Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Jean-Louis Rodrigue is an internationally recognized acting coach, movement director, and teacher of the Alexander Technique, and a pioneer in its application to theater, film, and television. He began his actor training in 1967 with Herbert Berghof at the HB Studio in New York. In 1970, William Ball awarded Jean-Louis a full scholarship to study in the Advanced Training Program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. During his training and performing at ACT, Jean-Louis discovered the Alexander Technique. He spent three more years training as an Alexander Technique teacher with Frank Ottiwell and Giora Pinkas at the American Center for the Alexander Technique, San Francisco.

Jean-Louis Rodrigue

Jean-Louis has taught the Alexander Technique for the past thirty-seven years. His unique approach to movement education and to improving the levels of performance has brought international recognition.

In the music world, he was part of the faculty at the Verbier Festival and Academy (1998-2005), a music and theater festival in the Swiss Alps and he is currently part of the faculty at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He founded the Alexander program for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute and taught the young musicians and conductors for six years.

Jean-Louis has become renowned around the world in the film industry for his unique style of acting coaching and character movement choreography. He has most recently coached Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots, Rachel McAdams in Disobedience, Matt Bomer in Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart for HBO, Paul Dano in Okja and as Brian Wilson in Love and Mercy, and Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice. Jean-Louis coached Leonardo DiCaprio with his acclaimed performance in J. Edgar and, collaborated with Ang Lee and screenwriter David Magee in the development of the tiger movement for the Academy Award winning Life of Pi. Jean-Louis coached Scott Speedman in the award winning Barney's Vision, Citizen Gangster and the ABC series Last Resort. Other films include W. with Josh Brolin, Human Nature with Patricia Arquette, Passion Fish with Mary MacDonnell, The Affair of the Necklace with Hilary Swank and cast, The Cat's Meow with Kirsten Dunst, The Time Machine with cast, Seabiscuit with Elizabeth Banks, and Bee Season with Juliette Binoche. He has worked with many actors and performers including Zoey Deutch, Sir Ian McKellen, Forest Whitaker, Paul Dano, Luke Kirby, Martha Argerich, Herb Alpert, Helena Bonham Carter, Keanu Reeves, Tate Donovan, Julia Sweeney, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Baker, Joely Richardson, Sally Kellerman, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and JoBeth Williams.

In theater, Jean-Louis has most recently worked with the cast of Long Day's Journey into Night starring Alfred Molina at the Geffen Playhouse. He was awarded a Fellowship grant from the Montalvo Arts Center to develop and direct a play adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s best selling novel The Reader. He has coached Chris Pine in The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Mark Taper Forum and with Rita Maffei and Larry Moss in an Italian production of Pamela Gien’s The Syringa Tree at the Teatro Stabile di Innovazione in Udine and at Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy. For her performance, Maffei won the Gold Medal from the President of the Italian Republic. Jean-Louis has also worked with Gulu Monteiro on The Bacchae at the Getty Villa, the circus artists of Cirque du Soleil’s Ka at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and he has collaborated with director Joanna Settle and Heather Raffo in her acclaimed play Nine Parts of Desire at the Geffen Playhouse. He has collaborated with Larry Moss on Daisy White’s Sugar, Pamela Gien’s Obie award winning play The Syringa Tree at Playhouse 91 in N.Y. and Bo Eason’s Runt of the Litter at the 37 Arts Theater, N.Y., in fall 2007. He has coached actors working at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Mark Taper Forum, the Geffen Playhouse, the Pasadena Playhouse, and on Broadway, as well as the artists of the Cirque du Soleil in La Nouvelle Experience on improving their performance and preventing injuries. He is currently a member of the faculties at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, and teaches regularly for Larry Moss.