About the Acting Specialization

The acting classes at UCLA do not have any one particular philosophical focus rather, a series of technique and ideas are taught. The objective is for an actor to be able to find what works best for him/her or what works best for a particular role.

The UCLA Theater program is not a training conservatory. This program is not for the student who is eager to begin working professionally right away. For those persons we recommend one of the great BFA conservatory training programs found across the country. The UCLA Theater program is for the student who sees themselves as a scholar/artist; one who is eager to learn and wants a great university education from one of the world's major research institutions. Roughly half of the student's classes are in subjects other than theater. This education will prepare the graduate to be an informed citizen of an ever more complex world, an original and critical thinker, as well as providing one of the best theater educations offered in the country.

The undergraduate acting specialization is a nine-quarter sequence of classes that begins in the fall quarter of the sophomore year. Junior transfer students enter in the fall quarter of their junior year and complete a total of 6 quarters. Each quarter consists of acting class, voice/speech class, and movement class.

All undergraduate students in the department (from any specialization) are able to audition for most departmental undergraduate productions.

Students admitted to the major in the acting specialization are not guaranteed a place in the acting classes each quarter. All specialization classes require instructor consent to enroll. The faculty may elect to not continue a student in the specialization at any time. This could be due to poor performance, poor citizenship (excessive absences, not working up to the standards of the class, poor grades in the class, etc.). In this situation the student would no longer have a specialization but would still graduate on time with a degree in Theater.

Like all other undergraduate specializations, this is not a "major." There is no "acting major." All undergraduates in the program are theater majors and graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Theater.

Students in the UCLA Theater department cannot ever change their major to UCLA's Film/Television/Digital Media department at any time in their four years here. Nor can they change from their specialization into the acting or musical theater specializations.