About John
About John
John Rosenfeld 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.
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.
A Note from John
If you use acting in the right way, you’re going to learn a lot about yourself. Success in acting requires curiosity about a multitude of things: Human behavior. Text. Ourselves. Others. The world. My favorite actors to work with are those who can really get their ego out of the way. The only thing they’re attached to is telling the best story humanly possible, and to fiercely advocate for their character’s point of view.
There is no right or wrong. It either works or it doesn’t. It’s either interesting or it’s not. It’s truly about taste and aesthetic, and for most of us, it takes time to develop that. I love helping actors navigate this journey.
For years, I acted, auditioned, and was on set. I am keenly aware of the challenges that accompany this business – the waiting. We spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the next audition, the next job. Even actors who are on series struggle with the waiting periods that come with this career.
My job is to help you to stay in flow during these periods, as well as the times when you are working.
At the end of the day, I want you to be a happy, working actor. This means being ready for any opportunity that comes your way, having a life outside of being on set, and being a student of not just your process, but of yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
When I was three my father brought home a Betamax player, which only had two movies: “The Wizard of Oz” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I must have watched each film at least 100 times–I was so incredibly intoxicated by the performances. While my brother was working with chemistry sets, I was watching those movies and replicating the performances. There was magic in watching these people live in extraordinary circumstances. Then I just started participating in school plays and acting classes, and I felt at home in that environment. I truly didn’t think it was going to be my life’s work, but I loved it.
My lord… yes! So many classes– in high school, in college, and then of course going on to get my MFA in acting at UNC Chapel Hill. I moved to New York after graduate school and took a variety of classes there as well. Same story when I moved to Los Angeles. I was very hungry to learn, to be surrounded by it.
An LA acting teacher, or an acting teacher in any location, has to be intuitive and emotionally intelligent. They have to be willing to learn and be in pursuit of getting better. Most of all, they have to stay current. Acting-process wise, you need a teacher who has a lot of different tools to use. From a practical perspective, an LA acting teacher should be on agent lists and ideally producing results for their actors.
When I was in graduate school, I taught an undergraduate acting course. I was basically just teaching what I was being taught, and it really helped my acting. The head of the teaching program pulled me aside after observing my class and told me that he thought that I had a real gift for teaching. At the time, I took it as the biggest insult. I thought he was telling me I should teach and not act. I was young and naive and that reaction really exposed my bias against being an “educator.” Now I experience it so differently. When I left grad school, I was always coaching and helping other actors, which I definitely enjoyed-–my work got better by helping other people work. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles and got asked to teach at Lesly Kahn and Company in 2002 that it became part of my regular life as a source of income and creativity.
You have to find an acting teacher in LA that you are not trying to please. If you are too worried about what the teacher thinks, you are really not going to grow. I will move someone out of my class to another of my teachers if I feel they are too consumed with making me happy. Everybody projects something onto an acting teacher. Be aware of what you are projecting. They may be your mother, father, best friend, sister. Also, do your research on Los Angeles acting teachers. What are people saying about them? Are they on agent lists? These are pretty important factors to consider.