Modern Acting Classes: On-Camera & Private Coaching.
I offer personalized acting training to draw out authentic performance. Learn through two-camera scene work, feature film scripts, and intimate coaching sessions designed to reveal your natural talent.
“I’ve been on set this week in NYC for a web series. And your wisdom keeps coming back to me throughout our shoot days. All our conversations about what it means to be a ‘professional’ in our work. How to carry yourself, how to prepare, support your scene partner, manage an unclear direction, etc.
“I am so grateful for all our coaching over the years - it is truly keeping me grounded in the midst.”
The Intensive.
Oct 22, 2025 – Oct 28, 2025
Classes are 10:00 am - 3:00 pm EST, Oct 22, 24, 26, and 28.
A photo and resume must be submitted before attendance can be confirmed.
The best work is often the result of an intense and in depth period of concentrated effort. This is also the way an actor makes significant gains in their overall abilities. If you’ve acted in the theatre, for example, you know how great a distance you travel and how much you progress in a one week rehearsal period. An acting intensive can have the same rewards.
The Intensive acting class at Centre for the Arts is designed for you to progress beyond what you thought possible and to do so in a short period of time. Over four days this October, five hours each day, you’ll work with a small handful of like-minded actors to develop your skills in working effectively – and successfully – in front of the camera.
In this class you’ll work with current film and television screenplays and master today’s realistic acting style. We’ll explore and work under typical filming conditions and learn to develop the strong personal centre that’s required. We’ll also explore in depth the audition, and how to master it.
$700.00 (including tax)
Directing the Actor – John Coaches.
“The way you approach the work was exactly what I needed. I have studied with many different teachers and sometimes I wonder why I didn’t find you sooner...
I really feel what I have discovered since working with you is invaluable. You have helped me trust myself again. The ideas, exercises and philosophy you inspire as you teach are the way I have always wanted to approach my acting. You have helped me to believe in that. You have helped me shift some very old narratives and guided me to free my own voice and creativity in my work. I feel I have built a new foundation within my work to grow from.”
About John Boylan.
A well-known Canadian actor, acting coach, teacher and mentor, John Boylan was the founder of Centre for the Arts, a community arts centre which served the community from 2002 to 2009.
John is a graduate actor from The National Theatre School of Canada and some film and television credits include Story Theatre, Keeping Track, Five Days at Memorial, Pet Sematary.
He taught at the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson Theatre School) from 2002 to 2018.
He ran the Directing the Actor class at New York University, Graduate Film School, the National Screen Institute, Winnipeg, The Directors Guild of Canada, Toronto and at Centre for the Arts.
In addition to his ongoing classes at his studio, he was a guest tutor at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London for many years.
He delivered a Master Class to members of the acting company at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
He created the acting for film and television course at The Gaiety School of Acting, Dublin; taught at the Guthrie Theatre, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, The Actors Centre, London, and in Zimbabwe for FIA (International Actor’s Federation).
In Toronto taught at George Brown Theatre School, York University graduate and undergraduate theatre departments and Humber College. Across Canada at Workshops in the Performing Arts, Vancouver; Moving Images Group, Halifax, and Queens University. John designed and delivered workshops in the Vancouver, St. John’s and Halifax CBC studios for ACTRAWORKS.
A mentor under the Canadian Senior Artist’s Resource Network (CSARN) program and he taught the first ever on-camera class at The Yale School of Drama.
