An Actor’s Journey
If Ever I Get To Make A Grad Speech
I was born to educators at the U of Michigan so it makes sense to me that the love I have for acting and directing does not compare to how I embrace coaching artists. I empower actors to use their craft in order to powerfully communicate anything that a human is capable of imagining. My name is Rosalyn Coleman Williams.
In my school days, I was obsessed with plays, theatre history, and the craft of acting. Since I could not get cast in a play at school or in the community, I would usher or be the stage manager. That way I could attend every performance. I memorized the shows I worked on and recited the lines as I commuted home from school. I came to love Sophocles, Erupedies, Shakespeare, theatre history, classic rules and structure of drama, as much as performing.
Looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. My classmates were my artistic heroes, as were my teachers. I decided to never give up. I perceived myself as a student with potential and despite never being cast in a single production, I have acted on Broadway, in major motion pictures and on TV. I have worked up close with some great folks, so I know that acting can be learned. I am proof of that!
I was specifically chosen by Margie Haber, whose celebrity clients include Brad Pitt, Halle Berry and Heather Locklear among others, to be the East Coast representative of her world-famous acting studio and to teach her Cold Reading Technique. I have had the pleasure to teach students at NYU Tisch, SUNY Purchase, The Actors Center, ACT (MFA program), Actor’s Connection, Howard University and Duke Ellington School of the Arts and conducted acting workshops at film festivals around the country. Another great joy in my career was to serve as on-set acting coach during the second season of HBO’s “In Treatment”.
My training and love of drama led me to direct short films. Then I started a [production company][1] with my husband, to help others use digital media to tell their stories.
[1]: http://redwallproductions.com
To every actor I work with I offer, my passion, commitment, love of acting, training and real world experience, join me in the real world. The water is warm.
Don’t judge your future by your past…in my case, my high school acting chops. Develop your passion, until you get good at it, then you can define your own future. Congratulations class of artists 2014!
