Boston University is home to Hollywood icons & Broadway legends
Julianne Moore, Geena Davis, Jason Alexander, Michelle Hurd, Alfre Woodard, and many more artists of stage and screen all studied at BU
Pictured (from top left): Russell Hornsby, Kim Raver, Michelle Hurd, Olympia Dukakis, Jason Alexander, Reed Birney, Julianne Moore, Michael Chiklis, Alfre Woodard, Michaela Watkins, Emily Deschanel, Hong Chau, Geena Davis, Marisa Tomei, Faye Dunaway
Boston University is home to Hollywood icons & Broadway legends
Julianne Moore, Geena Davis, Jason Alexander, Michelle Hurd, Alfre Woodard, and many more artists of stage and screen all studied at Boston University College of Fine Arts
For many award-winning actors, designers, and showrunners to critically-acclaimed writers, directors, and producers, the journey starts at Boston University. BU alumni are working in all corners of the entertainment industry. The Hollywood Reporter called Boston University “Hollywood’s secret training ground” for women in the industry, and The New York Times included more than one BU alum on its list of “The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century” (no spoilers). Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre has been named to Playbill‘s list of top schools where Broadway creatives studied. With working-artist faculty, lauded facilities, and an immersive academic and artistic experience, BU School of Theatre is among leading drama programs with alums on screens of all formats and stages of all sizes.
Not to be dramatic, but Boston University is everywhere.
Oscar winners, Broadway producers, Tony Award-ees. The alumni of BU College of Fine Arts (CFA) School of Theatre are internationally-recognized for their work in film, television, and stage productions.
And their work doesn’t end when the cameras stop rolling, when many are using their platforms and voices to mentor, advocate, and improve our world. Geena Davis is paving the way for equitable gender research in the industry. Michelle Hurd serves on the National Board of SAG-AFTRA and is Chair of the National Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee. Julianne Moore is an outspoken advocate for gun violence prevention, through the organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
Get to know some of these amazing artists.
BU alums of real character.
Listed in alphabetical order.
Uzo Aduba
In 2024, Boston University presented its highest alumni honor to Emmy-winning and Tony-nominated actor Uzo Aduba (CFA’05), who Backstage magazine once dubbed “Queen of the Small Screen.”
Known for many starring roles including Suzanne Warren in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, Shirley Chisholm in Hulu’s Mrs. America, and the leading role in HBO’s revamped In Treatment, her education at BU (where she was also a track star) was in the Voice department of the School of Music.
Jason Alexander
Jason Alexander’s (CFA’81, Hon.’95) signature voice and sharp humor may immediately prompt visions of Seinfeld‘s inimitable George Costanza, but his talent extends far beyond sitcom syndication. Alexander earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance in a comedy series for the role, and has continued to share his talents across many forms of media.
The Tony Award-winner’s latest act has brought him to podcasting and directing on Broadway, recently helming The Cottage by Sandy Rustin.
Reed Birney
Veteran actor Reed Birney, who studied at BU College of Fine Arts in the 1970s, found success on Broadway in the smash hit Gemini.
He won a Tony Award for his performance in Stephen Karam’s The Humans, which preceded numerous television appearances (The Blacklist, House of Cards) and film roles (The Menu, Mass).
Raúl Castillo
American actor and playwright Raúl Castillo‘s (CFA’99) work can be seen in roles in Amexicano, Cold Weather, and as Richie Donado Ventura in the HBO series Looking and its series finale television film, Looking: The Movie. Castillo was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film We the Animals.
A writer who practiced the craft at Boston University, Castillo’s plays include Border Stories and Between Me, You, and the Lampshade. His works are associated with the LAByrinth Theater Company and the Atlantic Theater Company.
Sara Chase
Film, television, and stage actor Sara Chase (CFA’05) played Cyndee Pokorny on the Netflix original series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt before originating the role of Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby musical on Broadway. She won the Best Supporting Actress award from the San Diego Theatre Critics for playing all three mistresses in First Wives Club the Musical in their pre-Broadway run.
After graduation, Chase performed the two-woman sketch comedy show “Jen & Angie” at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and Los Angeles.
Hong Chau
Oscar-nominated actor Hong Chau (COM’01) studied film at Boston University College of Communication, and has since made a splash in front of the camera.
Chau has both warmed and chilled hearts of audiences in such hits as HBO’s Big Little Lies and Watchmen, critically acclaimed independent film The Whale, blisteringly dark comedy The Menu, and Boston-based action-comedy The Instigators.
Michael Chiklis
Emmy-winning Massachusetts native Michael Chiklis (CFA’85) had a turn in a dream role playing Red Auerbach in the HBO series Winning Time.
He is perhaps best known for his role as Los Angeles Police Department Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield, but audiences will also recognize actor and producer Chiklis from his star turns in Fantastic Four and The Commish.
Chiklis regularly returns to his alma mater to meet with students, and spoke at CFA’s Convocation ceremony in 2018.
Roy Conli
Roy Conli (CFA’87), who earned a master’s degree in directing at BU, is a producer with Walt Disney Animation Studios. Conli was the producer of animated hit Big Hero 6, and Academy Award winner in the best animated feature category in 2015.
Among Conli’s other producing credits are fan favorites Tangled, Treasure Planet, and Disney’s 1996 animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Geena Davis
Thelma & Louise. A League of Their Own. Beetlejuice. GLOW. She’s an acting legend, and her work is changing the landscape for a more equitable entertainment industry.
Actor Geena Davis (CFA’79, Hon.’99) was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her work to end gender inequality in film and television with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
Peter Del Vecho
We can’t let it go. You can credit BU alum and Massachusetts native Peter Del Vecho (CFA’80) with bringing the harmonies of Elsa and Anna to our hearts.
Del Vecho, producer of Disney’s Frozen and Frozen II, studied theatre production at BU and worked in theatre for 15 years before trying production management, developing such films as 2002’s Treasure Planet and 2005’s Chicken Little, and then moving on to producing, with 2009’s Princess and the Frog.
Emily Deschanel
Known for her role as forensic anthropologist Temperance “Bones” Brennan on the beloved long-running Fox series Bones, Emily Deschanel (CFA’98) is an actress and producer.
She recently starred in Netflix’s Devil in Ohio (based on the novel by fellow BU alum Daria Polatin (CFA’00)!), and previous credits include Cold Mountain, The Alamo, and Glory Road. Off screen, Deschanel is an active supporter of animal rights causes.
Olympia Dukakis
In a career that spanned more than six decades, actor Olympia Dukakis (Sargent’53, CFA’57, Hon.’00) appeared in classic stage plays like Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, Sophocles’ Electra, and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, but it was her performance as Cher’s sardonic mother, Rose Castorini, in the 1987 romantic comedy Moonstruck that brought her fame—and an Academy Award for best supporting actress.
She started acting at a young age and earned an MFA at the College of Fine Arts School of Theatre in 1957. Beyond her Oscar, Dukakis was honored with numerous accolades, including two Obie Awards for her off-Broadway work, a Golden Globe Award, and a Los Angeles Film Critics Award.
Faye Dunaway
Days after graduating from Boston University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Faye Dunaway (CFA’62) made her Broadway debut opposite Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons.
Since then, Dunaway has starred in some of the most iconic movies of the 20th century, including Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, and Network, which garnered her the Best Actress Academy Award in 1977. And she got her start start right here in the theatre studios on Comm Ave.
Dan Fogler
While fans may recognize Dan Fogler (CFA’98) from the wizarding world, as Jacob Kowalski in the Fantastic Beasts series, or The Walking Dead as Luke, he has appeared in several other popular films including Balls of Fury, Good Luck Chuck; and as a voice actor in Kung Fu Panda and Horton Hears a Who!. Fogler portrayed Francis Ford Coppola in the miniseries The Offer, and Albert Grossman in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown. In 2005, Fogler’s Broadway debut as William Barfée in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee won him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
David Garrison
David Garrison (CFA’74), an award-winning actor and Boston University School of Theatre alum, may be best known for playing Steve Rhodes on the long-running television show Married with Children.
Beyond many roles on the small screen, he also has extensive Broadway experience. Garrison has appeared in numerous theatrical roles, notably that of The Wizard on both Broadway and in many tours of the musical Wicked.
Ginnifer Goodwin
Actress Ginnifer Goodwin (CFA’01) is known for work in several popular series, including her roles as Margene Heffman in HBO’s Big Love, Snow White in the ABC series Once Upon a Time, and Beth Ann Stanton in Why Women Kill.
On the big screen, she also starred in animated box office hit Zootopia, drama Mona Lisa Smile, the musical biopic Walk the Line, and was among the ensemble cast of romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You.
Rick Heinrichs
Production designer and BU alum Rick Heinrichs (CFA’76) has overseen the creation of some of cinema’s most iconic places, from Gotham City to Halloween Town to a galaxy far, far away.
He’s partnered with icon Tim Burton on 11 feature films, including Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, and Sleepy Hollow, for which Heinrichs won an Academy Award. More recently, Heinrichs has helped filmmakers create J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and transform a Grecian island into the set of a murder mystery for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Abraham Higginbotham
Emmy Award–winning writer and television producer Abraham Higginbotham (CFA’92), has penned some of the funniest and heartwarming scenes in globally popular series.
Higginbotham was a writer and Executive Producer of ABC’s lauded situational comedy Modern Family. Past writing credits include Arrested Development, Will & Grace, Ugly Betty, and Family Guy. He returned to Boston University in 2019 to share some words of wisdom with CFA graduates.
Greg Hildreth
Audiences may recognize Boston native Greg Hildreth (CFA’05) as the preternaturally cheery snowman in Disney’s Frozen, the Broadway Musical. Before Olaf, he starred in the 2013 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Other Broadway credits include Peter and the Starcatcher and the 2010 hit Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
Between Broadway appearances, Hildreth has won roles on television and film, including the long-running CBS hit series The Good Wife, and the smash FX series The Americans.
David Hoffman
As Liberty Mutual’s Doug, comedic actor David Hoffman (CFA’99) cuts up opposite an emu in a now-iconic ad campaign.
The actor who’d once played Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice at Boston University was now the face of a Fortune 100 insurance company. Hoffman’s acting journey flowed through the improv-based theatre troupe The Groundlings. He directs an annual charity improv show with other comics at The Groundlings Theater in L.A., which has raised more than $235,000 for the Hollywood Food Coalition over its three years.
Russell Hornsby
From off-Broadway productions to starring opposite Denzel Washington, BU alum Russell Hornsby (CFA’96) has enjoyed an enviable and varied acting career.
Fans can catch Russell’s acting skills in movies like The Hate U Give and Fences as well as popular TV series like NBC’s Grimm, ESPN’s Playmakers, and ABC’s Gideon’s Crossing.
Hornsby has returned to Boston University to work with students, and in 2023 again to join fellow Terrier Michelle Hurd in conversation for BU College of Communication’s symposium Black Media: Reflecting on the Past and Reimagining the Future.
Michelle Hurd
Prolific actor Michelle Hurd (CFA’88) recently starred opposite Patrick Stewart in Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard, in AMC’s The Walking Dead spinoff Isle of the Dead, in NBC’s hit drama Blindspot, and in FOX’s Lethal Weapon.
She is known for her roles in Starz’s hit horror comedy Ash Vs. Evil Dead, the Marvel Universe series Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and A&E’s The Glades. Hurd’s other television credits include: Pose, Hawaii Five-0, Devious Maids, 90210, Witches of East End, How To Get Away With Murder, Bosch, Mysteries of Laura, Pretty Little Liars, Raising Hope, The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Gossip Girl, ER, Bones, According To Jim, Law & Order, Smith, Skin, Leap Years, Charmed, The O.C., Kevin Hill, The Practice, and Another World.
Hurd was at the front of the picket line during the 2023 actors’ strike, and fiercely advocated on behalf of her fellow actors as National Board of SAG-AFTRA and Chair of the National Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee.
In addition to coming back to Boston to receive recent honors from BU including CFA’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the University’s highest alumni honor, Hurd recently joined Russell Hornsby in conversation for BU College of Communication’s symposium Black Media: Reflecting on the Past and Reimagining the Future.
Brooke Karzen
TV trailblazer Brooke Karzen (CFA’84) says that learning in a creative environment and being open to opportunities helped propel her career in Hollywood. As the Executive Vice President & Head of Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Karzen has grown the company’s series slate from its initial series: The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and America’s Best Dance Crew to a studio-record number of shows including such mega hits as The Voice and Little Big Shots with Melissa McCarthy.
She received CFA’s Distinguished Alumna Award in 2019, and spent some time back at BU talking with students about paving their careers in the industry.
Joyce Kim Lee
Costume designer Joyce Kim Lee (CFA’93) was premed before discovering a costume design exhibit and transferring to CFA, and has made a career dressing actors – and building characters. Among her costume credits are Disney’s Magic Bake-Off, Apple TV+’s Surfside Girls, Just Roll With It, and The Fresh Beat Band (television, 2009–13), which won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling.
Yunjin Kim
South Korean and American actress Yunjin Kim (CFA’93) is known Sun-Hwa Kwon on the smash hit American television series Lost. Her other notable works include North Korean spy Bang-Hee in the South Korean film Shiri, Seven Days, Harmony, The Neighbors, and Ode to My Father. Recently, Kim starred as Principal Jina Lim in the revolutionary English-Korean Netflix series, XO, Kitty.
Stewart Lane
Tony-winning producer, director, playwright, and former actor Stewart Lane (CFA’73), aka “Mr. Broadway,” comes by the moniker honestly. The hands-on producer has been nominated for ten Tonys and won six. Four of those, including Gentleman’s Guide, for shows coproduced with his wife and business partner, Bonnie Comley. In 2013, Lane and Comley co-founded BroadwayHD, an on-demand digital streaming media company that records and distributes live and previously recorded theatrical productions. In 2016, they broke the Guinness World Record for the first Broadway show to be live streamed.
Lane recently produced Pictures From Home, starring Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein, and Zoë Wanamaker, drawing on American photographer Larry Sultan‘s 1992 photo memoir about his childhood in the postwar baby boom generation in Southern California.
Corinne Marrinan
After studying theatre at Boston University and a stint in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre, producer Corinne Marrinan (CFA’95) went to work on hit show CSI, where she spent almost a decade working her way up from producing assistant to associate producer to one of 10 staff writers on the show.
Marrinan has produced documentary films and continued to write for television. She won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject, for 2004’s A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin.
Natalie Turturro Mettouchi
Natalie Turturro Mettouchi (CFA’10) has worked as an assistant costume designer on New York City period dramas, including Amazon Prime’s hit comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and HBO’s The Deuce, both set in vastly distinct fashion eras in New York City.
She also worked on Feud: Capote’s Women, the feature film Maestro about legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s life and art, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and The Greatest Showman.
Julianne Moore
Among the most beloved actors of a generation, Julianne Moore (CFA’83) has an impressive breadth of work. She has moved audiences with intimate portrayals in independent films (Still Alice, The Kids are All Right). She has anchored blockbusters (Hunger Games series, Children of Men, Crazy, Stupid, Love).
Moore has been honored with an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, The New York Times named her one of the greatest actors of the 21st century. Consider us star struck.
And, she’s fighting for a safer world. An outspoken advocate for gun violence prevention, Moore works with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Jane Musky
Accomplished Production Designer in the film industry, Jane Musky (CFA’76) has worked as a production designer on dozens of films and television shows. Her film NINE, which she wrote and directed, details the enactment of Title IX and the brave actions of the women who petitioned for inclusion of women’s rowing as a varsity sport at BU in the 1970s, despite the challenges, obstacles, and biases against women in sport.
As the production designer for popular and beloved films from Ghost and When Harry Met Sally, to Hitch and Hustlers, Jane Musky brings heartwarming, powerful, and groundbreaking stories to life.
Peter Paige
For much of Peter Paige’s Hollywood career, the actor, writer, and director has expanded TV’s idea of family, making queer people more visible on television. Paige (CFA’91) first appeared on Showtime’s groundbreaking Queer as Folk, before working as a creator and executive producer of The Fosters, an award-winning series about an interracial lesbian couple and their blended family, and later with Good Trouble.
Through his work, Peter Paige helps shape audiences’ evolving attitudes toward and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. “We are a society obsessed with our own reflection,” Paige says, “only the mirror we are looking in is the 42-inch plasma in our living rooms. We all want to be reflected there, and when we don’t see ourselves, we feel invisible.”
Kim Raver
Actor Kim Raver (CFA’91) is no stranger to life reflecting art. Raver played paramedic Kim Zambrano on Third Watch, about New York City firefighters, paramedics, and police officers. The show’s 2001–2002 season addressed the September 11 attacks and the tragic day’s aftermath. And two decades later, as she was portraying cardiothoracic surgeon Teddy Altman in Shonda Rhimes’ generational hit, ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, the show’s fictional hospital was being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside our real world.
Raver has played a wide range of roles over her career, from a Department of Defense senior policy analyst in the action-packed Fox series 24, to the seductive editor-in-chief of a luxury magazine in NBC’s Lipstick Jungle. Boston University College of Fine Arts bestowed the CFA Distinguished Alumna Award on Raver in 2017.
Lizzy Rich
Lizzy Rich (CFA’14) studied acting at Boston University, but now works behind the scenes on Hollywood blockbusters. She is Director of Development at Dylan Clark Productions, the producers behind The Batman (2022) and HBO Max series The Penguin (2024). Rich previously worked the assistant to the president of Pascal Pictures, the production company behind hit films like Little Women, The Post, and the Spider-Man series starring Tom Holland.
Outside of work, she helped launch BU School of Theatre’s Mentorship Program, which she founded to connect recent graduates with alumni mentors in the industry.
Jessica Rothe
Jessica Rothe (CFA’09) started her post-Boston University career appearing in independent films and on stage before her breakthrough came with playing Tree Gelbman in the comedy slasher film Happy Death Day and its 2019 sequel, which established her as a scream queen.
Rothe has starred in the musical films La La Land and Valley Girl, and romantic dramas Forever My Girl and All My Life. On television, she starred in the MTV comedy series Mary + Jane and the Amazon Prime Video science fiction drama series Utopia.
Tanya Saracho
Tanya Saracho (CFA’98) is running the show, literally. She was the creator, executive producer, and writer for STARZ’s Vida, and coproducer and writer for Shonda Rhimes’ How to Get Away with Murder, and HBO’s Looking.
As the founder of Teatro Luna theater company in Chicago, Saracho’s writing chops are foundational to her artistry. Chicago Magazine named her Best New Playwright in 2010, the same year she was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Boston University School of Theatre produced a play by Saracho, El Nogalar, in 2023.
Dave Shalansky
Dave Shalansky (CFA’96) credits much of his success as a character actor to the training he received as a theatre arts student at Boston University School of Theatre. Now based in New York, Shalansky has enjoyed roles in various projects, including Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, and Six Feet Under.
Reflecting on his time at Boston University, Shalansky says “This program allowed me to enter into the professional world seamlessly… I think that speaks volumes in anything you do.”
Julian Shapiro-Barnum
There’s the small screen and then there’s the small screen. And if you’ve spent any time on the smaller one lately, chance are you’ve scrolled past one of Julian Shapiro-Barnum‘s Recess Therapy videos. Shapiro-Barnum (CFA’21) started the viral kids interview series as part of thesis work at the School of Theatre. Millions of followers later, including celebrities who often appear as guest interviewers, Recess Therapy is a hilarious, feel-good hit. No matter how serious the topic, every video is funny. One video of Corn Kid, a little boy relishing his corn on the cob, went global.
Shapiro-Barnum’s touching, authentic, and humorous approach to interviewing earned him a spot on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 lists.
Nina Tassler
Producer, author, and media and entertainment executive Nina Tassler (CFA’79, Hon.’16) built a groundbreaking career in the industry as the former chairman of CBS Entertainment, responsible for hit series including The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, and The Good Wife.
In recent years, she co-founded PatMa Productions alongside Denise Di Novi and she published her first book, What I Told My Daughter: Lessons from Leaders on Raising the Next Generation of Empowered Women. As the head of CBS Entertainment for over a decade, she made it her mission to provide more opportunities to women in television, both as executives and as showrunners.
Tassler served as a Boston University trustee from 2009 to 2023 and rejoined the board in 2024, working especially closely with BU College of Fine Arts.
Marisa Tomei
Film and Broadway actor Marisa Tomei (Hon’02), who studied at BU School of Theatre before launching her acting career, rocketed to notoriety for her performance in My Cousin Vinny, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Additional nominations would follow for her work in In the Bedroom and The Wrestler.
Tomei has appeared in numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions and in movies and series spanning all genres, from Hulu’s dystopian The Handmaid’s Tale to romcoms like Crazy, Stupid, Love, to the Marvel Universe, in which she portrayed May Parker in the Spider-Man series.
Baron Vaughn
Baron Vaughn (CFA’03) is a comedian and actor, known for his portrayal of Nwabudike “Bud” Bergstein on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. Vaughn appeared on the 2017 revival of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and USA Network’s Fairly Legal, and films including Cloverfield and Black Dynamite.
He may be best known for his comedy work, with appearances on The Awkward Comedy Show with Hannibal Buress, and stand-up comedy featured across late night shows. Vaughn created a documentary about meeting his father for the first time at age 35, Fatherless, and his second comedy album, Blaxistential Crisis, is available to stream.
Krista Vernoff
From Boston University to Hollywood, and from Grey’s Anatomy to Shameless (on which she was executive producer and writer), Emmy Award-winning writer and showrunner Krista Vernoff (CFA’93) has built a career by bringing her writing into the homes of millions around the world. “I’m not acting now, but I certainly have a career in the arts because of BU,” she reflects.
Past writing and producing credits include beloved series like Private Practice, Charmed, and Law & Order.
Michaela Watkins
A Saturday Night Live alumna, Michaela Watkins (CFA’94) is known as much for her comedy chops as for her tragicomic roles in Hulu’s Casual (for which she was also credited as a writer) and other series, like ABC’s Trophy Wife and Amazon’s Transparent.
Watkins has also had recurring roles on many other television series, including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Catastrophe, Enlightened, New Girl, and Search Party and appeared in numerous films such as You Hurt My Feelings, The Back-up Plan, Wanderlust, and Enough Said.
Ashley Williams
Actor Ashley Williams (CFA’01) has warmed the hearts of audiences over 150 episodes of television and films for The Hallmark Channel, Lifetime Television, ABC Family, NBC, and TV Land. Williams starred in the CBS series How I Met Your Mother.
Since graduating from Boston University, she has worked in studio and independent films, regional theater, Off-Broadway, and on Broadway.
Alfre Woodard
Oscar-nominated actor Alfre Woodard (CFA’74, Hon.’04) has earned acclaim and dozens of awards, four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and two Grammy Awards. She’s also a board member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These well-won accolades come from over more than four decades for roles ranging from Mistress Shaw in the 2013 historical drama 12 Years a Slave, to Betty Applewhite on the ABC dramedy Desperate Housewives, to the voice of Sarabi in The Lion King (2019).
In 2020, The New York Times named her one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
BU Alums in Film, Television, and Theatre
In addition to these amazing folks, there are so many more in our BU Terrier community working hard in front of the camera and behind the curtain as writers, producers, designers, and actors, to bring beloved stories and new voices to the world.
Check out CFA magazine to read many of their stories, and find a list of accolades they’ve received, from Tonys to Oscars (and Grammys and Emmys).
A legacy built on tradition.
A future fueled by exploration.
It’s an immersive and academic experience like no other. Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre has a reputation for strong foundational drama techniques within the art form. It’s a progressive studio model that emphasizes individual creative exploration in the context of a professional toolbox.
The result is a solid foundation for the next generation of actors, designers, producers, directors, and writers.
Julius Caesar (2024)
The Rink (2024)
Yerma (2024)
Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (2023)
El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho (CFA’98) (2022)
Hedda Gabler (2023)
Academics
The immersive academic and artistic experience in the School of Theatre’s Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts programs in performance, design, production, and management is like no other. Through headlong risk taking, we bring concepts into existence and unleash ideas to build connections that shape the world.
State-of-the-art for the arts.
Considered one of the best new architectural structures around the globe, the Boston University Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre provides BU theatre students with countless opportunities to innovate and transport audiences to another world.
Funded in part by a naming gift of $10 million from BU trustee Steve Zide (LAW’86), Booth Theatre is a centerpiece on Boston University’s campus. Designed by internationally-recognized Elkus | Manfredi Architects with construction managed by the Bond Brothers, the 250-seat theatre is a flexible, tech-enhanced canvas of experimentation for BU’s theatre artists.
In addition to Booth, the 75,000 square-foot complex is home to the BU College of Fine Arts Production Center that includes costume shops, design labs, paint shops, scene shops, lighting labs, and more. And BU is setting the stage for sustainability. The award-winning dramatic arts complex earned the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver Certification for its green features, including operations and maintenance of a resource-efficient, healthy, and cost-effective space.
Theatre Venues & Facilities
Boston University boasts some of the most amazing performance and production spaces for students studying theatre and drama. BU is a research university, and these are facilities built for the next generation of artists to experiment.