My Philosophy on Teaching Acting

My job as an acting coach is to help students fall in love with acting, hence the name Love Acting. Our logo for Love Acting is a large oak tree, and when I meet young actors I see them as a young, green sapling reaching towards the sun, wanting to build strength and girth and knowledge so that one day they can provide shade and assistance to other young saplings. I studied a lot growing up as an actor. I got a degree in Theater and went to Los Angeles to study for six or seven more years— it’s kind of like med school, where you study for your whole life through classwork & experience. Over your career as an actor, you create a golden toolbox. It’s full of lessons you’ve learned from all your different coaches over the years (the older oaks who have passed on their knowledge). My hope is that once actors leave Love Acting, they have access to an arsenal of tools to play any role.

When I was in Los Angeles, I studied the greats like Stanislavski, Meisner, Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg. Their techniques of the craft were passed down to me and now I pass down the knowledge that was birthed out of these great acting teachers. I had some of the most difficult coaches who challenged and encouraged me, but also some who demoralized me or ripped me to shreds. I always told myself if I ever created a school, I would allow people to make mistakes and encourage them to get better in a different way. I promised to love my students through their mistakes, rather than punish them or make them feel stupid. Through passing on what I know, they can now add things to their golden toolbox, and it gives me great joy and keeps me connected to the work. I find it to be a privilege to talk about the craft of acting everyday. What a luxury in a world full of pain and hardship.