Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging
As part of a Q&A series with our faculty, the USC School of Dramatic Arts asked Dean and Professor Emily Roxworthy about her role on USC’s AI Strategy Committee, the ethical imperative for professional development in drama education and how SDA’s Professional Development Center is serving that imperative, how SDA’s curriculum cultivates essential human capabilities that will become increasingly valuable as AI transforms entertainment, and the forthcoming Institute for Actor-Driven Innovation that will help students and alumni navigate the intersection of AI and artistic creativity.
What are you most excited about this semester?
Dean Emily Roxworthy: I am most excited to be teaching the GESM that I inherited from Professor Emeritus Els Collins, where I take non-majors to see our SDA productions and they get to meet the incredible faculty, staff, and students who bring these shows to life! I think of myself as SDA’s biggest fan and this discussion-based class lets me devote a good chunk of my time to this fandom.
What resources do you want all of our students (especially our new ones) to be aware of?
All SDA students—not only those about to graduate—should know about our first-in-class Professional Development Center, on the ground level of our Dick Wolf Drama Center. Emmy-winning casting director Debi Manwiller runs the center (you can pet her Emmys when you stop by), and the resources it offers are truly exceptional among peer drama programs. In addition, new students often don’t realize the breadth and depth of resources we provide for our Independent Student Production (ISP) companies, from production grants and theatre space to faculty advisors and access to our shops. I love our ISPs and am always hoping they’ll invite me to their shows!
You were recently added to Interim President Beong-Soo Kim’s AI Strategy Committee. What makes you excited about this appointment?
The existential threat and creative potential of AI for the dramatic arts are both difficult to fathom, so I’m looking forward to digging into the implications of these technologies not only for teaching and learning at USC but also for the future of work in arts and entertainment. We always talk about “future proofing” SDA students, and AI’s rapid progress is the perfect example of why that’s needed!
You’ve spoken in the past about the “superpowers” that performers and artists in the collaborative arts have. How can these skills and embodied knowledge actually enhance AI capabilities rather than just compete with them?
As AI advances, we are all going to have to lean into what it means to be human and really distill what skills and capabilities are uniquely human. I feel that the dramatic arts are uniquely positioned to excel in this regard because we practice the “art of the human,” not only reflecting the human condition back to our audiences but also refining abilities such as empathy, authenticity, and face-to-face connection that will become ever more precious as AI pervades every corner of our lives. At USC, we believe in sharing these superpowers with all students and have seen an increase in the number of business, engineering, and other non-arts students clamoring to take our classes in order to leverage these “soft skills” (though I hate that term because these skills are essential, not decorative).
Are there misconceptions about AI in creative industries that you want to work to dispel?
Largely owing to the 2023 WGA and SAG strikes, the conversation about AI and creatives has centered on how these technologies will eliminate union jobs and steal artists’ intellectual property, extending even to appropriating an actor’s likeness! While these are valid concerns and we’ve already seen, for instance, writers’ rooms shrinking and background characters automated, the potential of AI tools to unleash human creativity and streamline artists’ work has received far less attention. This potential will be game-changing for the multihyphenate artists that SDA develops as they initiate innovative projects the likes of which the world has never seen. For this reason, in 2026, SDA will launch a new institute to support multihyphenate development and AI competence: the Institute for Actor-Driven Innovation, which will serve current students as well as alumni and the community at large. Stay tuned for more information very soon!
What drives your passion for preparing dramatic arts students for these industry transformations?
I believe it’s a drama school’s ethical imperative to transparently talk to dramatic artists about the current realities that exist in all the industries for which an SDA education prepares them. This preparation is personal to me because when I finished drama school and realized I did not want to dedicate my life to being a professional actor, my university was not able to talk to me about current trends in entertainment (which was already seeing the rise of the multihyphenate artist, something that fit my entrepreneurial student interests) nor about adjacent industries where I might find meaningful work that played to my strengths. Every day, I work to ensure that SDA and USC doesn’t make the same mistake.
Is there a piece of theatre, or a film or television show that has recently resonated with you?
I was very inspired by Broadway’s A Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook and have finally become a Natalie Palamides’ acolyte through watching her Netflix special Nate. I love that the Elysian Theatre here in LA believed in Natalie and now she’ll have a mainstage show at the Cherry Lane Theatre. I also recently bingewatched the HBO Max series The Pitt, which stars two SDA alumni Taylor Dearden (BA ’15) and Amielynn Abellera (MFA Acting ’11) and the wonderful Cathy Sandrich from SDA’s Board of Councilors just won an Emmy for her brilliant casting of the show!
Any fun facts we should know about Emily Roxworthy?
I am becoming very into playing tennis, which is something I took up very recently. And The Pitt’s Shawn Hatosy (who also just won an Emmy) belongs to my tennis club! I am particularly grateful to current and former SDA Board members Connie Britton and Megan Colligan for sponsoring my membership because it’s been a dream getting to be around tennis this much.