Piper Perabo: Career Changed After Training In The Two Year Acting Program In New York City

August 12, 2016 New York, NY: The Maggie Flanigan Studio opened their doors to students, alumni, faculty and friends on July 11, 2016, as they welcomed 2009 graduate, Piper Perabo. The star of Covert Affairs talked to MFS students about her decision to join the Studio and how her career changed after she completed her training in the two-year acting program.

Maggie Flanigan Studio Executive Director and Head of Acting, Charlie Sandlan, introduced Piper, "You can have some success in this business without being trained, without really training well. But you can still make money, and most actors will just coast on that, they think they're successful because they've got a little money and they're doing work, and that's it. Few are those actors that consider themselves artists, that have the humility, the desire, the willingness to, despite that kind of commercial success, be able to put that on hold to better yourself as an artist. And that's what Piper did. And I think it's very admirable and it's not something many people are willing to do and she did it. And we are very proud of her and the work that she did at the Studio."

The Maggie Flanigan Studio, known as the most reputable Meisner training program in the United States, has an illustrious list of alumni who turned out to be some of the most hard-working and talented actors in theater and film today. One of the Studio's most successful graduates is Piper Perabo, formerly the star of the USA Network's 'Covert Affairs' and the soon-to-be ABC Drama, 'Notorious'. Piper is very vocal about her views on the craft of acting, the importance of actor training and her choice to seek out and attend the best two-year actor training program in the nation.

Current and former Maggie Flanigan Studio students packed the converted classroom to celebrate Piper, and everyone's collective appreciation for the craft of acting. Former student, Nancy Sun, "It was really inspiring to hear how portable and applicable Piper's Meisner training is to preparing for roles both on stage and screen...and to working with actors of different experience, training, and background. It was also comforting to hear that she - as a professional, working actor - had insecurities about herself as an artist, that she now has the creative tools to work through them, and that, having gone through the same program, I have the same toolkit at my disposal. I am so grateful I had the chance to hear her speak and be reminded how to approach the business and more specifically, auditions as opportunities to be bold and vulnerable in my work."

Maggie and Charlie believe in creating opportunity for their students and having guest speakers is one way of providing such. Graduate, Evan Hall attended(Orange Is The New Black, Rebel In The Rye), "What really got me was how Piper talked about the craft. She has a love and commitment to this work that I deeply respect and talking and telling her stories reminded me of the simplest thing. I love my job. It seems to me that it's fairly easy in this career to get caught up by the business. To lose yourself in money, the next job, celebrity. But to see someone at her level still being so curious and hard working, still so in love with what she does fills my heart and reminds me that I am an actor and that I do this for no other reason."

Piper Perabo joins a special list of notable artists that have held talkbacks at the Maggie Flanigan Studio. Piper spoke about her time in the two-year conservatory program, how the Meisner technique changed everything for her, why she decided to take time away from the film industry to train, and how her career changed after she finished her training. Perabo is known for originating the role of Carly in Neil Labute's Broadway production of 'Reason's To Be Pretty' in 2009, which she did while completing her final year at the Studio.

"I knew Sam Rockwell, and I thought he was one of the most flexible actors that I had seen in the city and so I said, 'Where did you train?' and he told me about this studio and then I spoke to a couple of other actors that I think are fascinating and dangerous and flexible, and the Maggie Flanigan Studio kept coming up. So I said, 'That's where I'm going to go.' I took the Six -Week Summer Intensive and learned so much in that 6-weeks that I stopped working for 2 years and did the whole program." Piper Perabo

The next First Year class at the Maggie Flanigan Studio begins on September 9th, 2016. Known across the country for the quality of professional actors it produces, for the small, intimate nature of the studio itself, and it's class size, makes MFS the gold standard in Meisner Training. Acceptance into the First Year program starts with a personal, one on one interview with Executive Director Charlie Sandlan. Spots are extremely limited, and applications are still being accepted for the exciting new year.