Hugh Jackman's Acting Coach to Host Masterclass in Perth

Academy Award nominees Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper don't just have good looks in common - both are students of acting coach Elizabeth Kemp, coming to Perth this July.

Presented by Melbourne's 16th Street Actors Studio in association with The Actors' Hub in Subiaco, Kemp is making a return to WA to deliver the Character Dream Masterclass - Evolution.

Kemp is associate artistic director of The Actors Studio, a New York-based organisation for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights best known for its work refining and teaching method acting.

Founded in 1947, it is currently run by Al Pacino, Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel - an actor Kemp still coaches.

Hugh Jackman said he was honoured and blessed to be able to work with Elizabeth Kemp.

"She has added many layers of depth to not only my process but also my experience as an actor," he said. "Allowing me to find connections and freedom that I have not felt before."

Kemp's six-day masterclass gets participants to delve even deeper and take the sacred journey from the birth of a character through to performance.

"The Character Dream Masterclass is a beautiful way for actors to connect to the character in the most primal way, making the character come from the extraordinary, unlived and unclaimed parts of you," Kemp said.

"It's got a lot of the same elements as the other masterclasses, in terms of dream and character work and other steps involved with that.

"But now we're going to work with text and bringing characters to life, going into storytelling.

"It involves mixed-media projections and actual filming of the event after two days of working with the material, notes, directions and adjustments.

"By the end, it will be getting closer towards something that would be a performance piece you could share with the public."

Kemp said she had recently worked through a similar masterclass process in Rome.

"It's so inspiring and truly life-changing for both me and the artists, as the characters are actually lived in this particular way," she said.

The Character Dream Masterclass - Evolution runs July 5 to 10 in Perth - go to actorshubperth.com.au/master-classes to apply.

The Actors' Hub is located at the Subiaco Arts Centre, 180 Hamersley Road, Subiaco.

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