Christine Baranski

It's pronounced Viola.

And what did I do?

I did Nina from The Seagull.

Anyway, it was time for me to be hearing about where I'd be accepted, and I auditioned for NYU's theater program and Boston University.

I was rejected at NYU, accepted at Boston U, but I still hadn't heard from Juilliard, and I made a phone call.

And I was told that I was on a waiting list, but that the reason they're having...

A difficulty with me was because I had sibilant S. The sibilant S didn't make for a lisp, you know, like I didn't have a heavy lisp, but it whistled slightly or they thought it was a sound that would be very difficult to correct.

So during the summer, I went to a speech therapist and

And then my mother took me to New York, where I then went to John Hausman's office.

Yes, John Hausman ran the program.

Oh, he was the head?

Yes, he was the first head of the drama division.

Wow.

The august, intimidating John Hausman sat behind his desk.

I was handed a page like the one sitting on your lap.

It was a page filled with nothing but S-words.

And I had to say this.

Yes.

But it went on for an entire page.

And then I remember so vividly the voice and speech teacher had her back to me, and she was looking out the window as she was listening to me.