About the Undergraduate Acting Major
Acting is as much about discovery as it is about rigorous training—of your instincts, your collaborators, and the world around you. Before you can tell the truth of a character, you have to uncover your own. As an actor in training you have a raw, unique artistic voice that’s yours alone. Learn to become unmistakably, unapologetically you, and to bring that truth to every role you create.
Housed in Emerson College’s Department of Performing Arts in the School of Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, our BFA in Acting program offers a set of tools that empower each actor to discover, refine, and fully embody their own artistry. Voice, Movement, Improv, Scene Study, Shakespeare, and On-Camera work are approached not as rigid systems, but as adaptable languages that each actor learns to speak in their own way. We reject the idea of the “cookie-cutter” performer; instead, we cultivate individuality, curiosity, and risk-taking.
Graduates leave not as replicas of a system, but as distinct, self-possessed artists who are prepared to navigate a wide range of mediums and to make work that is personal, relevant, compelling, and alive.
Available Concentrations
All BFA Acting students are eligible to audition for our Ensemble Studio at the end of their sophomore year. If accepted, you would spend your last two years of study within a tight-knit cohort, training side by side in an environment that demands precision, trust, and fearless collaboration. Your acting classes are assigned to you and shared exclusively with your ensemble, creating a rare continuity of process and perspective.
You won’t just refine your own craft; you’ll witness, challenge, and champion the evolution of your peers. In this space, growth is collective. You’ll take risks together, stumble together, and ultimately expand together, building a level of artistic trust and connection that can best come from sustained, shared experience with a dedicated group of actors.
Emerson’s BFA Acting program has provided me the perfect balance of structure and flexibility to explore and succeed in my creative goals. More importantly, it is because of this program that I’ve found my place within an incredibly supportive network of peers and faculty. I have truly discovered who I am, who I want to be in the world, and what I want to create.
Real-World Experience as a Performing Artist
Acting majors have ample opportunity to gain real-world learning experience and industry exposure. Here are a few examples:
- Acting majors have ample opportunity to gain real-world learning experience. Here are a few examples:
Emerson Stage is the producing organization within the Department of Performing Arts. Its nine-show season offers more than 120 opportunities for actors, 100 positions for design staff, 70 for production staff, and another 70 for theater management staff and 30 artistic staff—all reserved exclusively for Performing Arts students. - Students have the opportunity to perform in our five professional-quality theater spaces. Our theaters are supported by modern rehearsal studios, practice rooms, and a design studio, light lab, costume shop, scenic shop, and makeup suite.
- Graduating seniors in our Ensemble Studio concentration have the chance to perform in front of industry reps, casting directors, and notable Emerson alumni at two annual spring Showcases, one in Boston and one in New York City.
- Students have the opportunity to hone their skills for the camera by acting in student films produced on real working sets on campus and on location through our School of Film, Television, and Media Arts.
- Beyond campus, students can intern at local theater and casting companies, such as SpeakEasy Stage Company, Lyric Stage Company, Chelsea Theatre Works, The Huntington Theatre, CP Casting, and Boston Casting.
- Students can study the craft of acting in the hub of the entertainment industry while spending a semester at Emerson Los Angeles. They also intern at a site related to their field, such as a casting or talent agency.
- Our campus is home to a vibrant student theater scene with 30 student performance organizations, including the Mercutio Troupe, Rareworks, Emerson Comedy Workshop, and Musical Theatre Against the Grain.
- As the professional presentation and production organization of the Office of the Arts at Emerson College, ArtsEmerson brings industry-leading theater and film from all over the world to the heart of downtown Boston. Through master classes, networking events, discounted tickets, and free student rush, ArtsEmerson gives students the chance to learn from cutting-edge artists.
Careers for Acting Majors
Our Acting graduates obtain employment in the theatre industry and associated fields. Examples of careers include:
- Stage Actor, Film Actor, Voice Actor
- Content Creator (digital media, streaming platforms)
- Deviser and Theatre Maker
- Artistic Director
- Playwright
- Screenwriter
- Talent Agent/Manager
- Casting Director
- Producer
- Acting Coach
- Fight Director
- Motion Capture Performer
- Intimacy Coordinator
- Professor of Theater or Acting
Notable Performing Arts Alumni
- Ian Cardoni, Actor and Voice of Rick Sanchez, Rick & Morty (television)
- Jennifer Coolidge, Actor, American Pie, Legally Blonde (feature films); The White Lotus (television)
- Michael Cyril Creighton, Actor, Spotlight, The Post, American Fiction (feature films); Only Murders in the Building (television)
- Chloe Kerwin, Actor, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (television); Asleep in My Palm (feature film)
- Andrea Martin, Actor, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (feature films); SCTV, Only Murders in the Building (television); My Favorite Year, Pippin (Broadway)
- Matt McGorry, Actor, Orange Is the New Black; How to Get Away with Murder (television)
- Chrystee Pharris, Actor, Scrubs (television)
- Alex Serino, Actor, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway)
- Emily Skeggs, Actor, Fun Home (Broadway); When We Rise (television)
- Kai Thomani Tshikosi, Actor, Hamilton (North American Tour)
- Henry Winkler, Actor, Happy Days, Arrested Development, Barry (television)
