Oscar-winning Actor Anthony Hopkins, who took aim at drama training schools this week, said: "Don't waste your money... Theater training schools are run by failed actors who pride themselves on being masters. In fact, Hopkins studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 1957, then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, where he was discovered by Lawrence Olivier and invited to join the Royal National Theatre in 1965. But while the likes of Hopkins, James Norton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Coleman honed their skills at prestigious schools such as the London School of Music and Dramatic Arts and Bristol Old Vic, some of which cost as much as £10,000 a year, formal training is not always a prerequisite for success in the industry. The following 10 stars have enjoyed brilliant careers despite never taking an acting class.
1. Kayla Knightley
Although Kayla, 36, never went to drama school, she had a pair of acting parents (Will Knightley and Shaman McDonald) and had an agent at the age of six. From indie films to blockbusters, Keira Knightley's career has grown. Her accolades include two Empire Awards and two Oscar nominations, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award and one Lawrence Oliver Award.
2. Jennifer Lawrence
American Sweetheart Jennifer Lawrence was the world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, and her films have grossed more than $6 billion at the global box office to date — but if she follows her mother's advice, she may never succeed. Jennifer, who performed at school and church in Louisville as a child, was spotted on the street by a model scout while she was on vacation in New York at the age of 14 and arranged for her to audition. But she decided she wanted to be an actress, not a model, and while her mother, Karen, wasn't keen on her pursuing an acting career and encouraged her to go the modeling route, Jennifer decided to go the acting path. After several television roles, she took on a breakthrough role in the 2010 independent drama Winter's Bones. The film won a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, while Jennifer won a National Jury Award for her breakthrough performance and was nominated for best actress in a golden globe for the first time — as well as an Academy Award for Best Actress.
3. Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise had a difficult upbringing, once describing his late father as a "bully" and "coward" who beat up his children. He moved because of his father's work in the Canadian Armed Forces and spent his childhood in Ottawa, Canada. He began working in drama in his fourth year, but he had aspirations to become a Franciscan pastor. At the age of 18, he moved to New York to pursue his acting career, where he worked as a waitress for a time. He then moved to Los Angeles to try his hand at a TELEVISION role and signed up with a talent agency. After a role in the 1981 film Endless Love, he took on the male lead role in Ridley Scott's film Legend in 1985, and by the time he starred in Top Gun the following year, he had earned superstar status.
4. Sir Ian McLean
His career spanned 60 years, winning seven Lawrence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe award and an Actors Guild of America Award – but Sir Ian McLean never received formal acting training. Sir Ian developed an interest in theatre from an early age, immersing himself in show business while studying English literature at Cambridge University, starring in 23 plays during his three years of study. Sir Ian made his professional debut at the Belgrade Theatre in 1961, playing Roper in The Man With All Seasons. He became a well-known figure in The British theatre scene, especially in the role of Shakespeare, and earned a reputation on Broadway. He starred in Magneto in the X-Men movie and played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
5. James Corden
At the age of four, James Corden stood in a chair at his sister's baptismal ceremony, pulling his face as people laughed and letting people watch him "feel great," and from that day on, he enjoyed acting. James took a lot of auditions before he turned 17, but had bad luck. He began his bachelor's degree in performing arts, but later gave it up, and his opportunity came when he won the role of Tims in Alan Bennett's "History Boys," which was a huge success at the National Theatre and then went back to Broadway before being made into a film.
6. Matt Smith
Long before he was awarded the role of Doctor Who, Matt Smith dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, playing for the youth teams of Northampton Town, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City. After a serious back injury that caused his spine to dissolve, he began performing and joined the National Youth Theatre in London. His theatrical roles there were bassoon pipes in The Master and Margarita. He was studying theatre and creative writing at the University of East Anglia at the time and had reached an agreement that would allow him to graduate without attending lectures in his final year. His first major television role was in 2007 in The BBC's Party Animals, where he played the role of Will Mackenzie in the 2009 comedy series The Middleman. In January 2009, he became the eleventh Doctor Who, succeeding David Tennant.
7. Charlize Theron
It was a chance encounter at a bank that saw Charlize, born in South Africa, go from a struggling dancer to one of the world's highest-paid actresses. Charlize grew up with an alcoholic father who was shot and killed by her mother after attacking them while drunk, and she was sent to boarding school at the age of 13 to begin studying at the State Academy of Arts in Johannesburg and aspired to become a professional ballet dancer. At the age of 16, she won a modeling contract at a local competition in Salerno and moved with her mother to Milan to work across Europe. The two then moved to the United States, but a knee injury frustrates her ballet career and she falls into depression. After flying to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket her mother bought for her, she was only $300 and met talent agent John Crosby after an argument with a cashier at a bank on Hollywood Boulevard. The check she tried to cash was rejected because it was out of state and she wasn't a U.S. citizen, so Crosby cashed the dollar for her and gave her his business card. In her early roles, Charlize received attention for her striking appearance, making her the first African to win an Oscar for acting.
8. Jim Carrey
Canadian actor Jim Carrey discovered her comedic talent when she was 8 years old when she grimaced in front of a mirror. He dropped out of school on his 16th birthday and began doing comedy performances in downtown Toronto during factory shifts, moving from open mic nights and stand-up jiu-jitsu performances to regular paid shows. His first performance was in "Introduction... Janet plays the struggling Impressionist comic strip Tony Maroni, a television film that premiered at CBC in September 1981. This was hugely popular among the audience. He moved to Hollywood in 1983, where he began performing regularly and tenaciously auditioned for Saturday Night Live, and from 1990 to 1994 he was a regular guest on the comedy television series Vivid Colors, which helped him break into Hollywood and develop.
9. Megron
Unlike many up-and-coming actors, Meg Ryan didn't move to New York to study acting — she was actually a budding journalist. She was the daughter of an English teacher by a former actress background, so to earn extra money, she starred in TV commercials and feature films, and eventually starred in the CBS soap opera "The World Has Changed". Her unexpected success as an actress led her to leave college a semester early. She then starred in several television films and smaller film roles, and in 1986 she played Carol Bradshaw in Top Gun.
10. Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix owes a lot of thanks to his mother for letting him into show business. When his father had to stop working due to a back injury, his family moved to Los Angeles, where his mother met high-profile children's talent agent Iris Burton. She had him and his siblings shoot television commercials and television clips; Joaquin made his debut with his brother in the TV series Seven Brides of The Seven Brothers in 1982's "The Christmas Song." In 1984, he again starred with his brother on an after-school special at ABC titled "Backwardness: The Mystery of Dyslexia," for which they were jointly nominated for Best Young Actor in a Television Family Movie at the 6th Youth Film Awards. They also learned to dance, and Phoenix became an avid breakdancing dancer. He made his big-screen debut in the adventure film Space Adventure in 1986.