Hey all,

I was wondering how I could see where some of my favorite actors trained? Not to say, oo! I'm getting the same training as Robert De Niro!

For example, Billy Crudup. I really like his acting, and I want to learn not to act like him, but his technique. Does this make sense? I really hope it does...

So your training with Shelia Grey then huh? She trained De Niro.

No, I'm not training with Sheila Gray. I'm studying at a university. One of my professors gave me the advice to find out what different actors' trajectories are. Know what I'm saying? I am just trying to figure out where to get that kind of information.

And Bobby trained with a bunch of people. Strasberg, Adler, etc.

I would think that any actor who's worth asking the question of has probably trained at countless places, with countless teachers.

It would b a better question to ask where they felt they got their best training. For example, not that I'm a known actor that anyone wants to imitate, but I have many teachers listed on my resume, but not many that I would say were great.

You pretty much have to prowl interviews (if only Backstage had back issues on-line). Jason Alexander has mentioned Larry Moss, Jeff Goldblum of course teaches Meisner, so his debt is clear; Matthew Broderick talked at a homage to Uta Hagen years ago, as did Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara; Bill Hickey not only taught at HB but was devoted to the couple that ran it; Austin Pendleton was still teaching there last I heard and presumably favors that training.

You have to be careful about the "passed through here" claims from different schools. There's one workshop place, not even a full, certified program, that continually refers to well-known actors as its "alumnae". I audited a class when I first got here that listed Michelle Pfeiffer as an alum - along with an amusingly obscure list of forgotten names.

I believe William Macy studied with Mamet before he taught with him, and presumably his wife (Felicity Huffman) owes a lot to their school (the Atlantic Theater Company).

Etc.

quote:

Daniels suggests studying lousy actors as a useful tool, "if you can identify why the performance is bad and then not make the same mistakes," he says. Though he never studied acting formally, he views working with the now-defunct Circle Repertory Company in New York City in the mid-1970s as his training ground. Its artistic director Marshall Mason had seen Daniels in a college play at Central Michigan University, where Daniels was majoring in English, and was so taken with Daniels' strong instincts and raw talent the A.D. invited him on board, where Daniels learned on his feet.

Jeff Daniels interview

Eric Morris has worked with Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson.

Larry Moss has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio amongst many other celebrities.

Al Pacino mentioned his 2 biggest mentors were Bill Hickey(passed away) from HB Studios,and Lee Strasberg. (Both Lee and Bill have trained many great actors)

Stella Adler trained Marlon Brando amongst many other great actors.

Sanford Meisner, and Bill Esper trained many great actors.
Martin Landau the actor is also an acting coach, who has worked with Jack Nicholson amongst a few other notable members of the Actors Studio.

Can you be a bit more specific on which actors you'd like to know where or who theyve trained with?

Billy Crudup got a BA from UNC Chapel Hill. I don't know if the BA was actually in Theatre although he was part of the undergraduate acting company. Then he got an MFA in Acting from NYU. Of course, no actor should ever stop training and there's no telling where he might have studied since.

It's actually pretty easy to find where many of the famous actors with degrees in acting studied ... at least for the ones who went to 'name' schools since they all LOVE bragging about their prominent alums. Just Google "Wikipedia (School Name) alumni people" and see who you recognize.

There are obviously a lot more if you want to look for them and I pay most attention to where the women whose work I like studied, but just off the top of my head ...

Laura Linney - BA Theatre, Brown University; Juilliard Drama Diploma/MFA equivalent
Julianne Moore - BFA Boston University
Parker Posey - BFA SUNY Purchase
Edie Falco - BFA SUNY Purchase
Mary Louise Parker - NC School of the Arts Drama Diploma
Meryl Streep - BA English, Vassar; MFA Acting, Yale
Annette Bening - BA Theatre, San Francisco State; MFA Acting, ACT
Holly Hunter - BFA Carnegie Mellon
Cherry Jones - BFA Carnegie Mellon
Rachel McAdams - BFA York University (Toronto)
Calista Flockhart - BFA Rutgers
Felicity Huffman - BFA NYU/Atlantic Studio
Debra Messing - BA Theatre, Brandeis; MFA Acting, NYU
Cate Blanchett - National Institute of Dramatic Art (Australia)
Judi Dench - Central School of Speech and Drama (UK)

quote:

Al Pacino mentioned his 2 biggest mentors were Bill Hickey(passed away) from HB Studios,and Lee Strasberg. (Both Lee and Bill have trained many great actors)

***EDIT***(wouldnt let me edit the actual post)

It was Charlie Laughton not Bill Hickey that was a mentor to Al.

Hey guys,

Does anyone know if there's an Acting School who provides summer-workshops teaching Meisner Technique in England? I can't seem to find any.

Thanks