Expert: Phil Nemy - 8/1/2008

Question
I've always wanted to be a voice actress for cartoons or animated films, or maybe an actress on a regular film, but of course I realize that one cannot rely on just a degree in acting to pay the bills. So I was thinking about getting a Double major of some sort, since I also considered forensic psychology. I was hoping that maybe I could be a psychologist while looking for auditions. I'm currently sixteen and haven't ever done school plays but any acting that I've ever done (skits, etc) has never failed to amaze people and I am very serious about pursuing an acting career. My question is, how do I become a successful voice actress and still have money? Do I double major? Where should I go for college? And which courses would you recommend? I know this is a lot to read (sorry!) but I am truly very frustrated right now.

Answer
Rowan,

Thanks for writing. If you want to seriously pursue an acting career, then you must spend 100% of your time focusing on a career as an actor, spending as much time training and developing your talent so that if an audition comes your way, you'll have the best chance of being cast in the role. Spending time studying other things are nice, but that detracts from your ability to focus on your goal of becoming a working actor.

To become a successful voice actress, you must have a demo reel of distinct and different voices. If you wish to work in animation, you must have at least 40 different voices on your demo reel.

The best training for an actor is training on the stage. The better schools with professional actor training programs can be found at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama, The Julliard School of Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Bradeis University, Boston University, SMU, UCLA School of Theater, Webster College, and the University of Washington at Seattle. These schools all take a "conservatory" approach to actor's training, which means they offer a BFA degree and the curriculum is set from your first day of school so you won't have to choose courses - they'll be chosen for you.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Phil