Expert: Kitty Kavey - 8/14/2005

Question
do learning more language help in acting. I stay in Malaysia and i know a least 7 language( France and Spanish) Also I wanted to go to New York to become a professional actor. Can u recommened some Drama school for me please?



your sincerely.
Chew Lih Ren

Answer
Learning other languages can help in acting, particularly if you are fluent in those other languages.  However, if you just learn conversational Russian, it would be unlikely you'd be hired to do an entire movie in Russian, as you might not be able to read and understand fully the entire script, and your accent might not sound native.  But certainly there are opportunities to say a few lines in another language quite often in films, and commercials may have few lines - so when you're learning other languages, pay special attention to the accents so you can sound like a native speaker.  And, as far as acting goes, choose to learn languages and accents that would go well with your look.  I know a Korean actor who speaks Spanish (among other languages), but never gets called to do Spanish language commercials or films because he doesn't appear visually to the audience to be a Spanish speaker, and speaks the language with a slight Korean accent - clearly marking him as a forigner to that country and culture.  
There are many fine acting schools in New York City.  One of the most famous is the New School for Drama (www.newschool.edu/academic/drama) because we have a long-running TV show here about acting - "The Actor's Studio" - hosted by James Lipton, and the audience is acting school students.  There are other schools as well, and you should take some time to see whether you want a long intensive program, like those offered at the New School (I believe they have three year programs), or prefer something shorter like the one year program at the New York Film Academy (www.nyfa.com).  You should also consider what style of acting you want to study, as each place may offer something different - Stanislavsky, Strasberg, Meisner, commercial acting, auditioning, and the list goes on.  
Some schools teach very general courses that incorporate lots of different types and methods of acting, while others can be very specialized, and teach only "The Method" or acting for commercials, or musical theater.  You can have the schools you are interested in mail or email you more information, and nearly all of them have very informative websites.  You can visit the schools when you are in New York, and by then you'll have all the information you need to make the best choice for you.
Good luck to you,
~Kitty