About…
Name: Hugh O’Gorman
Head of Acting: Cal State Long Beach, MFA, BA & BFA Actor Training Programs
MFA in Acting: University of Washington
BA Psychology: Cornell University
Actor: over 30 years in TV, Film & Theatre
Awards: SAG Award Nominee - Best Comedy Ensemble Television 1997
Favorite quote: “Be the change you want to see in the world...” -Gandhi
“Hugh establishes a remarkable rapport with his actors, which in turn engenders a confidence and curiosity that serves them well. Exposure such as this is invaluable for actors and all too rare. Hugh’s passion for acting and for teaching is remarkable, as is commitment to his students.”
Hugh O'Gorman is an actor, director, author, and teaching artist, active in professional theatre for over 30 years. Since 2002, he has been the Head of Acting at California State University Long Beach where he oversees the BA, BFA and MFA actor training programs. He is co-chair of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and a Faculty member of MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association of America. He earned a BA from Cornell University and MFA in Acting from the University of Washington.
Since 2003, he has run his own private acting studio in Hollywood, California: The Praxis Acting Studio Los Angeles, an atelier that focuses on the work of the great Russian theatre artists Michael Chekhov and Constantin Stanislavski: Gesture & Playing Action. The objective of the studio is simple: to help the actor create vivid and memorable performances in as truthful, imaginative, organic, and dynamic a way possible. No one methodology or school of acting is slavishly adhered to, as the only thing that matters is that the student’s creative individuality shines through when they create a character.
Hugh's students have won Golden Globe and Emmy awards, booked series leads on prime-time television, guest star spots, national commercials, regional theatre, and Broadway. They have won entry into the Yale School of Drama, Juilliard Drama Division, NYU Graduate Acting, ACT, CalArts, UCSD, USC, University of Washington, Ohio State, DePaul, Brandeis, among many others.
Hugh is the author of the books “Acting Action: A Primer for Actors” and “The Keys to Acting”.
Hugh has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway and at over a dozen of the nation's most respected Regional Theatres and Shakespeare Festivals. He is a founding member of New York City's Mint Theatre Company (2002 Drama Desk Award). For four years Hugh portrayed Jeff Singer on AMC's critically acclaimed, Emmy and CableAce award-winning show Remember WENN (SAG Award nomination). Other television: HBO's multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning John Adams, for CBS Still Standing, That's Life, and for NBC The 10th Kingdom, Law & Order, and ER. Film: Killers, Upstate, The Bend.
Hugh is married to French architect Nathalie Aragno, a partner of the Los Angeles Architecture firm Studio William Hefner. They have two daughters.