November 12, 2001 Alumna Camryn Manheim of 'The Practice' offers tips to UCSC students By Doreen Schack When aspiring actors tell Camryn Manheim that she's lucky to have become famous, a characteristic fire comes into her eyes. "I was not lucky," she's in the habit of saying. "Luck had almost nothing to do with it. I worked harder than anyone else I know." "Santa Cruz gave me a foundation of confidence and self-worth," Camryn Manheim said during her visit to UCSC. Photos: Michele Benson More than 100 theater arts students listened with rapt attention as Manheim, who graduated from UCSC (Porter College) with a theater arts degree in 1984, shared wisdom, wit, and recommendations for success during a "master class" at UCSC's Experimental Theater on November 2. Manheim certainly has the credentials. In 1998, she won an Emmy Award (Best Supporting Actress) for her role as defense attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's award-winning drama, The Practice. A Golden Globe Award followed a year later for the same role. She was named one of the Most Intriguing People of the Year by People Magazine, one of the Most Fascinating Women of the Year by Ladies Home Journal, and one of Glamour Magazine's Women of the Year. Her book, Wake Up, I'm Fat, is a best-seller. In the words of one student, she's a "household name," due, in part, to her gutsy televised acceptance of the 1998 Emmy: the plus-size actress held the trophy aloft and proclaimed, "This is for all the fat girls." Manheim's career has been anything but a straight line to the top. She almost dropped out or was thrown out of every acting program she ever took. At UCSC, she failed to meet the department graduation requirement of at least two on-campus performances, though she eventually squeaked by based on her plentiful off-campus roles. She hated a prestigious summer program at ACT in San Francisco ("They had a lot of rules. I don't like rules.") At New York University, where she earned her master's, relentless badgering from professors to lose weight led to a period of drug addiction and suicidal depression. ("Drugs are a great way to lose weight," she said. "You'll look fabulous in that coffin.") Today, Manheim preaches the life-saving and career-enhancing attributes of confidence, hard work, graciousness, generosity, and passion. Take confidence, for example. "The people who get the [acting] jobs are not the ones who are nice-y nice or arrogant. They're the ones who are confident. If you're feeling insecure at an audition, here's your first acting task: Don't say 'oh, I wasn't expecting so many people to be watching my audition, so I'm feeling a little nervous.' No, no, no! Say 'I'm so glad to see so many of you. Having a bigger audience always improves my performance.' " Manheim gave UCSC's student actors a long list of practical suggestions to enhance their confidence and career success, from the philosophical ("Be proud to be an actor. You're doing great things for the world.") to the mundane ("Always have a book of stamps."). And she provided a reality check on the pace of success: "Your career is like a dot-to-dot puzzle, with about 5,000 dots. It takes years...only those with a ferocious desire to get through the door will cross this threshold." Regardless of the trajectory their careers take, Manheim encouraged the students to regularly return to UCSC and the other places where they were trained. "Don't go back to brag. And don't be scared to go back because you're ashamed you haven't 'made it' yet. Go back and be honest.... Santa Cruz gave me a foundation of confidence and self-worth. Had I not stopped off at Santa Cruz for four years, I wouldn't be sitting here today." Manheim's visit to UCSC was sponsored by the Division of the Arts. A profile of Camryn Manheim was published in the Winter 2000 issue of the UCSC Review.