Studying Up
Steven Yeun
Where nine of our favorite actors schooled themselves in the craft By Jenna Scherer
Riz Ahmed
Actor, rapper, and musician Ahmed has always been a multihyphenate—and his education bears that out. The “Sound of Metal” Oscar nominee attended Christ Church, Oxford University, where he studied philosophy, politics, and economics before moving on to pursue acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Gillian Anderson
Before her big breakout on “The X-Files,” Anderson spent
Angela Bassett
her youth between London and Michigan. She returned to her native Chicago to get her BFA in acting at the Theatre School at DePaul University in 1990. Three years later, Anderson landed the role of Agent Dana Scully, which would eventually earn her an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Bassett has always been a go-getter, as evidenced by her double education at Yale University. She attended the Ivy for undergrad, majoring in African American studies, and then was weighing whether to study molecular physics and biochemistry or acting in grad school. Fans of her work (read: basically everyone) can thank all the stars that she chose the second route, leading her to the Yale School of Drama.
Sacha Baron Cohen
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Known for fearlessly diving into the cesspool of American politics in his “Borat” films, Baron Cohen got into talking politics early. He studied history at Christ’s
Sacha Baron Cohen
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College, Cambridge University, and wrote his thesis on the U.S. civil rights movement. It’s also where he first took an interest in acting as a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club.
Ben-Adir was bitten by the acting bug early on, so it was a no-brainer for him to apply to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. The “One Night in Miami”
SACHA BARON COHEN: CARLOTTA MOYE; EUGENE LEVY: DEBORAH DIVINE; STEVEN YEUN: GARI ASKEW II; ANGELA BASSETT: GARI ASKEW II
IT’S A QUESTION NEARLY EVERY YOUNG ACTOR HAS ASKED themself: Where should I go to school to pursue my craft? Some know early on exactly what they want to do, and they study acting or drama in undergrad or grad school; others come to acting a little later, after they’ve already started on a different path and decided to change tack. Others, still, choose to drop out of college when their careers come knocking. And then there are those who eschew formal schooling altogether. If you’re trying to decide where to start, a good jumping-off point is to find out how your favorite performers made their own educational journeys. With that in mind, here’s a crash course on where some of the big names who have graced the pages of Backstage studied their craft (or didn’t!).
Eugene Levy
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