John has been one of the top acting teachers in Los Angeles for many years. He has worked with a range of actors, from award winners like Mahershala Ali, Margot Robbie, and Randall Park, to series leads like Alycia Debnam-Carey, stand-ups like Chris Estrada and Adam Ray, and countless up-and-coming actors new to Los Angeles.
John understands that the transition to acting in Los Angeles comes with a steep learning curve. He received his MFA in Acting from UNC Chapel Hill, where he first began teaching. After successfully working as an actor in NYC, he made the move to LA, where he soon recognized that he was ill-equipped to survive and thrive out here. Tossed into audition room after audition room, for everything from multi-cam to drama, John learned first-hand that the expectations of actors in LA are highly elevated: they must be able to fully understand any text and genre, absorb notes quickly, bring a specific version of the story, but be malleable, all while being present, truthful, and personal.
Through trial and error, John built his own process, and now has dedicated his studio to helping actors find theirs. John’s philosophy on acting comes from seeing so many actors mired in trying to learn “a” process as opposed to building one that works for them. He believes in all methodologies and does not have an allegiance to any specific one.
With JRS, he wanted to create a place where the method was tailored to the actor, not the other way around. In an industry that requires you to do so many things simultaneously, John gives you the tools to work as effectively and efficiently as possible.