The Actor's Nervous System

What can acting learn from ritual? I sit down with Christopher Fuelling — theater director, tenor, and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans physical theater, ritual, and immersive performance — for a conversation about what happens when performance becomes a deeply embodied experience instead of something we just watch. We talk about Meyerhold's biomechanics and the otkaz/stoika principle...

What happens when actors try too hard to get it right? I sit down with Madeleine Hutchins — actor and acting teacher, whose career has taken her from the West End and national tours to New York and international theatre — for a conversation about what she actually does when an actor gets stuck in self-consciousness, and why the fix is almost always physical rather than verbal. We talk about workin...

Can an actor be calm, regulated, and still emotionally unavailable? In this episode of The Actor’s Nervous System, I sit down with Alycia LaPonte — a licensed professional counselor and actress — to explore a distinction that can completely change the way actors think about nervous-system regulation. Because what if “being regulated” isn’t the same thing as being available? We talk about the ways...

What if sexual energy and creative energy are connected? I sit down with Josephine Lauer, an embodied leadership and sacred intimacy coach based in Chicago and host of  Universal Intimacy , for a conversation that takes  The Actor’s Nervous System  somewhere new. We explore embodiment, intuition, archetypes, surrender, presence, and Josephine’s perspective on the relationship between sexual and cr...

What happens when two podcast hosts exploring the same territory finally sit down and compare notes? I'm joined by Amy Schloerb, host of The Aligned Actor, for a conversation about mindfulness, presence, and what actually gets in the way of actors staying grounded. We talk about being comfortable "in the shit," why pretending you don't want something is usually a sign you want it...

Care harder. Try harder. Hold on tighter — that's what we're taught actors and artists need to do. What if it's exactly what's working against us? I sit down with DeAnna S. Wright — MFA-trained actor, director, and educator — for a conversation about letting go of gripping so tightly and trusting the circumstances to carry you, instead of carrying them yourself. DeAnna and I go bac...

What does it actually mean to get out of your own way? I sit down with Andrew Bosworth — actor, teacher, and curator of Demidov Chicago — for a conversation that's both personal and professional. Andrew was one of the people who first introduced me to Demidov technique back in 2020, and here we trace his path: an undergrad program that left him coasting on instinct with no real training, grad...

What does surrendering control actually look like in the body? I sit down with actor, musician, and yoga practitioner Hetty-Jo Taylor for a conversation about neurodivergence, letting go of the need to control a performance, and the years she spent away from acting — in yoga, in luxury brand management, and eventually back again with a completely different relationship to her body. We talk about t...

What does a neuroscientist who treats trauma have in common with a 20th century Russian acting teacher? More than you would think. In this episode, Brian Zane sits down with Jenna Pacelli - licensed therapist, molecular neuroscientist, and founder of The Holistic Neuroscientist - for a wide-ranging conversation about presence, the nervous system, trauma, creativity, and what it actually means to b...

How do you learn lines? Most actors have been taught to memorize as quickly as possible, get the words into their heads, and move on to the "real" work of acting. But what if the way we learn our lines is actually shaping the way we perform them? In this episode of The Actor's Nervous System, I explore the relationship between memorization, anxiety, embodiment, and creative freedom t...

In episode 4 of The Actor's Nervous System, Brian Zane explores the relationship between emotional courage, physical tension, and the nervous system through a personal story of chronic pain during actor training. What happens when the body braces against feeling? How can actors learn to release rather than force? Drawing from the Demidov technique, somatic tracking, and neuroplastic pain resea...

In this episode of The Actor’s Nervous System, I explore one of the central struggles of acting: the difference between being trapped in self-consciousness and living with genuine presence. Drawing from my training in Nikolai Demidov’s technique, as well as my own experience as an actor and teacher, I discuss why creativity disappears when we start monitoring ourselves — and how we can return to i...

Episode 2 of The Actor's Nervous System. What do Harold Hill, the fight-or-flight response, and Christof from The Truman Show have in common? In this episode, I explore how nervous system states affect performance, presence, and freedom in acting. Follow along on Instagram: theactorsnervoussystemEmail us at: the actorsnervoussystempodcast@gmail.comMusic by Penguinmusic - "Thoughtful Minim...

Most actors think tension means emotion. I used to believe that too. In this first episode of The Actor’s Nervous System, I explore how effort, control, and “trying harder” often lead to less truth in performance—and how the actor’s nervous system shapes presence, spontaneity, and emotional availability. Drawing from classical training, Demidov technique, and somatic work, this episode introduces...