SHARON CHATTEN ACTORS STUDIO
Sharon Chatten:
A Lifetime in the Craft
Actor, teacher, and longtime member of The Actors Studio, Sharon has spent more than four decades helping actors develop their craft, imagination, and personal freedom necessary for bringing their unique selves into truthful work.
FROM ACTOR TO TEACHER
A Career Built From Doing the Work
Before committing full-time to teaching, Sharon had leading roles as an actress including Sharleen in Hillbilly Women, directed by Arthur Penn; Cassandra in The Chain, written and directed by Elia Kazan; and Marie Garga opposite Al Pacino in Bertolt Brecht's In the Jungle of Cities, directed by Liviu Ciulei.
Her stage work also includes James Purdy & the Works, directed by John Stix at Ensemble Studio Theatre; Special Family Things opposite Lois Smith at The American Place Theatre; and Getting Through the Night by John Ford Noonan.
She toured the continental United States with The National Shakespeare Company, playing leading roles as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Viola in Twelfth Night, and Constance in She Stoops to Conquer.
Sharon was also a member of the ensemble touring company out of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, performing original plays developed by the company when William Ball was Artistic Director of ACT.
She acted in leading roles in scores of original plays regionally, including Cheryl in When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? by Mark Medoff at Cincinnati Playhouse, and Hennie in Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets with Ron Silver, directed by Jeffrey Hayden at The Actors Studio in Los Angeles.
In New York, Sharon has acted in plays at The Actors Studio, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Dramatists, The American Place Theatre, Circle in the Square, Playwrights Horizons and many other venues.
FILM & TELEVISION
From Stage to Screen
Among featured roles in film and television, Sharon was critically acclaimed for her role as Jan Stennis, the female lead in Over-Under, Sideways-Down, produced by Cine Manifest and directed by Steve Wax and Gene Corr.
She played Jeannie Berlin's sister in the feature Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York, directed by Sidney Furie, and portrayed the mystery woman in Peter Yates' film Eyewitness with William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Plummer and Irene Worth.
She guest starred on the CBS television series The Equalizer and appeared in the PBS Visions series.
Under the personal invitation of Robert Redford, Sharon participated in the founding seasons of the Sundance Film Institute as a Resource Artist, acting in numerous films by new filmmakers, including Yolandia opposite Robert Duvall.
That experience on both stage and screen continues to inform the practical way Sharon approaches actor training today.
THE ACTORS STUDIO & SUNDANCE
Training Alongside
Generations of Extraordinary Artists
Sharon was made a lifetime member of The Actors Studio in 1975 and a lifetime member of Ensemble Studio Theatre in 1980.
Sharon has had the honor and delight of working with master talents Lee Strasberg, Larry Moss, Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Robert Altman, Harold Clurman, William Ball, Nikos Psacharopoulos, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Woodruff, Liviu Ciulei, Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Ellen Burstyn, Lee Grant, Shelley Winters, Estelle Parsons, John Stix, Vincent D'Onofrio and Al Pacino.
Under the personal invitation of Robert Redford, she participated in the founding seasons of the Sundance Film Institute as a Resource Artist, acting in numerous films by new filmmakers, including having the experience of playing Yolandia in Yolandia opposite Robert Duvall.
Lifetime Member
The Actors Studio
Member
Ensemble Studio Theatre
Founding Seasons
Resource Artist
MORE THAN FOUR DECADES TRAINING ACTORS
Teaching Actors Since 1980
Since 1980, Sharon has been teaching ongoing acting classes and working extensively as a private coach in Los Angeles and New York.
From 1980 to 1988, she spearheaded the Sharon Chatten Studio in New York City while also teaching at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, as well as for Warren Robertson and Larry Moss.
In 1988, Sharon permanently moved her studio to Los Angeles.
She has taught relaxation and sensory work for students of Larry Moss, at Yale University and Stanford University, lectured at UC Santa Barbara's film program, and taught directors how to work with actors at the USC School of Cinema.
Sharon has also been a guest speaker on numerous professional panels, including those for SAG and AFTRA.
Explore The MethodPODCAST INTERVIEW
Hear Sharon
Talk About
The Method
Sharon joined Michelle Ann Owens on the Nothing Off Limits! podcast for a conversation about Method acting and the work that has shaped her career as a teacher.
Hear Sharon discuss the use of sensory work and relaxation in her approach to the work, and why Method acting is often misunderstood.
Listen to the InterviewMICKI McGINNIS
Experience on Both Sides of the Industry
Micki McGinnis brings more than 25 years of entertainment-industry experience to the studio, including 18 years as a talent manager.
A longtime protégé of Sharon's, Micki trained extensively in the work before joining her as a teacher. That combination gives Micki a rare understanding of both the actor's process and the realities of building a professional career.
Today, Sharon and Micki co-teach ongoing online classes and the studio's In-Person Actor Intensive, with both teachers actively involved in the work of every actor in the room.
THE WORK CONTINUES
Craft That Serves the Actor
The goal is not to imitate someone else's idea of good acting. It is to develop the tools deeply enough that the actor can work truthfully, specifically, and freely, to honor the author and the story in their own unique way.
Craft
Relaxation, sensory work, script analysis, character, circumstances, objectives, behavior and preparation give actors something reliable to work from.
Imagination
Technique is not a substitute for imagination. The work helps actors create circumstances fully enough to live inside them rather than merely demonstrate them.
Individuality
The actor's humor, intelligence, instincts, history and unique point of view are essential parts of the work rather than qualities to be trained away.
