World-Renowned New York City Acting School – Alumni of William Esper Studio that trained in the Meisner Technique

William Esper Studio is an internationally recognized acting school in New York City that is the world’s foremost authority on the Meisner Technique. Based on the work of Sanford Meisner, William Esper established his studio in 1965. Since then, a dedicated faculty of expert teachers continue to keep the Meisner Technique alive and thriving, leading actors down the path of artistic integrity. William Esper Studio has had the opportunity to train some of today’s most well-known artists. These talented and dedicated professionals continue to strive for technical mastery of the craft of acting while inspiring other artists embarking on their on their own journeys. Some notable artists who have trained at the William Esper Studio in New York City include:

Amy Schumer is an American stand-up comedian and actress that studied Meisner Technique at William Esper Studio. She appeared as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition series Last Comic Standing in 2007. Since 2013, she has been the creator, co-producer, co-writer, and star of the Comedy Central sketch comedy series Inside Amy Schumer, for which she received a Peabody Award and for which she was nominated for five Primetime Emmy Awards, winning Outstanding Variety Sketch Series in 2015. Schumer wrote and made her film debut in a starring role in Trainwreck (2015), for which she received nominations for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. She published a memoir in 2016, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo and garnered two Grammy Award nominations for Best Comedy Album for Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo and Best Spoken Word Album for The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. In 2018, she starred in the comedy film I Feel Pretty and garnered a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play nomination for her Broadway debut in Meteor Shower.

Richard Schiff is an American actor that trained in acting with William Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York City. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his directorial debut with The West Wing. He has a recurring role on the HBO series Ballers and a leading role in ABC’s medical drama The Good Doctor. Other performing credits include, but are not limited to: Glengarry Glen Ross (Broadway), Se7en, I Am Sam, Man of Steel, Entourage, American Fable, Relativity, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Becker, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, NCIS, Bones and The Affair.

Patricia Heaton is an American actress and comedian that trained in the Meisner Technique at William Esper Studio acting school in New York City. She is known for her starring role as Debra Barone in the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and as Frances “Frankie” Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle. Heaton is a three-time Emmy Award winner – twice winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Everybody Loves Raymond, and a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program as host of Patricia Heaton Parties. Other credit include, but are not limited to: Don’t Get God Started (Broadway), Thirtysomething, The Goodbye Girl (TV Movie), Carol’s Second Act, Beethoven and Mom’s Night Out.

David Morse is an American actor, singer, director and writer. He was trained in the Meisner Technique by William Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack “Boomer” Morrison in the medical drama series St. Elsewhere. He continued his film career with roles in The Negotiator, Contact, The Green Mile, Dancer in the Dark, Disturbia, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Rock and 12 Monkeys. Morse had a recurring role as Detective Michael Tritter on the medical drama series House, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. He portrayed George Washington in the HBO miniseries John Adams, which garnered him a second Emmy nomination. He has also received acclaim for his portrayal of Uncle Peck on the Off-Broadway play How I Learned to Drive, earning a Drama Desk Award and Obie Award. He has also had success on Broadway, portraying James “Sharky” Harkin in The Seafarer. He portrayed Terry Colson on the HBO series Treme and appeared in the WGN America series Outsiders.

Christine Lahti is an American actress and filmmaker. She trained in the Meisner Technique with William Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Swing Shift. Other film roles include …And Justice for All, Housekeeping, Running on Empty, and Leaving Normal. For her directorial debut with the 1995 short film Lieberman in Love, she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Lahti made her Broadway debut as a replacement in Loose Ends, and went on to star in the Broadway productions of Present Laughter and The Heidi Chronicles. An eight-time Golden Globe nominee and six-time Emmy Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe for the TV movie No Place Like Home, and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in for her role as Kate Austin in the CBS series Chicago Hope. She returned to Broadway to star in God of Carnage. She also had a recurring role as Sonya Paxton in the NBC series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, as Doris McGarrett in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0, and Laurel Hitchin in NBC’s The Blacklist.

Sam Rockwell is an American actor that was trained by William Esper at the William Esper Studio. He became known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Matchstick Men, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Moon, and Seven Psychopaths. He has also played supporting roles in The Green Mile, Galaxy Quest, Frost/Nixon, Iron Man 2, Conviction, and The Way, Way Back. In 2017, Rockwell’s performance in the crime film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was nominated in the same category the following year for his portrayal of George W. Bush in the political satire Vice. He portrayed Bob Fosse in the FX biographical miniseries Fosse/Verdon, earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series.

Kathy Bates is an American actress and director. She studied with William Esper at the William Esper Studio. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three American Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, an Obie Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, she performed on screen and on stage, appearing in a variety of films, television series, and plays. She garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in ‘night, Mother, and won an Obie Award for her performance in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Bates’ performance in the horror film Misery marked her Hollywood breakthrough and won her the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama the following year. She next starred in Fried Green Tomatoes, for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination, and Dolores Claiborne. She portrayed Molly Brown in Titanic. She received her second and third Academy Award nominations for her work in Primary Colors and About Schmidt. Bates’ television work has resulted in 14 Emmy Award nominations, including two for her role as Harriet “Harry” Korn on the NBC series Harry’s Law. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance on Two and a Half Men and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie her portrayal of Delphine LaLaurie on the third season of American Horror Story. She also received accolades for her portrayal of Miss Hannigan in the television adaptation of Annie. Her directing credits include several episodes of the HBO television series Six Feet Under.

Nick Sandow is an American actor, writer, producer and director, best known for his role as Joe Caputo in Orange Is the New Black. He trained at the William Esper Studio in New York City. The role was originally supposed to have been for a handful of episodes for the show’s first season, but his role was expanded during the second season and was made a series regular with the third season. Sandow has worked extensively in television guest starring on many television series such as Law & Order, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Boardwalk Empire, and Blue Bloods. He began his directing career in theater on Off-Off-Broadway. In 2015 he wrote, directed and acted in The Wannabe. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and later got a wider release. Other performance credits include Swimfan, The Accidental Husband, Patti Cake$ and Nurse Jackie.

Tracee Ellis Ross is an American actress, model, comedian, director, and television host. She is known for her lead roles in the comedy television series Girlfriends and Black-ish. She studied at the William Esper Studio in New York City. She hosted the pop-culture magazine The Dish on Lifetime. She received two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy for playing the starring role of Joan Clayton in the UPN/CW comedy series Girlfriends. She also appeared in the films Hanging Up, I-See-You.Com, and Daddy’s Little Girls, before returning to television playing Dr. Carla Reed on the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines, for which she received her third NAACP Image Award. Since 2014, Ross has played the starring role of Dr. Rainbow Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish. Her work on the series has earned her three NAACP Image Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She has also received nominations for two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Mamoudou Athie is a Mauritanian-American actor. He was trained in the Meisner Technique at the William Esper Studio in New York City. Select film and TV performances include Jean of the Joneses, Patti Cake$, The Circle, One Percent More Humid, Unicorn Store, The Front Runner, Uncorked, Underwater, The Get Down, The Detour and Sorry for Your Loss.

Sofia Black-D’Elia is an American actress. She is a graduate of the Two Year Professional Actor Training Program at the William Esper Studio, where she trained with William Esper. When she was seventeen, Black-D’Elia was cast in her first significant role on the soap opera All My Children as the recurring character Bailey. She was cast the role of Tea on the MTV adaptation of the hit British teen drama Skins. Black-D’Elia later played Sage Spence in the sixth and final season of Gossip Girl. She also portrayed Jessie in Project Almanac. She appeared in the HBO miniseries The Night Of.] She played the role of Sabrina Pemberton on The Mick.

Dulé Hill is an American actor and tap dancer. As a 10-year-old, Dulé performed a tap dance number on the MDA telethon. His first film role in Sugar Hill came during his senior year of high school. During his time at Seton Hall, he was cast in a starring role in Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk on Broadway. He trained in the Meisner Technique with William Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York City. Hill was cast on The West Wing as Charlie Young, the personal aide to President Josiah Bartlet. Hill starred as Charlie for six seasons before he chose to leave the show at the beginning of the seventh season to star in the pilot for the new television show Psych for the USA Network. Hill also had roles in the film She’s All That, as a Los Angeles doctor in the movie and series 10.5, the Disney movie Holes as Sam the Onion Man, and in The Guardian. Hill also appeared on Broadway in Stick Fly and After Midnight.

Laura Harrier is an American actress and model that trained in the Two Year Professional Actor training Program at the William Esper Studio with Barbara Marchant. Harrier appeared in the reboot of American soap opera One Life to Live as Destiny Evans. She has also been in projects such as The Last Five Years and 4th Man Out. Harrier had her major film debut playing Peter Parker’s one-time love interest Liz Allan in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Harrier co-starred as a civil rights activist in the thriller film BlacKkKlansman. She will next star in Balance, Not Symmetry, directed by Jamie Adams.

Graham Thomas King is a recent graduate of William Esper Studio that trained with Suzanne Esper. Upon graduation, the British actor was cast in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists and was recently seen in Greta.