For the second consecutive year, the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) was ranked fourth in the world in the annual list of the “Top 25 Drama Schools in the World,” as compiled by The Hollywood Reporter, one of the most esteemed publications in show-biz. 

The article, which appeared in the June 15th issue, also cited UNCSA’s School of Drama as having the third among B.F.A. programs included on the list. “There’s no arguing it students find work,” the article read. “The school now teaches on-camera acting all four years of the program — and recent grads are feeling the benefits.”

The Hollywood Reporter consulted with educators, alumni, and industry executives for its annual ranking of the world’s best drama schools.

“We are honored to be included among such a stellar group of training programs for actors and directors,” said Scott Zigler, dean of the School of Drama. “Of particular importance to the School of Drama is that The Hollywood Reporter took note of how employable our actors are, due in no small part to our weaving of on-camera training through all four years of our curriculum, as THR noted. We have always made clear to our students that we are not trying to train a certain kind of actor, but rather want to provide them with a broad array of tools, articulated by our world-class faculty, so they can pursue the career they envision for themselves. Employability is our number-one goal as a training program, and the success of so many of our alumni hopefully bears this out.”

The School of Drama’s four-year on-camera curriculum was devised and designed by leading on-camera academic Bob Krakower, who has collaborated on actor training with Zigler for over three decades. “As THR notes, this gives UNCSA students a competitive edge, providing practical training for today’s industry,” said Zigler. “Additionally, only UNCSA offers integration with a nationally-ranked film school (the UNCSA School of Filmmaking) right on campus, offering the unique opportunity for students to appear in films, learn voice-over techniques, and even gain experience in the motion-capture rig, an essential skill for today’s CGI-based films, and arming many of them with a robust (demo) reel as they enter the profession.”

The list of prominent UNCSA School of Drama alumni is a veritable “Who’s Who” of established, acclaimed talent: Mary-Louise Parker (Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner), celebrated stage director Joe Mantello (Tony Award winner), Anna Camp (True Blood), Tom Hulce (Oscar nominee for Amadeus), Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show), Jennifer Ehle (Tony Award winner), Trieste Kelly Dunn (United 93), Angus MacLachlan (acclaimed playwright and screenwriter), Celia Weston (a recipient of the RiverRun International Film Festival’s Master of Cinema Award), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Fences, Dune), Peter Hedges (noted writer and director), Tim Guinee (Tai-Pan), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Jonathan Majors (When We Rise), Chris Parnell (actor and comedian), Will Patton (No Way Out, Halloween), Missi Pyle (Gone Girl), Jake Lacy (Being the Ricardos), Jada Pinkett Smith, and many others. 

“The UNCSA School of Drama consistently ranks among the top theater programs in the country and world,” said Brian Cole, UNCSA’s chancellor. “These important industry accolades are indicative of the quality of training and the expertise of the professors, as well as the ways in which the school has evolved alongside the industry, particularly during the global pandemic. My congratulations to Drama dean Scott Zigler and his faculty for their leadership in cultivating a world-class drama conservatory.”

For more information, visit the official UNCSA website: https://www.uncsa.edu/. 

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