What I value most about working with Craig is that he never asks me to become someone I’m not. He helps me find myself within each character, which has brought a sense of comfort, confidence, and ease to every audition. The performances feel more truthful because they still feel like me.
Private Acting Coaching With Craig Olejnik
This is private 1-on-1 coaching and mentorship for actors who are tired of second-guessing themselves, judging their work on camera, and trying to figure it out alone.
I help actors build a state of readiness they can return to for auditions, self-tapes, and booked roles — so they feel more grounded, alive, authentic, and confident in the moment.
The goal is to help you develop a consistent approach you can trust — so you can stop performing the idea of the scene and begin working from presence, impulse, and truth.
30+ Years on Set
I bring 30+ years on set, including five seasons as the lead of The Listener, which aired in more than 180 territories worldwide. I also served as an executive producer on the series, played lead roles in several feature films, and continue to write, direct, and produce.
30+Years on set
5Seasons leading The Listener
180+Territories worldwide
I’ve navigated Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, international press tours, and the realities of building and sustaining a life in this business.
For more than two years, I’ve coached a select group of actors privately. I’m now opening a small number of private coaching spots to the public for the first time.
My coaching comes from lived experience: the pressure of the room, the camera, the set, the waiting, the rejection, the opportunity, and the need to be game-ready when the work comes.
Select Actors I’ve Worked With
Helena Bonham CarterHarry Potter, The Crown
Paul WesleyThe Vampire Diaries
Donnie WahlbergBlue Bloods
Michael MandoBetter Call Saul, Spider-Man: Homecoming
Tatiana MaslanyOrphan Black, She-Hulk
Dustin MilliganSchitt’s Creek
A.J. CookCriminal Minds
The Work
This work is not about polishing a performance. It is about helping you get out of judgment, trust what is happening, and let the scene come alive through you.
The writing gives us the frame — the world, the relationships, the stakes. Inside that frame, there is not one perfect version waiting to be found. We explore the versions that wake you up, serve the story, and can only happen through you.
For auditions and self-tapes, we bring that directly to the camera. We shoot together, I direct, we explore choices, and we identify the takes that feel alive, truthful, and unrepeatable.
Being undeniable is built in the preparation, then revealed in the moment — when you stop trying to control the result and surrender to what wants to happen.
Who This Is For
This is for actors at any stage who are serious about the work — beginners finding their voice, experienced actors sharpening their edge, and working actors who want a trusted eye on booked roles, rehearsals, or self-tapes.
It is for actors who are tired of second-guessing, trying to get it “right,” or trying to figure it out alone.
A life as an actor takes tenacity, perseverance, focus, courage, and deep meaning. It cannot just be something you do. In its deepest form, it becomes your life — spiritually, creatively, professionally.
The aim is to build an approach you can trust — so you feel more grounded, confident, and ready for the next tape, the next room, and the next role.
Are you willing to risk yourself on the thing you love?
What Actors Say
Working with Craig feels very much like a team. He’s open to my ideas and choices, and helps me push them further toward what best suits my interpretation of the scene and character.
Ryan Dumontel
I’ve been working with Craig for nearly a year, and his experience has given me a different outlook on how I approach a role or audition. With each session, I feel more confident in my acting skills.
Jonee Janolino
What Coaching Looks Like
Private 1-on-1 coaching by Zoom.
We begin by getting to know you — where you are, what you want, what excites you, what gets in your way, and the actor you are becoming.
We work from the material in front of us — self-tapes, rehearsals, or scenes I bring in — to explore, play, fail, risk, and grow.
This is where we push past the familiar and find more freedom, surprise, depth, and emotional charge.
When you book a role, we bring the work deeper: building the character, fusing their world with your own, and letting the role breathe through your life.
I am here as an experienced eye, a guide, and an ally — someone who will challenge and inspire you, and help you see what you may not see yet.
This is a trusted creative relationship that deepens over time.
A free 30-minute Zoom consult is available to see whether the coaching is the right fit.
Single session — $90 USD60 minutes
Four sessions — $330 USDPaid in advance
A Life in the Work
View Craig on IMDb
Request a Free 30-Minute Consult
If this speaks to you, send a note with where you’re based and what brought you here. I’ll respond personally.
Email Craigcraig@craigolejnikcoaching.com