Award-winning actress Laura Linney was on the campus of UNC Charlotte on Thursday, October 19, to address the campus community, conduct a masterclass for acting students, and deliver the Chancellor's Speakers Series presentation at UNC Charlotte Center City.
A graduate of Brown University and the Juilliard School, Linney has won numerous awards for her roles in film, television, and stage productions. Film credits include Mystic River, Love Actually, and The Truman Show. Notable television appearances include the Showtime series The Big C, the HBO miniseries John Adams, and the current Netflix series Ozark. Prominent Broadway productions include The Crucible and Six Degrees of Separation. Her father, the playwright Romulus Linney, was from a deeply rooted North Carolina (Watauga County) family.
Linney joined Department of Theatre Chair Lynne Conner for a public conversation on the stage of the Belk Theater in Robinson Hall, then coached acting students in a masterclass. Conner led Linney in another public conversation later that evening for an invited audience uptown. In her comments, Linney talked about the creative process, the rigors of preparing for a role, the importance of arts education, and her relationship to her father.