About Deborah
Deborah Lemen is a working actor, teacher, writer, director, and producer who works in both New York and Los Angeles. She has trained with George Morrison and Jack Waltzer in New York. In Los Angeles, she studied with Peter Flood and Ivana Chubbuck.
Deborah Lemen is the first Professional Acting Coach to adapt the Ivana Chubbuck Technique for Kids and Teens. She has adapted the technique to make it accessible and age appropriate for kids and teens, yet still offer the same acting tools that have created hundreds of successful and award winning adult actors. Deb's acting technique and workshops have proven to be career changing! Past and present students have been successful both theatrically as well as commercially. She has recently worked as the on-set coach for "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and one of Deb's biggest success stories is Katie LeClerc, the current star of ABC Family's Switched at Birth.
Deborah has developed a well-known reputation as an actor, appearing in over 50 plays in both New York and Los Angeles, and in film, working opposite Rob Schneider, Seth Rogan, Patrick Swayzee and others. Film Credits include: DEUCE BIGELO, POINT BREAK, WHISTLESTOP GIRL, A SECRET THING, and Judd Apetow’s PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, directed by David Gordon Green. As a member of Filmmaker’s Alliance, a collective made up of 300 filmmakers, Deborah has written and directed over a dozen films.
Technique
Kids, Teens, & Young Adults
The Deborah Lemen Acting Studio offers a unique theatrical study experience. That’s because we pride ourselves on the fact that we not only train these young actors as professional artists but also teach them skills and lessons they will carry for the rest of their lives. We do so by respecting our young actors, teaching them the same techniques and approaches to acting we offer to our adult students. Naturally, we handle the process with a certain care and consideration to the age of our students. But in our classes, they are taught maturity, trust, responsibility, focus, patience, hard work, communication and other valuable skills that will serve them well on set, on stage, on camera and on any life path they may choose.
Adults
We offer the same services and opportunities to our adult actors, only on a more advanced level. Our studio has become one of the city’s premiere places to study and practice the teachings of Stanislavski, Meisner, Strasberg, Adler, Chubbuck, and more, as well as improvisational skills to keep actors flexible, aware and on their toes. We provide unique approaches to important actor techniques and tools such as sense memory, beats, wants, choices, actions and tips to breaking down all types of scripts. For both the adult and youth classes, we also invite in professional directors, writers and coaches to offer new approaches and techniques and to aide in the learning process.
On Camera Experience
Our actors are given opportunities they won’t find in any other acting class, including intensive camera work and on-set, on-location study, where students get a chance to explore all facets of film work, from sound engineering, location scouting and directing to working with each other on camera on a professional set. You put all this together and the result, we’ve found, is students coming out of our studio more prepared for not just the business, but life in general.