John Strasberg

What makes an artist? What makes him or her creative, going beyond technique? The answer is profoundly simple, the ability to be inspired, able to live spontaneously in the context of the character and the play.

John Strasberg (born May 20, 1941 in New York City) is an American actor, director, teacher and writer. He is the son of Lee, former Artistic Director of the Actors Studio, and Paula Strasberg, actress and coach of many actors, among them Marilyn Monroe. Strasberg teaches the Organic Creative Process which is a conscious, intuitive process that goes beyond the Method.

Quotes

• I was instructed to do everything I could to help her. My soul was now indentured to serve their relationship with Marilyn. At twenty-one, I felt that my career had already been erased.
• To intentionally dream about the world in which the character lives is work which the actor must always do alone; it is then that he establishes the link between himself and the play. This is what I now recognize takes place in the actor’s personal dream space.
  • Excerpt from Accidentally on Purpose: Reflections on Life, Acting and the Nine Natural Laws of Creativity, The Sheila Variations (November 20, 2011)

From the official website

Acting Classes.The Organic Creative Process

• All art is transformational.
• Basic technique is knowing yourself and knowing how to use yourself.
• There are three great teachers of acting - Life, Shakespeare, and Yourself.
• Chaos, doubts, and confusion is normal and signifies the beginning of the creative process

From the documentary Personal Dream Space

• The creative process, like anything in life has poetry to it .
• Life is armonic at its best.
• Stanislavsky is the person who really originated the movement that later inspirated the American Theatre and it was the institutionalization of the Actors studio which made it permanent.
  • Said in the trailer of the documentary Personal Dream Space.

• The fact that people come to a place, where everyone makes that commitment, and they are in the country just changes the atmosphere of work so there is a kind of relaxation and comaradery that is very special. It is a special place.
  • Referring to Art Aia Creatives/In/ Residence. Said in an interview, min 0.37/0.59, in "Art Aia - Creatives / In / Residence" (March 8, 2015).

Quotes about John Strasberg

• If Lee Strasberg took a mainly Freudian approach to the business of acting training, then John Strasberg is Jungian. He works a lot with dreams.
  • Sheila O'Malley, film critic and member of NYFCC (New York Film Critics’ Circle). From The Sheila Variations, (November 20, 2011)

• The thing that I think he thought me he said: "Whatever works for you. You make up your own method".
  • Steve Buscemi, American actor, director, writer and producer. Said on Accidentally On Purpose (The Movie - Part 1) min 4.15, (January 21,2010)