The William Davis Centre for Actors Study is an acting school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was opened in 1989 by William B. Davis, best known for his role as the 'cigarette smoking man' on "The X-Files". Davis no longer owns the school, but does still teach there. The school is now part of the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts, known as Vanarts.
Original classes focussed on theatre training only. However, as Vancouver's reputation as "Hollywood North" grew and more film and TV productions came to the city, the school quickly expanded into teaching acting for film and television as well.
The school has a full-time program running during the day which starts in September of each year, and part-time classes running throughout the year, primarily during the evening. There are also weekend workshops and a two week summer intensive program.
Many of the William Davis Centre's students have careers in the film and television industry and some of the most easily recognized are Lucy Lawless (TV's Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess) and Aaron Douglas (actor), who plays Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica.
Due to the success of William Davis' role as the Cigarette Smoking Man on The X-Files, the school became a stop on The X-Tour, a Vancouver area tour designed for X-Files fans. The tour continued to operate after the television show ended.
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