Get to Know Us
GFCA exists because storytelling can change the world — and we're in the business of training the actors who tell those stories best. Through in-depth, supportive training in small cohorts, rooted in the legacy of Drama Centre London, we prepare storytellers to work at the highest level of their craft.
Founded by Giles Foreman, in 2012, GFCA’s approach combines the rigorous, method-based techniques with the foundational ideas of Christopher Fettes and Yat Malmgren (Character Analysis and Movement Psychology) to shape each person as a complete artist. Our instructors are experienced professionals–many of whom taught or trained at Drama Centre London–who are dedicated to providing actors an alternative to mainstream instruction in a supportive, empathetic, and enjoyable environment.
Located conveniently in the heart of Soho, GFCA is in the heart of the action, allowing our students to connect to the real world while developing their craft. We take a maximum of 16 actors each year for our successful Advanced Intensive Acting & Actor-Director Diploma programmes. We look for creative and motivated individuals who seek a top-level, intensive and progressive training to stimulate the mind and the imagination, no matter where they are on their career path.
Giles Foreman, Founder
founder of GFCA
Giles Foreman is one of Europe’s leading acting coaches and the founder of the Giles Foreman Centre for Acting in London and Paris. Internationally recognised for his expertise in the Yat Malmgren/Laban technique of Character Analysis and Movement Psychology, he has trained and coached actors across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia for more than three decades, introducing the work to actors in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Madrid, Rome and Cairo.
A graduate of the Drama Centre London, Giles trained under Christopher Fettes, Yat Malmgren, and Reuven Adiv. He was later invited to become a member of the teaching staff where he began to develop as a coach under the guidance of his teachers.
After retiring from the Drama Centre London and following the passing of Yat Malmgren, Christopher Fettes came to teach at the GFCA alongside Giles. They travelled extensively together, developing Christopher’s book about Yat’s work - A Peopled Labyrinth, which we subsequently published. Christopher and Giles evolved new ways of teaching the work in an attempt to preserve the legacy of the Drama Centre London
Giles has coached hundreds of professional actors for stage, film and television, working with performers including Gwendoline Christie, Suki Waterhouse, Santiago Cabrera, Daniel Sharman, Nina Hoss and many others. His former students have gone on to star in productions including Game of Thrones, Wednesday, The Witcher, Emily in Paris, Tokyo Vice, Raw, Phantom Thread, Star Trek, Star Wars, Fouda, The Program, The Favourite, Mobland, Assasin’s Creed, SAS Rogues, The Empress and many others, they have also appeared at the National Theatre, RSC. Series he has coached have gone on to win International Emmys and World Series awards - notably Netflix’s ‘The Empress’ and ‘Four Blocks’.
Alongside his work as an acting coach, Giles is an accomplished theatre director, filmmaker and producer. He was Associate Producer of the Academy Award-nominated short film La Femme et le TGV, starring Jane Birkin, and has directed numerous acclaimed stage productions throughout Europe.
In recognition of his contribution to international cinema and actor training, Giles received the Special Prize at the 2023 Swiss Film Awards, became a member of the Swiss Film Academy, and was honoured in Cairo for his contribution to the Egyptian film industry.
A Peopled Labyrinth — The Book Behind Our Method
Written by Christopher Fettes, co-founder of Drama Centre London and mentor to Giles Foreman, A Peopled Labyrinth: The Histrionic Sense — An Analysis of the Actor's Craft is the definitive account of the Laban-Carpenter Theory of Movement Psychology, adapted by Yat Malmgren and interpreted in depth by Fettes. Drawing on a lifetime of teaching and a rich array of examples from classical literature, the book explores the psychological and physical roots of character — the same foundations that shape the training at Giles Foreman Centre for Acting.
Essential reading for actors, directors, and anyone curious about understanding character and human behaviour more deeply.
Our graduates have gone on to succeed on the international stage, landing series regular roles in popular TV series and high-profile feature films, as well as regularly appearing on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, West End, and many more. Many of our graduates have also spearheaded their own initiatives, using skills they honed during their training, to write, develop, direct, and produce their own projects and to take control of their own creative journey.
ALUMNI SUCCESS
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Ella Rumpf
Known for:Raw, Freud, Tokyo Vice
Ella Rumpf is known for her emotionally fearless performances and strong screen presence, working across European cinema and international television. She is a recent Cesar winner for her role in the theoren of Margarethe.
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Samuel Arnold
Known for: Emily in Paris
Samuel Arnold has gained international recognition through Netflix, bringing clarity, charisma, and precision to his performances.
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Basil Eidenbenz
Known for: The Witcher, The Favourite
Basil Eidenbenz works across major international productions, combining physical presence with detailed character work.
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Lujza Richter
Known for: Phantom Thread, Vikings
Lujza Richter has built a diverse career across film and historical drama, known for subtle and layered performances.
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Conor Basil
Known for: Schemers (2020), Karen Pirie (2025), and Dept. Q (2025).
Following his training at the Giles Foreman Centre for Acting in London, Scottish actor Conor Berry quickly launched his screen career, landing the lead role of Davie in Schemers (2020), which earned him the Best Actor Award at the Winter Film Awards. He has since appeared in acclaimed television series including Karen Pirie and Dept. Q, establishing himself as a rising talent in British film and television.
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Andrew Hale
Known for: 2059 (TV series), Das Ende der Unschuld, and Ask.
Andrew Hale built an international acting career across film, television, and commercial work. He has appeared in projects including the TV series 2059, the feature Das Ende der Unschuld, and the drama Ask, while also developing work as a writer and performer in Switzerland and across Europe.
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David Narayan Hecter
Known for: No Escape (Paramount+), Largo Winch 3, After Love, and The Madame Blanc Mysteries.
Narayan David Hecter has built an international screen career, appearing in acclaimed film and television productions across the UK and Europe. His credits include the Paramount+ thriller No Escape, Largo Winch 3, After Love, The Madame Blanc Mysteries, DI Ray, and Riviera, establishing him as a versatile bilingual actor working across both English and French-language productions.
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Leo Hatton
Known for: No Man's Land (2025), Postcards from London (2018), Silent Witness, and Death in Paradise.
Leo Hatton has built a successful career across British television and independent film. She has appeared in acclaimed productions including the lead role of Ellie Gordon in No Man's Land, as well as Postcards from London, Silent Witness, Death in Paradise, Endeavour, and Maigret, establishing herself as a versatile screen actress working across both UK and international productions.
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Kai Murakami
Known for:Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Irrational, and Law & Order.
Kai Murakami has gone on to build a successful international screen career in the United States. His credits include an appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, along with roles in NBC's The Irrational and Law & Order, establishing him as a rising actor working across major American television productions.
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Camille Moutawakil
Known for: Enjoy, The Serpent Queen, Hanna on Amazon Prime.
Camillie Moutawakil is known for feature films Monsieur Aznavour (2024), d'Argent et de Sang, les Bois Maudits.
What is Character Analysis and Movement Psychology? A Key Part of Our Approach
A core part of the GFCA curriculum, Movement Psychology or ‘Character Analysis’ is the product of a 50 year study of human expression, conducted initially by Rudolph Laban in collaboration with William Carpenter - and completed by Yat Malmgren.
It offers a profound system for categorising and understanding human expression, allowing actors, directors, writers, creative thinkers to expand their capacity to transform. Actors who have trained in this method include Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Colin Firth, Lambert Wilson, Helen McCrory, Simon Callow, John Simm, Tom Hardy, Ryan Gage, Gwendoline Christie, Michael Fassbender - and many other prominent actors working today.
GFCA STAFF
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Linsay Richardson
Deputy Director of GFCA
Lindsay is a classically trained singer and actor (Trinity College of Music, London) with extensive performance credits as a soloist at major British venues and festivals, on recordings and tours across Europe, and on radio broadcasts including Radio 3's In Tune, Danish Radio, and Radio 4's Woman's Hour; she has also directed opera and devised, coached, and staged modern musical drama. At GFCA, she coordinates the London and Paris centres, providing private vocal coaching and singing instruction, directing on the Advanced Intensive Programme, coaching and directing film scenes for Pro-Intensive actor courses, and coaching classical and film scenes for the GFCA Paris one-year diploma, alongside individual coaching for presenters, singers, actors, and public figures. Her theatre directing credits include Fear and Misery of the Third Reich and devised works such as The Ascent of Woman, Refugee, Exist Other Wise, Hero's Journey, and the combined London-Paris project Les Liens Qui Unissent, and she also designed Character Analysis – A Peopled Labyrinth with author Christopher Fettes and Giles Foreman for GFCA Publishing.
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Janet Amsden
Head of Movement Psychology
Janet is a working actress who originally trained in the Art & Science of Movement for three years before training at the Drama Centre for a further three. Whilst at Drama Centre, Yat Malmgren encouraged her to learn and teach the Movement Psychology aspect of his work, which, when she is free, she continues to do, making her one of the few practitioners still actively passing on his methods today. As an actress, her television and film credits include EastEnders, Doctors, and Family Affairs, and her students over the years have included the likes of Ray Fearon. Alongside her performing work, Janet is an experienced acting tutor and director, teaching and directing at ALRA as well as coaching privately. Since 2013 she has taught Movement Psychology at the Giles Foreman Centre for Acting in London, and also for GFCA in Paris and in New York, bringing Yat's original teaching to a new generation of actors across GFCA's international centres.
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Grant Masters
Senior Acting Coach
Grant trained at the Drama Centre London, under the tutelage of Christopher Fettes, Yat Malmgren, Reuven Adiv. He was developer & Head of Acting for the Foundation course at the Drama Centre London, and resident director & acting coach on their main 3 year acting course. He was Artistic Director, producer & actor with the Pentagon Theatre Company based out of Milan in Northern Italy. He continues as an independent acting & audition coach at institutions including E15, Rose Bruford, Central School of Speech & Drama; and is a role-play facilitator/workshop leader/communication skills & body language coach for many UK & International companies. Since 2018, he has been a regular acting coach and director for GFCA London programmes and workshops, and continues to be in demand for varied acting roles in Theatre, Film & TV.
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Glen Snowden
Senior Dance Coach
Trained at the Royal Ballet School, Glen has danced extensively with ballet companies in Europe, North America and South East Asia. Recent choreographic engagements include The Bacchae for Thiasos Theatre Company performed in the amphitheatres of Pafos and Limassol (Cyprus); La Cenerentola and The Love For Three Oranges for English Pocket Opera; The Saint of Bleecker Street for Trinity College of Music; teaching historical dance in Tokyo plus a recent ballet, Von Ewiger Liebe to music by Johannes Brahms, and choreographic engagements including a ballet to Bach cantatas. Glen worked for many years at Drama Centre London, where he was Ballet Master and also taught social and historical dance.
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Sam Goodchild
Head of Movement
Sam is a movement practitioner, intimacy director and actor. He trained at Drama Centre London, with his pedagogy being shaped by work with practitioners including Liana Nyquist, Shona Morris and Jackie Snow.
His practice is grounded in Laban, Animal Study and Viewpoints, with an aim to give actors strong fundamentals, emotional freedom and the most expressive body available to each individual. He creates practical, playful and supportive sessions that build physical awareness, helping actors develop a clear, expressive physical vocabulary and tell stories with specificity and imagination. The ultimate goal is clear, successful and embodied physical storytelling.
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Odne Stenseth
Meisner Technique coach
Odne is an actor, he has performed in Australia, Norway, and the UK. As a teacher, he has also taught at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Fourth Monkey, and The Impulse Company, and provides workshops and private coaching for smaller groups. Odne specialises in the Meisner Technique, which he has been teaching since 2018. Based on a series of progressive exercises, the Meisner technique is unique in its ability to train an actor to get out of their own head, responding truthfully to what is happening in the moment, and creating performances grounded in a sense of expressive freedom. While it is the actor’s job to overcome barriers in their work, it is the job of the teacher to provide a safe and encouraging space to do so, and the values of patience, self-compassion, and taking charge of your own journey as an actor are essential elements of Odne’s teaching style.
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Liam Borrett
Administrator / Analysis Teacher
Liam Borrett is a theatre director, playwright and filmmaker. Trained at Drama Centre London, his professional credits include This Is Living ( Trafalgar Studios, West End ), Dancing. ( Etcetera Theatre ) Laura (White Bear Theatre ) and is currently in post-production for his debut feature film REQUIEM.
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Elif Knight
Actress, Acting Coach & Stage Director
Elif is an actress, acting coach, and stage director with extensive experience in theatre and actor training, having directed several productions in London and Dublin with a focus on truthful storytelling, emotional depth, and character exploration. Trained at Rose Bruford Drama School, she is the recipient of the Evening Standard / Patricia Rothermere Award, personally selected by Sir Richard Attenborough for the award's second part, who went on to mentor her throughout her training; she later trained extensively in London and Paris with Jack Waltzer of the Actors Studio, who appointed her as his assistant in London from 2014–2018. As a coach, Elif helps actors become free, instinctive, and truthful in their work, combining cold reading techniques with character exploration, sense memory, and character-driven approaches to help actors create rich inner worlds, authentic performances, and the courage to take creative risks.
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Sam Clemens
Senior Film-Acting coach
Samuel Clemens is an award-winning actor, writer, and director with over twenty years of experience, known for writing and directing the feature film The Drowned, directing acclaimed documentaries for ITVX and Studio Canal, and serving as Head of Acting for Camera at The Giles Foreman Centre for Acting. He is also a prolific audio director for Big Finish Productions and Anderson Entertainment, an established theatre director, and an actor with credits spanning the West End, RSC, and screen.
