancing act. Moreland enjoys teaching acting, voice, speech, dialects and text analysis courses in undergraduate and graduate programs in the Department of Theater at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She also serves as a voice, speech and dialect coach for student and professional productions that have ranged from Shakespeare to Moliere to Sam Shepherd.

And she’ll be on the big screen this summer in “Eagle Eye,” directed by D.J. Caruso, and “Crossing Over,” directed by Wayne Kramer. Other film credits include “Wag the Dog,” “Good Time Max” and “Dragonfly.”

On Broadway, Moreland’s acting credits include “Macbeth,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “As You Like It.” Off Broadway she has enjoyed roles in “A Map of the World” at the New York Shakespeare Festival, and “Baby Anger” at Playwrights Horizons. For her role in the regional theater production of Miss Evers’ Boys, she received the Bay Area Theater Critics’ Award for Lead Actress in a Drama. Her television appearances include “Brothers & Sisters,” “Law and Order” and “Boston Legal.”

The actors Moreland holds in highest regard—Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Denzel Washington, among others—are those who work in both film and theater. The difference between being in a play and a film is “the amount of risk involved,” she says. Her favorite medium? “I love film and television, but there nothing like doing a play. Live theater is an actor’s medium. It’s such hard work, but it’s soooo rewarding.” And, “Taking risks is wonderful!” she adds.

Theater is like a marathon

“I tell my students, that the theater is like a marathon. The rehearsals are when you’re in training. And then, your performance on stage is just like running. When it works, you’re over the moon,” says Moreland.

And for Moreland, it’s clearly working. Recently, she received the 2007 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress, for her performance in “Miss Julie” at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood. The “Los Angeles Times” praised Moreland’s performance in the new adaptation of August Strindberg’s 1888 classic by award-winning playwright Stephen Sachs. The “Times” critic described Moreland’s Christine as “a strong counter note, her watchfulness setting the other characters’ recklessness into stark relief. As a trio, they lure us into Stringberg’s masterful liebestod, a dark ballad to the hungry forces within that both liberate and destroy.”

The process comes to life

What Moreland especially enjoyed was the opportunity for her students to come and see her in the play. “All the exercises, the hard work of acting … they could see it in action. Everything came to life for them, watching me on stage,” Moreland says. “And we could have a dialogue about the process afterward. That’s the benefit UCLA brings to the table, with working professionals. It’s not just academics, but real world experience.”

Turning your gift into craft

One of the challenges in working with students, Moreland observes, is to teach them how to turn their “gift” into craft. On the first day, Moreland sets the stage by announcing: “If you’re here to be famous, then you’re in the wrong class. If you’re here to learn how to act, you’re in the right class.” So far, no one has walked out the door.

“I have to remind them, it’s not a race,” Moreland says. “The only thing you have control over is your work. If you don’t give 100 percent, you’re short changing yourself. And as long as you are true to yourself, you will be okay. Everybody’s journey is an individual one.”

The perfect balance

Since she began teaching in the Department of Theater at UCLA in 1995, Moreland has embraced the “perfect balance” that acting and teaching have created in her life. “I know I’m a better actor, because I’m a teacher,” she says. “It keeps my art alive, and I learn so much from my students.”

Moreland credits her former teacher, Sydney Walker, at ACT, with her approach to teaching. “He taught from generosity,” she says. “After my first reading, he said, ‘That was lovely, wonderful!’” Later, when he gave criticism, “I could receive it, and it was okay, because he had created a safe environment,” she recalls. “Because Sydney was an actor, he knew what it was like to be out on a limb. That’s the kind of teacher I try to be.”

Related Programs

Keywords

"judith moreland" 

Share This

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Delicious

Permalink