Most recently, Hollywood heavyweights Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman have made the switch this fall from screen to stage in their new two-man Broadway drama, A Steady Rain.  Best known respectively as James Bond and X-Men’s Wolverine, Craig and Jackman play Southside Chicago police officers whose differing perspectives on a domestic dispute threaten to destroy their lifelong friendship.  In order to prepare for their roles, the British and Australian actors met with real-life Chicago police officers and acquired convincing Chicago accents with the help of a dialect coach.

Although Craig and Jackman are primarily known for their screen work, both men are well versed in theater and more than capable of holding their own on stage.  A Steady Rain is Craig’s official Broadway debut, but the British actor got his start in London’s West End working in hit productions like Hurlyburly and Angels in America.

Hugh Jackman is also no stranger to the stage.  In 2004, Jackman received the coveted Tony Award for his role in the musical The Boy from Oz.  According to the New York Post, this performance deemed him “the most sought after leading man in theater.”  Since this breakthrough performance, Jackman focused primarily on screen acting until agreeing to take on A Steady Rain.

Is it difficult for actors to interchange between media onscreen and on stage?  According to USA Today, Daniel Craig doesn’t think so.  Craig is quoted as saying: “People say that acting in theater and film are different disciplines, but I can’t agree completely.  The only thing that matters in acting is truth.  It’s all about making the audience believe you.”

There is no question that the duo’s star power has positively impacted the play’s success.  According to the Chicago Tribune, A Steady Rain has already broken Broadway box office records for highest weekly gross of a nonmusical play, cashing in $1,167,954 just two weeks ago.  After performances, loitering fans outside the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater hoping to congratulate the actors became so loud that the noise pollution interrupted the Broadway production across the street.  A Steady Rain runs until Dec. 6, and the star-studded play is expected to earn in the ballpark of $10 million.

Also making her stage debut this season is Keira Knightley.  The British actress has put her Hollywood career on hold to star in a contemporary version of 17^th century French playwright Moliere’s comedy farce The Misanthrope. Ironically, Knightley will play a glamorous Hollywood film star who seduces a famous yet troubled British playwright.  Knightley is the only Hollywood actress in the ensemble cast, starring opposite British actor Damian Lewis. An actor in the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, Lewis’ screen work includes Steven Spielberg’s HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail, Thea Sharrock, director of The Misanthrope, is confident in Knightley’s onstage acting abilities, despite her lack of experience.  Sharrock is quoted as saying, “She’s absolutely ready to come into this vulnerable position – and I’m interested in working with her, to push her in a way that I don’t think she has been pushed before…”  Sharrock has previous experience working with screen talent, most notably directing Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe in his Broadway debut in Equus last year.  In anticipation of her own stage debut, Knightley has already begun preparing for her role by working with a voice coach and taking singing lessons to improve her projection.  The Misanthrope opens Dec. 17 at London’s Comedy Theatre.

In some cases, Hollywood actors aren’t accustomed to the intensity of Broadway schedules and can’t deliver the often-required eight performances per week.  Last December, actor Jeremy Piven, whose latest film was The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, backed out of David Mamet’s drama Speed-the-Plow halfway through the season, citing health concerns brought on by mercury poisoning.  Producers didn’t believe the excuse, and insisted Piven’s bustling social life was to blame for his sudden exhaustion.  Arguments between the show’s producers and Piven’s personal physician resulted in his premature departure.  Since then, Piven has returned to Los Angeles and reprised his role as talent agent Ari Gold on the popular HBO series Entourage.

If this assortment of Hollywood’s leading men and women doesn’t provide enough star power to get you to theaters, the near future is full of a number of Hollywood elite trying their hand at professional theater.  Jude Law, Laura Linney, Sienna Miller, Julia Stiles and Evan Rachel Wood are all involved in upcoming Broadway productions in New York City.  In addition, Matthew Broderick, Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Demme, Ethan Hawke and Parker Posey are all affiliated with upcoming non-Broadway productions.

New York social worker Joe Hall first toyed with the idea of an inner-city film school after attending graduate school at USC. Soon realizing he wasn’t cut out for Hollywood film production, Hall was surprised by how many of his peers were rich white kids with prior family connections to the business. In an effort to curb this deplorable inequality, Hall concluded that opportunities should be offered to a wider audience of potential filmmakers. Combining his passion for film and community service, Hall set out to launch a new breed of film education and a school the first of its kind. Thus, the Ghetto Film School was born.

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Since its inception in 2000, GFS has instructed over 400 aspiring filmmakers from all corners of New York’s expansive metropolis. Students ages 14-21 are eligible for the program, in which they manage film courses around their normal high school schedule. Upon entering the 15-month program, students enroll in Ghetto Film 101: Laying the Foundation whereby they study the fundamental principles of cinematic storytelling through workshops, screenings, and seminars with guest speakers — many of whom are distinguished Hollywood film directors and producers including Spike Jones, Jim Jarmusch, Sophia Coppola, and Harvey Weinstein. Students also try their hand at writing, directing and editing their first individual narrative short for faculty review. Exemplary work is screened at the prestigious Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

In Industry 101: Making the Connections, students study Hollywood’s structure and culture while receiving advanced training in screenwriting, lighting and sound techniques. Special attention is dually given to career planning upon graduation. In The Thesis Film: The Third Act, students assume crew positions in collaboration on a high-quality short film shot produced entirely by their peers. Students handle every aspect of production, from script development to distribution and festival screenings. Many thesis films are shot overseas in places such as Paris, Mexico City, Germany, and Uganda, complements of GFS. Before graduation, students experience the Hollywood film industry as interns and production assistants on film sets to narrow their focus and make valuable contacts along the way. Those who have completed the program are encouraged to work for Digital Bodega, the school’s in-house professional-grade production company.

As the buzz surrounding GFS builds exponentially, the school has attracted many more students than it can accommodate. Because GFS is a non-profit organization, the school is funded by public grants and private sponsorships, which allow students to attend the school free of charge. Unfortunately, such circumstances often make the admissions process increasingly cutthroat. Prospective students are mainly recruited from high schools, churches, and community groups throughout the city. “We don’t look at high school transcripts, grades, test scores at all, nor their financial background. The only thing we look for is that they demonstrate a talent for storytelling,” Hall told Newsday in 2006.

Many of the films GFS students make reflect the plight of inner-city life in the Bronx, a neighborhood known for its minorities’ challenges. Previous films have tackled issues surrounding gang violence, police brutality, and self-performed abortions. The most recent collaborative thesis chronicles a man who has only 24 hours to live after being bitten by a poisonous snake. Top films appear in film festivals throughout the country and at the GFS Public Screening, an annual youth media event in NYC.

Due to the massive popularity of the program, GFS is sponsoring the creation of The Cinema School, a competitive public NYC high school set to open in fall of 2009. Unlike GFS, The Cinema School is a primary high school that teaches all academic subjects in addition to filmmaking. With both schools operating simultaneously, twice the amount of students now have a chance to fulfill their dreams of Oscar winnings and Hollywood glory.

First and foremost, GFS is a film training program for urban teens who want to make movies. In being such, the school provides a valuable philanthropic service to students and the local community. According to Joe Hall, the “Ghetto Film School is committed to discovering raw talent, training young artists, and creating opportunity for our next generation of filmmakers.” More and more, Hollywood is starting to recognize this talent themselves. Thanks to Hall’s faith in their creative capabilities, Bronx youth not only aspire to make films, they’re becoming filmmakers too. As students like George Valez would say, thanks for “giving kids like us a shot at the big time.” Who knows? GFS might be churning out Hollywood’s next generation of filmmakers as we speak.