“There is no question Laurel is directly responsible for my career. She taught me everything I needed to go straight to set, working with professionals like Jennifer Aniston, Justin Long, and Diane Lane. Laurel has the ability to reach inside each actor and pull out their best and worst–growth is an absolute. While training with Laurel, I found her insights into my work applied to my life, turning my work into a journey…She is more than a coach, she is a master.”
Katie O’Grady
(Management, Untraceable, The Hunted)
“Laurel Smith is the ultimate acting teacher: she has brilliant instinct, extensive experience, and teaches you an effective acting craft. She has helped me immensely as an actor and as a director learning to work with actors.”
Warren Pereira, W Films
(Lacking Lewis, Who’s Good Looking, Superhero Talent, Lovely Coffee)
“Before I walked into Laurel’s class, I thought I knew how to act. Oh how I was wrong! Laurel has a gift. She knows how to break you down to the core and build you back up into something honest and real – if you’re willing to go there, it’s well worth the ride!”
Janine Kurnoff
(Credits TBD)
“Laurel will never let you get away with lying – to whomever you are working with and especially to yourself. With her guidance you will experience what it means to act truthfully – a skill that will bring you closer to the surface of every moment in your own life and in the life of any character you inhabit.”
Orianna Herman
(Follow the Profit, The Accordionist, Disinformation/The Public Theater in NYC)
“The biggest compliment I can pay Laurel is that when I book a role or get a call back, I always see other students from Laurel’s class also booking a role or a call back. As much as I’d like to believe that my acting success is due to my talent, it isn’t. It has to do with Laurel’s teaching.”
Dwight Slade
(Inconceivable, My Way Home, 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Festival)
“As an actor you can only ever hope to continue in your growth and discovery of self. Laurel unequivocally possesses the ability to make you reach deeper and harder in that discovery than anyone I have ever encountered. And as you finish crying, laughing, fighting and writhing in pain there is finally the realization….I am a better person because of Laurel. That is the greatest kind of training that anyone in any profession has to offer.”
Nick Richey
(The Americans, Perfect Sport, Welcome to the Jungle, and a TV pilot with Dick Van Dyke)
“Because she is so no-nonsense and honest, people grow very quickly in her class. I have witnessed several people go into her class wanting to be actors, and leaving ACTORS. I would recommend her to anyone who is really serious about acting, or to anyone who wants to find a more conscious or deep part of themselves. Know that she is tough, she really cares about her students and she will push you to your limits, but that is what a good teacher does. Laurel pretty much shoved me out of the door to LA when she thought I was ready, and I have been here for nearly three years. I am a working model/actress here and I know I owe part of that to her encouragement, toughening me up, and her tireless one-on-one focus and teaching/communicating abilities.”
Heidi Herschbach
(CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Entourage, General Hospital, Darling Nikki, Deep in the Valley)
“Laurel is unabashedly honest, insightful, unreasonably passionate, and, she makes you question yourself insatiably.”
Jana Hamblin
(The West Wing, Lincoln Heights)
“Laurel has a true gift in bringing out the best in her students. Her no-bullshit approach to teaching allows her to push you when you need it and support you when you take risks. She doesn’t give up on you, and if you let her, she will help you reach places in your acting you never thought you could get to. I cannot say enough good things about her and my experience taking her classes, I would highly recommend her as an acting coach for anyone–from the beginner to the advanced.”
Anna Frazier
(Selfless, Cathedral Park, Every Hidden Thing)