Christine Lahti Talks to Theatre Students

February 2011

Christine Lahti (BA ’72, theatre & drama), visited the Department of Theatre & Drama at School of Music, Theatre & Dance on Friday, February 18. Students assembled in Studio One in the Walgreen Drama Center for a two-part session:  the first, a critique of three scenes staged by theatre students, then a Q & A where students could find out more about the life of a successful actor.

Lahti has had a 30-year career on stage, in film, and on TV. Most recently, she has appeared in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as ADA Sonya Paxton. She was a member of the cast of the popular TV series Chicago Hope, for which she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe award. On stage, she appeared most recently in God of Carnage on Broadway. She considers the 1987 Bill Forsyth-directed Housekeeping the turning point in her film career. She made her directorial debut with My First Mister, a 2001 a quirky bittersweet comedy, starring Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks.

Lahti encouraged graduating students to go to New York work in the theater. She spent 18 years in New York before relocating to Los Angeles, where she now lives. Prior to her first successes, she paid her dues by waitressing and doing off-off-Broadway shows where the pay was two subway tokens. What kept her going was her innate drive to act.

“You have to work hard, you have to be tenacious,” she said. “Audition, audition, audition. Think of each and every audition as an adventure. Use your nerves; they’re your friend.” She also emphasized the importance of professionalism, something that was brought home for her even more clearly as a director.