Jean-Louis Rodrigue

Jean-Louis Rodrigue (born May 23, 1951) is an internationally recognized acting coach, movement director, and teacher of the Alexander Technique, and a pioneer in its application to film and theater.^[1] Rodrigue’s most notable successes in film and theatre include coaching Leonardo DiCaprio for his performance in "J. Edgar" (2011), Josh Brolin as George W. Bush in "W" (2008),^[2] Mary McDonnell for her Oscar-nominated role as a paraplegic actress in "Passion Fish" (1992), and Pamela Gien’s award-winning performance in her off-Broadway and international tour of The Syringa Tree (2000).

Early life and education

Jean-Louis Rodrigue was born on May 23, 1951 in Casablanca, Morocco. He began his acting training in 1967 with Herbert Berghof at the HB Studio in New York. In 1970, William Ball awarded Jean-Louis a full scholarship to study in the Advanced Training Program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. During his training and performing at ACT, Rodrigue discovered the Alexander Technique. He spent three more years training as an Alexander teacher with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas at the American Center for the Alexander Technique, San Francisco.^[3]

Professional career

Rodrigue is world-renowned in the film industry for his unique style of acting coaching and character movement choreography. He recently coached Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots, Rachel McAdams in Disobedience, Matt Bomer in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart for HBO, Paul Dano in Okja and as Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy, and Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice. Rodrigue coached Leonardo DiCaprio for his acclaimed performance in J. Edgar and collaborated with Ang Lee and David Magee in the development of the tiger movement for Life of Pi. Rodrigue coached Scott Speedman in the award-winning Barney's Version, Citizen Gangster, and the ABC series, Last Resort. His other coaching credits include W. with Josh Brolin, Human Nature with Patricia Arquette, Passion Fish with Mary MacDonnell, The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank and cast, The Cat's Meow with Kirsten Dunst, The Time Machine with cast, Seabiscuit with Elizabeth Banks, and Bee Season with Juliette Binoche. He has worked with many actors and performers including Zoey Deutch, Sir Ian McKellen, Forest Whitaker, Paul Dano, Luke Kirby, Martha Argerich, Herb Alpert, Helena Bonham Carter, Keanu Reeves, Tate Donovan, Julia Sweeney, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Baker, Joely Richardson, Sally Kellerman, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and JoBeth Williams.

In theater, Rodrigue has most recently worked with the cast of Long Day's Journey in Night starring Alfred Molina at the Geffen Playhouse. He was awarded a Fellowship grant from the Montalvo Arts Center to develop and direct a play adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s best selling novel The Reader. He has coached Chris Pine in The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Mark Taper Forum and with Rita Maffei and Larry Moss in an Italian production of Pamela Gien’s The Syringa Tree at the Teatro Stabile di Innovazione in Udine and at Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy. For her performance, Maffei won the Gold Medal from the President of the Italian Republic. Rodrigue has also worked with Gulu Monteiro on The Bacchae at the Getty Villa, the circus artists of Cirque du Soleil’s Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and has collaborated with director Joanna Settle and playwright Heather Raffo for her acclaimed play Nine Parts of Desire at the Geffen Playhouse. He has collaborated with Larry Moss on Daisy White’s Sugar, Pamela Gien’s Obie award-winning play The Syringa Tree at Playhouse 91 in N.Y. and Bo Eason’s Runt of the Litter at the 37 Arts Theater, N.Y. Rodrigue has coached actors working at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mark Taper Forum, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, and on Broadway, as well as the artists of the Cirque du Soleil in La Nouvelle Experience on improving their performance and preventing injuries. He is currently a faculty member at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Howard Fine Acting Studio,^[4] and Larry Moss Acting Studio.^[5]

Since 2008, Jean-Louis Rodrigue has conducted several high-profile workshops within the program of the Berlinale Talent Campus. He was directly involved in the development of a new hands-on training programs for emerging actors, the Talent Actors Stage, for which 15-20 international actors are selected annually. His workshops "Embodying the Character" and "Camera Close-up" have become classics at the Berlinale Talent Campus every year.^[6]

Filmography

^[7]

Theater

References

External links

• Official website