13 Reasons Why Foreign Actors Thrive in Hollywood

Much has been said on the topic of non-U.S. actors landing prime acting gigs in Hollywood, but much of it accuses America of offering inferior training, which I don’t believe necessarily to be true. Though it may account for a small part of the difference in success between actors from different countries, for my money there are many other highly influential factors than training alone.

Lower cost, good training

Regardless of the standard of acting training, the United States has incredibly expensive tuition. Many other countries have cheap, subsidized, or even free tuition, which obviously makes the acquisition of terrific training far more accessible than it is, or has ever been for American actors. When one considers the influence that is exerted by boasting the same training credentials as Toni Collette, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Marion Cotillard, or Hugh Jackman, it’s not surprising that foreign actors are among those at the top of the list when casting projects in the U.S.

Starting ahead

Actors such as Monica Bellucci, Tom Hardy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Penélope Cruz all came to the attention of Hollywood as outliers in their country of origin. Performing in top TV and film productions for sometimes decades before hitting American screens, the advantage they had upon being…