Jean-Louis Rodrigue

Jean-Louis Rodrigue is an acting coach, movement director, author, and senior teacher of the Alexander Technique. He has worked in Los Angeles and New York in theatre, film, television, and digital media.

Rodrigue has taught at the Berlin International Film Festival, Generation Campus in Moscow, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Universidad de la Comunicación (México) in Mexico City, Berlinale Talents in Guadalajara, USC Thornton School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, and Digital Life Design Women in Munich. Rodrigue has been a faculty member at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

At eight years old, he decided to become an actor after viewing Ferruccio Soleri in “Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters” at Piccolo Teatro di Milano. In 1967, he began working with Herbert Berghof at the HB Studio and Sonia Moore at the American Center for Stanislavski Theater Art in New York.

Teaching career

In 1980, Rodrigue founded Alexander Techworks. The company provides private instruction, training, coaching, group classes, and workshops in Los Angeles, New York, and other cities. He and Kristof Konrad own and operate the business together.

From 1998 to 2005, Rodrigue was part of the faculty of Verbier Festival. He founded the Alexander Technique program at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he taught for six years.

Film and television Rodrigue has coached actors in films including: I, Tonya, Vice, Mary Queen of Scots, Love and Mercy (film), J. Edgar, W., Passion Fish, The Time Machine, Seabiscuit (film), and The Normal Heart (film). He collaborated with director Ang Lee and screenwriter David Magee in the development of the tiger movement for the film Life of Pi. Rodrigue choreographed the period movement for the film The Affair of the Necklace.

Since 2009, Rodrigue has conducted several workshops at the Berlinale Talent Campus program. He was involved in the development of a new hands-on training programs for emerging actors, the Talent Actors Stage, for which 15-20 international actors are selected annually.

Theatre Rodrigue has coached at several Los Angeles locations throughout his career. At the Geffen Playhouse, Rodrigue was the movement coach on Nine Parts of Desire in 2005 and on Long Day's Journey into Night in 2017. He was awarded a fellowship grant from the Montalvo Arts Center to develop and direct a play adaptation of the novel, The Reader. He coached Chris Pine in The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Mark Taper Forum. He also worked with Gulu Monteiro on The Bacchae at the Getty Villa.

Rodrigue has collaborated with Larry Moss on Daisy White's Sugar, The Syringa Tree at Playhouse 91 in New York and Bo Eason's Runt of the Litter at the 37 Arts Theater, N.Y. He has coached with Rita Maffei and Larry Moss in an Italian production of The Syringa Tree at the Teatro Stabile di Innovazione in Udine and at Il Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy.

Animal Studies Rodrigue integrates animal behavior and movement into his research and work. He is known for helping actors develop characters through animal movement studies. His primary areas of research are animal movement, behavior, morphology, nature perception, and human/animal connections. This interest was sparked by Leonardo da Vinci and Carlo Mazzone-Clementi.

While in Milano in 1957, Rodrigue's father introduced him to the scientific and artistic work of DaVinci. They would often go to the National Museum of Science and Technology to view the models of DaVinci's inventions . They also would visit the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the largest archive of Da Vinci's drawings of animals.

Later in his life while studying at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Jean-Louis studied with Mazzone-Clementi who introduced him to the application of animal behavior and movement to character development.

Select awards and recognition Rodrigue was awarded a fellowship grant in 2008 from the Montalvo Arts Center to develop and direct a play adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's novel, The Reader.

Credits

Filmography Year Film Actor/Consulting Work Role Director 2024 Destroy All Neighbors Alex Winter/Counterpart Pictures Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Josh Forbes 2023 The Burial (film) Jurnee Smollett/Amazon Studios Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Maggie Betts 2023 Barbie (film) Margot Robbie/Warner Bros. Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Greta Gerwig 2022 Everything Everywhere All at Once Ke Huy Quan/A24 Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Daniel Kwan Daniel Scheinert 2022 Babylon (2022 film) Margot Robbie/Paramount Pictures Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Damien Chazelle 2022 Lou (2022 film) Jurnee Smollett/Bad Robot Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Anna Foerster 2020 Bill & Ted Face the Music Alex Winter /Orion Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Dean Parisot 2020 Birds of Prey (2020 film) Margot Robbie/Warner Brothers Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Cathy Yan 2019 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Margot Robbie/Columbia Pictures Character Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Quentin Tarantino 2019 Dreamland (2019 American film) Margot Robbie/Eagle Films Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Miles Joris-Peyrafitte 2019 Buffaloed Zoey Deutch/Lost City Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Tanya Wexler 2018 Vice (2018 film) Christian Bale/Annapurna Pictures Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Adam McKay 2018 Mary Queen of Scots (2018 film) Margot Robbie/Focus Features Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Josie Rourke 2018 Set It Up Zoey Deutch/Netflix Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Claire Scanlon 2017 I, Tonya Margot Robbie/Miramax Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Craig Gillespie 2017 Disobedience Rachel McAdams/Braven Films Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Sebastian Lelio 2017 Anything (film) Matt Bomer/Great Point Media Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Timothy McNeil 2017 Okja Paul Dano/Netflix Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Joon-Ho Bong 2017 Flower Zoey Deutch/Diablo Entertainment Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Max Winkler 2016 Unleashed (2016 film) Justin Chatwin/Braveheart Films Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Finn Taylor 2014 Pawn Sacrifice Tobey Maguire/Lionsgate Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Edward Swick 2014 Lucky Stiff Cast/Arclight Films Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Christopher Ashley 2014 The Normal Heart (film) Matt Bomer/HBO Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Ryan Murphy 2014 Love & Mercy (film) Paul Dano/Roadside Attractions Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Bill Pohlad 2012 Life of Pi (film) Fox 2000 Pictures Consultant on Tiger Movement Ang Lee 2011 Citizen Gangster Scott Speedman/Myriad Pictures Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Nathan Morlando 2011 J. Edgar Leonardo DiCaprio/Warner Brothers Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Clint Eastwood 2010 Barney's Version (film) Scott Speedman/Sony Pictures Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Richard J. Lewis 2008 W. (film) Josh Brolin/Ixtlan Corp. Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Oliver Stone 2005 Bee Season (film) Juliette Binoche/Fox-Searchlight Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Scott McGee David Siegal 2003 Seabiscuit Elizabeth Banks/Universal Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Gary Ross 2002 The Syringa Tree Pamela Gien/Trio Network Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Larry Moss 2002 The Time Machine (2002 film) Samantha Mumba & Cast/DreamWorks Creature Movement Choreography Simon Wells 2001 The Affair of the Necklace Hilary Swank & Cast/Warner Brothers Period Movement/Coaching Charles Shyer 2001 Human Nature (2001 film) Patricia Arquette/Fine Line Character and Animal Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Michel Gondry 2001 The Cat's Meow Kirsten Dunst/Lions Gate Films Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Peter Bogdanovich 1996 Partners Tate Donovan/Fox Television Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Multiple 1996 HBO Comedy Half-Hour Wendy Liebman/HBO Character and Movement Coaching Troy Miller 1994 It's Pat Julia Sweeney/Touchstone Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Adam Bernstein 1993 Little Buddha Keanu Reeves/Miramax Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Bernardo Bertolucci 1993 Freaked Keanu Reeves/20th Century Fox Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Alex Winter 1992 Passion Fish Mary McDonell/Columbia Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique John Sayles

Theater Production Actor Role Theater Director How To Disappear Completely and Never Be Found Brad Culver Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Boston Court Nancy Keystone The Lieutenant of Inishmore Chris Pine Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Mark Taper Forum Wilson Milam The Syringa Tree Rita Maffei Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Piccolo Teatro, Milano Larry Moss The Reader Cast Director Montalvo Arts Center Self King Lear/The Seagull Sir Ian McKellen Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique RSC - UCLA Live Trevor Nunn Runt of the Litter Bo Eason Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique 37 Arts Theater, NYC Larry Moss The Bacchae Cast Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Getty Villa Gulu Montiero KA Cast Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Cirque du Soleil Robert Le Page Nine Parts of Desire Heather Raffo Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Geffen Playhouse Joanna Settle Sugar Daisy White Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Edgemar Center Larry Moss Gretty Good Time Ann Stocking Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Falcon Theater John Regalbuto Runt of the Litter Bo Eason Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique MCC Theater, NY Larry Moss The Syringa Tree Pamela Gien Character and Movement Development/Alexander Technique Playhouse 91, NY Larry Moss The Syringa Tree Pamela Gien, Cast Character and Movement Development/Alexander Technique National Tour Larry Moss The Cryptogram & the Old Neighborhood Christine Dunford Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Geffen Playhouse Michael Bloom Skylight Sally Murphy Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Steppenwolf Theater Mike Nussbaum The Triumph of Isabella Cast Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Geffen Playhouse John Achorn The Prodigious Snob Cast Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique UCLA Little Theatre Ellen Geer Scenes from an Execution Natalija Nogulich Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Mark Taper Forum Robert Allan Ackerman La Nouvelle Experience (collaborated with Debra Brown) Cast Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Cirque du Soleil Franco Dragone Accomplice Natalija Nogulich Character and Movement Coaching/Alexander Technique Broadway Rupert Holmes