A Tony Award-winning actress attracted a crowd of nearly 100 observers and aspiring actors to UF's Constans Theatre on Thursday afternoon.
The Florida Players, a UF acting group, arranged for Katie Finneran to give a speech and workshop to discuss her success and critique several audience members' performances.
"My career has been so eclectic," said Finneran, who won the Tony Award in 2002 for her performance in the play "Noises Off." "In show business, anything can happen."
She offered advice on everything from banishing pre-audition jitters to choosing between Manhattan and Los Angeles for a future home.
She said she sympathized with young actors who have difficulties finding theater work while also trying to pay bills in expensive cities.
As an aspiring performer, Finneran said she worked at cappuccino bars, washed gym floors and was fired from Tavern on the Green restaurant. But she said nothing broke her spirit.
"I really and truly would have done anything just to stay in the game," she said.
Now 17 years of hard work in New York have led to roles in theater, television and movies. Finneran said she knew she'd made it when she won the Tony in 2002.
Winning the award gave her a sense of accomplishment and a security that is often uncommon for actors, she said.
"At least I know I will always be able to do a play," she said, "even if it's in Poughkeepsie."
During a break between Finneran's speech and the student performances, the room swarmed with activity.
Many approached Finneran with questions and compliments, while others silently mouthed the words to pieces they were about to perform.
George Salazar, UF theatre performance senior and Florida Players publicist, sang "If I Didn't Believe in You," a piece from a musical he saw while interning in Manhattan last summer.
"I don't feel that nervous, butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling because I know she isn't going to sit there and judge me," Salazar said. "She's going to sit there and help me."
Finneran challenged Salazar to display a wider range of emotions throughout the piece while she posed as his girlfriend listening to the song's message.
"Perfect! Genius!" she shouted after his fifth take. "I felt the song."
She encouraged the audience to stop listening to the opinions of everyone around them and trust their own intuitions in acting-related decisions.
"If I teach you anything at all today, I'll teach you to just shut your eyes and listen to yourself," Finneran said. "Everybody knows what the right answer is for them."
