I had a great time in Cologne in May 2009 at the International Film School and in Berlin with Interkunst in July.

I shall be running a 5 day workshop for professional actors in Cologne, Germany from 12th - 16th May 2010. Contact ifs international Filmschule (www.filmschule.de) for details.

Thank you to all my students who have allowed me to use clips from my workshops for my new DVD!

'The Last Station' about Tolstoy's last months that I worked on (credited under my other name - Ann Churcher) has been nominated for two acting Oscars!

And Jack Price's excellent short film 'Indigo' that I helped with last year has received a Special Mention award in Berlin.

Here is my favourite current quote - from Christoph Waltz ('Inglourious Basterds') nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Oscars & winner at the BAFTAs (about NOT playing a character!) He is asked how he played evil so convincingly,

"You simply don't. You know, stay away from it. It's a bad idea. You end up in a silly stereotypical cliche...And you end up in your conception of evil, you know, which might not be enough anyway." (reported by Mike Goodridge. Screen International. Feb.2010)

I was thrilled to see Raymond Blanc passing on our relaxed breathing work to a nervous chef in 'The Restaurant' on TV!

This is me in action in Cologne in April 2008! I did another session like this in May, talking about the films I've worked on and now have a great 4 minute trailer!

Archive: Control (the film about Ian Curtis of Joy Division won several awards including Best European Film at Cannes 2007. (And Sam also won a "Kermode"!) It was Sam Riley's first film and we had two week's pre-production together. Here are some reviews:

'..it's the central performance by Sam Riley that really makes Control. For sheer truthfulness, he stand comparison with Tom Courtenay & Albert Finney...(Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 3/10/2007)

...there's no denyingthe extraordinary performance of Sam Riley in the lead role. (Sukhdev Sandhu, The Daily Telegraph 5/10/2007)

Archive: Danny the Dog/Unleashed opened in 2006 with Jet Li getting wonderful reviews for his fine work. He is an excellent actor (look at 'Hero') but he wanted to prepare differently for this role. This is from the film company's production notes:

   Li notes,  "This film was an occasion for me to go further emotionally, to play something stronger with human significance." Accordingly, he began preparing for UNLEASHED as he had for no other film. "I'd never taken an acting class before," he admits. "I learned just by working. This time, though, Luc found a wonderful acting coach from London. For two months before shooting, she helped me study Danny and discover what he was like - what he's thinking, how he walks, how he reacts."

"Two years ago, while making 'Unleashed,' I met a British acting coach, a very wonderful lady, and she taught me how to act. She told me never think about how to act, just use your heart to believe in what you're doing. That was very helpful." (Lewis Beale. Newsday. 21/9/06)

"Besson's decision to give Li two months with an acting coach also pays off with one of the star's subtlest and most natural performances." (Eye weekly 05/12/05)

..."this is also Li's most interesting non-Hong Kong work to date." Radio Times 2009

I finally said goodbye to the Open Air Theatre, Regent's park in 2007 after 12 years as coach there when Ian Talbot left as Artistic Director. I first met Ian when I played Hermia in Midsummer night's Dream in 1975 - he was playing Bottom! Will always have great memories of this beautiful but challenging place. One of the best places to see Shakespeare in the world!

I have several new books in development. Next one will be a further look at fim acting with publisher Nick Hern.