Andrea Caban

The students and my colleagues! That’s two things, but it really is both for me. First, the students are excellent. The MFA in Acting is one of the best in the world. With these students, I get to work with the next generation of excellence for my field. The undergraduate population is also incredibly exciting. They are brilliant, hungry young artists and scholars in the process of defining how they want to show up in the world of art making. I love being a part of that journey with them. Second, my colleagues are inspiring art makers and generous collaborators. I am so pleased to grow among them.

What drew you to your field? Why should students consider studying the arts and humanities?

I teach speech and accents for actors, an incredibly personal layer of storytelling that centers how a human being shapes their vocal expression in the world. I was drawn into this work through my actor training, but my work has evolved into creating a pedagogy that values all sounds and de-centers standard accents. Students who, a) think accents are cool, and b) would like to examine them both from the inside as performers and from the outside in a larger sociolinguistic context, might find my classes connect to their liberal arts studies in surprising (and fun) ways.

What research or creative project are you working on currently?

Lots! This summer I coached a horror film that shot in Lisbon, I worked on two plays in San Diego: “The Heart” at La Jolla Playhouse and “Deceived” at The Old Globe (featuring current UC San Diego MFA student Kennedy Tolson!), and the second edition of my speech pedagogy text went into production for a scheduled publication in early 2026! 

What’s your favorite class to teach and why?

“Speech and Accents!” A) accents are cool. And B) The speech component of the class gives students the skill-building opportunity to learn any accent  

What is something about yourself that is not typically included in your bio?

I am a first generation college student and I love connecting with students who also identify as such!

Andrea Caban (she/they) is a professional accent and dialect coach for film and theatre, as well as a public speaking coach. Among her film credits, she collaborated with Francis Ford Coppola on his career opus film “Megalopolis. Notable theatre credits include “Absurd Person Singular,” “Chinglish,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Madwomen in a Volvo” and “Peter and the Starcatcher” at the Tony award-winning South Coast Repertory Theatre; “Appropriate” and “Deceived” at The Old Globe; and “Three Summers of Lincoln” and “The Heart” at La Jolla Playhouse.

Caban is the accent expert on HowCast.com, where she demonstrates over 30 accents. She is co-director and designated Master Teacher of Knight-Thompson Speechwork™ and is known internationally as a teacher of accent teachers. Caban has written two books on speech and accents based on this methodology: “Experiencing Speech: A Skills-based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training” and “Experiencing Accents: A Knight-Thompson Speechwork Guide for Acting in Accent.”

Also an award-winning solo artist, Caban has performed her original works in Colombia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Costa Rica, Spain, and across the United States at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, New York Theatre Workshop, PS 122 and the Greenhouse Theatre, among others.

Her award-winning research on adapting actor voice and accent training for the care of people living with ALS to prolong their ability to speak without assistive devices is ongoing. She is a certified Fitzmaurice Voicework teacher and member of VASTA and the Dramatists Guild of America. She served as Head of Voice and Speech at CSULB for 11 years, earning the rank of full professor and the 2024 Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Achievement Award. She earned an MFA from UC Irvine.

Learn more about her work at andreacaban.com.