The Actors Workshop is one of southern California's oldest film acting programs and is generally associated with the Sanford Meisner Orange County Register, "Actor's Workshop spots hot prospects", November 19, 1991 and Charles Conrad techniques. The company was established by its parent company, Shannon & Company.

Overview

Founded by Film/TV actor R.J. Adams in 1980, The Actors Workshop has been training aspiring and professional young film/television actors in both Los Angeles and Orange County, California. Throughout the years a number of well-known industry directors and casting directors from

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Lorimar Lorimar Productions, Inc., later known as Lorimar Television and Lorimar Distribution, was an American production company that was later a subsidiary of Warner Bros., active from 1969 until 1993, when it was folded into Warner Bros. Televisi ...

TV,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

have been affiliated with the workshop and continue to make bi-monthly guest appearances on a monthly basis. The school has bolstered the career of many well-known actors who have appeared in dozens of starring and co-starring Film/

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

roles. R.J. Adams' son Rob Adams now owns and runs The Actors Workshop and has been coaching young actors for twenty nine years. Rob Adams is credited with coaching such stars as

Sarah Lancaster Sarah Lancaster (born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her long-running roles as Rachel Meyers in the NBC series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and Ellie Bartowski in the NBC comedy-spy series '' Chuck'', a ...

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and ...

, Wayne Bastrup,

Annet Mahendru Anita Devi "Annet" Mahendru (born November 5, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing Nina Krilova, Nina Sergeevna Krilova on the FX (TV channel), FX period drama series ''The Americans'' (2013–2016), for which she garnered a n ...

and Tiffany. Today The Actors Workshop is currently ranked as the number 3 Best acting school in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Studio facility

In early 1990, the workshop added a Television studio. The studio is used for training, filming auditions, demo reels and overall growth of the students. Through the years, Television and film directors such as Dennis Steinmetz,

Richard Compton Richard Compton (March 2, 1938 – August 11, 2007) was an American actor, director and writer, primarily in television. Compton had small parts as an actor in film and television series, including minor roles in two episodes of ''Star Trek ...

, Ron Stephenson,

Corey Allen Corey Allen (born Alan Cohen; June 29, 1934 – June 27, 2010) was an American film and television director, writer, producer, and actor. He began his career as an actor but eventually became a television director. He is best known for playing ...

and

Michael O'Herlihy Michael O'Herlihy (1 April 1929 – 16 June 1997) was an Irish television producer and director who directed shows like ''Gunsmoke'' (1955), ''Maverick'' (1957), ''Star Trek'' (1965), '' Hawaii Five-O'' (1968), ''M*A*S*H'' (1972) and ''The A- ...

make regular appearances at the school. Casting directors from major television stations

and production companies

, 20th century looked for prospects at weekly showcases.

Notable alumni

Brian Krause Brian Jeffrey Krause (born February 1, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Leo Wyatt on The WB television series ''Charmed'' (1998–2006) and for portraying the lead role of Charles Brady in the 1992 horror film '' Sleepwal ...

Orange County Register South County News section, "Laguna Hills drama group is a class act", September 15, 1991, by Marnie McLoed *

Kristy Swanson Kristen Noel Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''. Her first starring role wa ...

Vicellous Reon Shannon Vicellous Reon Shannon (born April 11, 1971) is an American actor known for his portrayal of Lesra Martin in the 1999 film '' The Hurricane'', and Keith Palmer, the son of presidential candidate David Palmer in the Fox television series '' 2 ...

Quinton Jackson Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler, who most recently fought in the Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and unified the Pride Middlew ...

* Wayne Bastrup * Hank Stonehttps://www.imdb.com/name/nm0831902 *

Schae Harrison Schae Harrison (born Deborah Schaeffer; April 27, 1962) is an American actress. She played Darla Einstein-Forrester on the American daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 1989–2006. She reprised the role briefly in 2007, 2014, ...

* Christopher Knight *

Eric Norris Eric Scott Norris (born May 20, 1964) is an American former stock car racing driver and stuntman. He won the 2002 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship. Norris is also a director and directed several episodes of the TV-series ''Walker, Texas R ...

* Tiffany *

Sugar Lyn Beard Stephanie Lyn Beard (born August 27, 1981), better known by her stage name Sugar Lyn Beard, is a Canadian actress and radio personality. Her radio host persona uses the name "Suga BayBee", and as co-host of YTV's '' The Zone'' from 2001–2007, ...

David Farkas David Farkas (born November 28, 1975) is an American actor and musician. Biography Farkas was born in Akron, Ohio, but Orange County, California has been his home since 1988. At Sunny Hills High School he was a member of an all-league water ...

References

External links

*
Film/TV acting insights

Actors resources

Film/TV Industry news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Actors Workshop Film schools in California Education in Los Angeles Education in Orange County, California 1980 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 1980