How Traditionally Trained Are This Year's Oscar Nominees?

What do these actors have in common?

For our second year in a row, All Things Fangirl researches the education and training of this years acting nominees. While 2009's line up was pretty straight-forward, this years' is quite the mixed bag.

Performance by Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges
No formal training. Took a few acting classes in New York after high school, but always found his best training at home in his father & older bother Beau. Didn't take long - was nominated for an Oscar at age 21.

George Clooney (Previous winner - supporting)
No formal training. Attended Northern Kentucky University, then the University of Cincinnati, double majoring in History & Political Science, but did not graduate. Took classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.

Colin Firth
Formal training alert! Studied at the Drama Centre London under Yat Malmgren.

Jeremy Renner
Began acting at Modesto Junior College. Before two years had passed, had moved to LA to pursue acting professionally. Was pursuing computer science major & criminology before taking acting as an elective and falling in love.

Morgan Freeman (Previous winner - supporting)
No formal training. Starred in school plays & competed in drama competitions in his youth. Was forced to complete in drama competition as a punishment in junior high - surprised everyone by loving the stage & winning it all. Could have studied drama on scholarship at the Jackson State University, but instead enlisted in the Air Force where he worked as a mechanic. Attended LACC and took acting classes in Hollywood & The Pasadena Playhouse in the early 60s.

Performance by Actress in a Leading Role

Meryl Streep (Previous winner- supporting & lead)
Uber formal training. She received her B.A. in Drama at Vassar College in 1971 but also enrolled as a transfer student at Dartmouth College for a semester before that school had become coeducational. She later earned an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.

Sandra Bullock
Participated in high school productions in her youth. Dropped out of East Carolina University 3 credits shy of degree in drama, to move to New York and pursue an acting career. There, she studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Years later, she received an honorary degree from ECU.

Helen Mirren (Previous winner - lead)
Acted in high school productions, then attended the New College of Speech & Drama in London, learning how to teach drama. Was accepted into the National Youth Theater at age 18 and soon after became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gabourey Sidibe
Has no formal training. Attended the Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City College of New York, and Mercy College. Dropped out before graduating. Had performed in plays throughout her youth (both at her schools and at Lehman college), but was majoring in psychology & had no plans of pursuing a professional acting career.

Carey Mulligan
Has no formal training. Performed in many theater productions, both in school & upon graduating. Auditioned for three drama schools and got into none.

Performance by Actor in a Supporting Role

Christoph Waltz
Spent his college-aged years acting on stage & traveling around the world to gain life experience so as to be the best actor he could be. Ending up in New York at 23 and subsequently studied with Lee Stasberg & Stella Adler themselves at the Lee Strasberg Thatere & Film Institute. Followed that up with studying singing and opera at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.

Stanley Tucci
Acted frequently in high school. Received a BFA from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at SUNY Purchase.

Matt Damon (Previous winner - Original Screenplay)
Dropped out of Harvard to pursue acting. Took classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute

Christopher Plummer (Canadian alert! Happy Olympics!)
Performed in high school and got experience performing on the road with the Canadian Repertory Theater. Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Woody Harrelson
BA in Theater arts & English from Hanover College.

Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role

Mo'Nique
Attended Morgan State University. Got her start in comedy performing at the Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet.

Vera Farmiga
Studied drama at Syracuse University's School of Visual and Performing Arts. Appeared on Broadway for the first time at age 23.

Anna Kendrick
All experience garnered from acting since she was age 10. No formal training.

Maggie Gyllenhaal
BA in Literature & Eastern Religions from Columbia University. Received drama training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

Penélope Cruz (Previous winner - Supporting)
Did not complete high school, but went on to receive four years of Theatre training from Cristina Rota's school in New York. In addition, studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory and afterwards, continued training under a series of prominent dancers.

For those concerned with education -

Drama Degrees: Firth, Streep, Tucci, Harrelson, Farmiga - 5




College Drop-Outs: Bullock, Damon, Clooney, Renner, Sidibe- 5 (editors note: just found out Sidibe did not in fact graduate with a degree. Was unclear online.)




Non-Drama Degrees: Gyllenhaal, Mirren, Mo'Nique (?) - 3




Did Not Attend Traditional College: Bridges, Mulligan (not for lack of trying), Waltz (see below), Plummer, Kendrick, Freeman (Air Force)- 6




High School Drop Out: Cruz - 1

Missing last year's fellow high school drop outs, Robert Downey Jr., Heath Ledger, Michael Shannon & Kate Winslet

For those concerned with acting training -

(Of the 15 nominees who did not study Drama in college)

Took Acting Classes (non-formal training) : Clooney, Freeman, Bullock, Damon, Renner - 5

Attended An Acting Conservatory (formal training): Waltz, Gyllenhaal, Cruz - 3

Formal Theater Training with a Company, as opposed to School : Plummer, Mirren - 2

Had no formal training...or non-formal training: Sidibe, Bridges, Mo'Nique, Mulligan, Kendrick - 5


Unlike last year's clear win for the theater BA/MFAs, this year is a bit more tricky. Over all, having some sort of training background heavily outweighs having no training at all (14-6), but if we're going purely by numbers, those who opted to take life experience/acting conservatories/random classes OVER getting a degree barely edge out the drama majors (6-5). There are ultimately many different assumptions one can make with these numbers. The moral of the story is: researching the education of nominated actors is fun, Christoph Waltz is a god and Carey Mulligan might be the prettiest girl in all the land. See full post

How Traditionally Trained Are This Years Oscar Nominees?

What do these Oscar nominated actors have in common?

When Laura Linney was talking about getting to see old classmates at the SAG Awards, I wondered to myself "ooh, who?!" as well as "I wonder where she went to school" as well as "I wonder where this year's Oscar nominees went to school." Hence, this post.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins
Earned a degree in drama from Illinois Wesleyan University

Frank Langella
Graduated from Syracuse University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama

Sean Penn
No college for Penn. Right out of Santa Monica High School, joined the Los Angeles Repertory Company. Got many roles through his parents, landed Taps on his own and the rest is history

Brad Pitt
Journalism major at the University of Missouri, acting in many of his fraternity's shows on the side. Left college two weeks before earning his degree to move to LA & take acting classes, studying with Roy London.

Mickey Rourke
Entered into professional boxing in his teenage years, never attending college. After getting cast in a friend's play and discovering his love for acting, moved to NY to study privately with a teacher from the Actor's Studio.


Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin
No college for Brolin. He trained with Stella Adler and Sandra Seacat and attended Film Industry Workshops. After making his feature acting debut, he went on to privately study with Pat George and Tony Miller.

Robert Downey Jr.
As a teen, attended Stagedoor Manor Performing Arts Training Center in upstate New York. Dropped out of Santa Monica High School in 1982 to move back to New York and pursue acting. No formal lessons.

Philip Seymour Hoffman
He received a BFA in drama in 1989 from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. (Hey, that's what EruditeChick and I did! Except not in 1989...) Specifically at NYU, studied with the Circle in the Square Theater. Same NYU graduating class as Rainn Wilson and they wrestled during their first year. Whatever that means.

Heath Ledger
Acted in shows since age 10 and began pursuing a career in the field after dropping out of high school at age 16

Michael Shannon
Dropped out of high school at 16 and immediately performed in his first professional play. Has been acting ever since.

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway
Spent several semesters studying as an English major and Women's Studies minor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, but dropped out before graduating.

Angelina Jolie
Studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute in LA as a kid and appeared in many productions at Beverly Hills High. Started professionally acting & modeling during and right after high school, which she graduated early, at age 16. No college.

Melissa Leo
Studied Drama at Mount View Theatre School in London, England and later at the SUNY Purchase Acting Program, but did not graduate.

Meryl Streep
She received her B.A. in Drama at Vassar College in 1971 but also enrolled as a transfer student at Dartmouth College for a semester before that school had become coeducational. She subsequently earned an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.

Kate Winslet
Winslet began studying drama at the age of eleven at the Redroofs Theatre School. By 16, Winslet had dropped out of high school and landed her first film role: the lead in Heavenly Creatures.

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams
Made the decision not to go to college after high school. Performed in community & dinner theater and struggled as an actress until landing her breakthrough role in Junebug at age 30. Studied with the Actor's Workshop in LA in the early 2000s.

Penélope Cruz
Did not complete high school, but went on to receive four years of Theatre training from Cristina Rota's school in New York. In addition, studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory and afterwards, continued training under a series of prominent dancers.

Viola Davis
Davis majored in theatre at Rhode Island College, graduating in 1988; in 2002 she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the college. She also attended The Juilliard School for four years.

Taraji P. Henson
She first attended NC A&T where she started a major in Electrical Engineering. She later transferred to Howard University, where she graduated with a degree in Theater Arts.

Marisa Tomei
Attended Boston University for a year, transferring to NYU in 1983 after landing a role in the soap opera As The World Turns. Soon after, she dropped out of school altogether as her career began to take off.

Here's the tally!

Drama degrees: Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson - 6



College Drop Outs: Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Marisa Tomei, Brad Pitt - 4

High School Drop Outs: Robert Downey Jr., Heath Ledger, Michael Shannon, Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz - 5



Began careers straight of high school: Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams - 5


Huzzah, a degree in drama still wins! I feel better about myself now.

And in case you were wondering, Laura Linney went to Northwestern, Brown & Julliard and roomed with Jeanne Tripplehorn. All I could find. Darn!

See full post