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California Institute of the Arts

MFA: Acting

School of Theater

Actor gestures towards the audience with a smile

Scene with Cranes; written by Octavio Solis, directed by Chi-wang Yang

Advanced artistry

CalArts’ three-year MFA Acting program is designed to help boundary-defying, 21st-century theater artists bring your full potential to the stage. Our renowned faculty will mentor and guide you through a comprehensive curriculum developed to expand, innovate, and clarify your skills across diverse media, supporting your transformation as an artist and dynamic performer. The MFA is ideal for talented performers who are engaged with imagination, guided by passion, and inspired to bring compelling stories to the stage.

Woman in dramatic makeup crouching among theatrically lit pink curtains on a stage

A Dream Under a Southern Bough.

  • Best performing arts programs in the US
  • 8:1 student-faculty ratio

    in the School of Theater

  • Top 20 colleges for performing arts

Adventurous. Imaginative. Motivated.

MFA Acting

This describes the advanced actors who come to CalArts to hone their craft, and who go on to join a legacy of performers who continue to influence the field. You and your peers will study classical texts and techniques, while questioning commonly held traditions and assumptions as you explore new possibilities.

Let’s connect

The three-year program prepares students for the demands of a professional acting career across traditional and emerging performance arenas, through a curriculum focused on all facets of the actor’s art and technique. Rigorous classes in acting, voice, speech, movement, and artistic practice are augmented by performance and production experiences tailored to your individual ambitions as an actor.

The curriculum is structured progressively, beginning in the first year with an emphasis on movement and physical expression as a means to energize the imagination. The second year focuses on classical texts from around the world, on-camera technique, and advanced scene study. The third and final year is balanced between the deepening of the actor’s craft and creative agency, together with practical preparation for a performance career across a variety of traditional and emerging media.

CalArts’ School of Theater is unique in its location within a larger arts institution encompassing the full range of performing and visual arts. You and your peers will find inspiration and unanticipated benefits from working with and learning alongside not only directors, experience designers, and producers, but also writers, dancers, choreographers, musicians, filmmakers, animators, and visual artists. Our singular ecosystem of the arts encourages you to follow your impulses, make lifelong connections that will form the foundation of your creative network, and discover myriad professional pathways.

MFA candidates collaborate on projects and workshops presented by the School of Theater and the CalArts Center for New Performance (CNP), and are urged to seek collaborations with peers in various metiers throughout the Institute.

All MFA Acting students are required to pass a mid-residence and a graduation review in order to complete the program and obtain their degree.
 

Admission requirements

To be considered for the MFA Acting program, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including a self-recorded video audition, an artist statement, and an audition. Live auditions are strongly recommended. Before applying, please familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process.

Application requirements 

Academic requirements

Each CalArts MFA Acting student develops a course of study in consultation with their faculty mentors, incorporating rigorous classes in all facets of theatrical production. 

MFA Acting academic requirements

Interdisciplinary opportunities

In addition to CalArts’ naturally collaborative atmosphere, many programs offer candidates the opportunity to pursue an additional concentration concurrently with their chosen discipline.

Interdisciplinary opportunities

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as an MFA Acting student? Browse the courses offered in the School of Theater, one of the preeminent theater training grounds in the United States.

School of Theater courses

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

When I decided to go to CalArts, it was because of an overwhelming feeling of “this is my home.” The ability to create and train in multiple disciplines at once was very attractive to me.

Headshot of MFA Acting alum EE Williams
E.E. Williams MFA 24

Some of our alumni

  • Amy Keating Rogers (MFA 94), story animation writer (The Powerpuff Girls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory); four Primetime Emmy nominations, two Daytime Emmy nominations
  • Ali Ahn (MFA 06), stage and screen actor (Agatha All Along, The Diplomat)
  • Tori Danner (MFA 19), stage and screen actor (Bob Hearts Abishola)
  • Dana Gourrier (MFA 10), screen actor (The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, True Detective, American Horror Story)

More School of Theater alumni

First, we take Manhattan

Actors Showcase

As part of the transition from the Institute to the industry, graduating MFA actors present their work to industry professionals in Los Angeles and New York—performing before agents, managers, casting directors, producers, directors, and various creative professionals in CalArts’ annual Actors Showcase.

A large group of actors, dressed in glamorous clothing in shades of green, poses on a theater stage

Interview with Peter Mark, an MFA actor in the School of Theater at CalArts. 

Theater events

  • Performance School of Theater

    Get ready for a playful evening of surprises, laughter and spontaneous creativity! Directed by Frank…

    Thu, Oct 24 / 8:00 PM - Sat, Oct 26 / 10:00 PM

    CalArts Campus

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The Center for New Performance

The professional producing arm of CalArts, the Center for New Performance (CNP) extends the progressive work carried out at CalArts into direct dialogue with professional communities in Los Angeles and around the world. CNP’s alternative model supports emerging directions in the performing arts while enabling CalArts students to work shoulder-to-shoulder with celebrated professional artists and gain experience beyond the curriculum.

A group of actors, wearing bright colored clothes, reach toward a black box. The stage behind them is a projected image.

Want to learn more?

We got you. Our Admissions team is all about providing the information you need to decide if CalArts is right for you. We’re excited to connect with you for a tour of our legendary campus, a virtual info session, or at one of our admissions events across the country or around the world. Take the next step—we’re here to help.