Anthony Meindl has an unconventional way of teaching actors to take their craft to a much higher level, both in terms of performance and in satisfaction.
His acting workshop has glowing endorsements from his students, including Academy Award Winner Olympia Dukakis, Jenna Dewan (Step Up, The Playboy Club), Cory Monteith (Glee), Trevor Donovan (90210) Larisa Oleynyk (Hawaii Five-0), Shailene Woodley (Secret Life of the American Teenager) and Shelby Young (The Social Network), to name a few.
He is a 2011 Back Stage Reader's Winner for Favorite Scene Study Teacher and Favorite Cold Reading Teacher (Los Angeles); and a City's Best choice for acting coach in LA.
Meindl began his career as an actor in New York and moved to LA about 10 years ago. He found a stronger calling as a teacher.
"I found I was more interested in exploring new ways of creating and of helping actors realize their potential," he said. "My studio really took off. It's really a departure from the traditional way of teaching acting. It's not Method-based. It's looking at acting in a new way."
Part of that new way came to him in his frequent travels to India as well as inspiration from quantum physics and scientific laws that govern our universe.
"It’s really about the science of the mind," Meindl said. "I do think when it comes to teaching I'm really helping the actor access infinite potential. That is really exciting."
Meindl said that learning to act is much easier than what people have been led to believe. "I really believe that the simplicity of certain things may be more natural to us than we think. Too often, I think we judge and criticize parts of us that want to be expressed," Meindl said. As an actor, you can't editorialize. You have to express, to create."
A lot of actors come to him when they are at a crossroads in their lives, he believes. "They are not feeling free. They've lost the love of acting," Meindl said. "This applies to a lot of working actors who have lost the joy in the work or are bored. I had a number of actors who were not booking jobs. They thought their careers were over. Then they did a complete 180 and are working all the time now."
Like most other acting workshops he offers a two-year program, though a number of his students have been with him for many years.
Though he loves teaching, Meindl still has strong interests in other aspects of the industry. He wrote, directed, produced and performed in the upcoming comedy feature Birds of a Feather (with Olympia Dukakis, Bruce Vilanch and Trevor Donovan). He has a couple other features in development.
"I think all the teachers here help people find a greater sense of joy and fulfillment in what they are doing," Meindl said. "I recently had a guy come into the studio who was unhappy and depressed. He said the studio had changed his life. I think what we do is help people to realize their purpose and connect with a deeper part of themselves."
To learn more, visit his site.
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