Stella Adler

Stella Adler was the only American actor to study with Stanislavski himself and developed her own “method” built on the work of Stanislavski and Lee Strasberg. Adler’s technique differs from Strasberg’s in that it emphasizes imagination in addition to emotional recall. She famously said, “Drawing on the emotions I experienced—for example, when my mother died—to create a role is sick and schizophrenic. If that is acting, I don’t want to do it.”

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As a child actor, Stella Adler's techniques were the first formal training Richard Hempton received and as he continued his conservatory training he fell more and more on Adler's side when it came to Strasberg's "method". He continues to teach with those values in mind. An actor may give a fantastic, real performance and remain mentally sound and healthy. These principles permeate his teaching to this day.

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Coach Richard believes the pieces of Adler's techniques that serve best the modern film and television actor are those emphasizing emotional charge. The actor must be capable of big emotion and physical subtlety to be interesting and relatable on camera.

Though Marlon Brando’s lifelike acting style is often attributed to Strasberg’s Method, he was actually trained by Stella Adler; his devotion to Adler and her work was so strong that he wrote the preface to her manual “The Art of Acting.” Other famous Adler students? Robert DeNiro, Benecio Del Toro, Mark Ruffalo, and Melanie Griffith.