TK Studio Acting Blog
Opening the Door to a Vibrant Actor Training Community
March 4, 2022
Terry Knickerbocker Studio is a vibrant actor training community in New York City that is dedicated to helping students refine their craft, in order to maximize their artistic potential, and prepare for success in the industry. The faculty, staff, and students of Terry Knickerbocker Studio maintain the integrity of our brand and mission statement: “Training the passionate actor committed to excellence”.
TK Studio is deeply committed to principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are committed to fostering an environment that is free from identity-based antagonisms and aim to bring together a wide range of students and faculty to learn together.
Among the students who were enrolled at the Terry Knickerbocker Studio in 2021 and have already achieved notable successes are the following:

Ayla Ciccone-Burton, who made her Broadway debut in October in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Ana Isabelle, who plays Rosalia in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, which has been nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Picture

Julia Mayorga, who is a top cast member of the Showtime series American Rust, which premiered in September.
Recent TKActor Talks include:
Sam Rockwell, featured guest at a TKActor Talk
Emmy Rossum, Graduation Speaker, and coaching client on over 100 episodes of Shameless with Terry
Brian Michael Smith, an actor known for groundbreaking performances in Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar and FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star and for his advocacy of trans representation in media
- Read how Ana Isabelle describes being directed by Steven Spielberg in West Side Story.
- Listen to movement teacher Julia Crockett discuss exploring the physicality of lived experience.
- Listen to Terry Knickerbocker as he discusses transformative performances on television.
- Read how Brian Michael Smith integrates his activism and his artistry.
Learn more about the Terry Knickerbocker Studio by contacting Kristan Brown at [email protected]

“Terry (Knickerbocker) is to the acting profession what Phil Jackson was to the game of basketball: a barometer of greatness. When he asks you “how good you want to be,” it is not a challenge; it is an invitation, an invitation to be more human – more human on stage, on screen, and in life.” — Jonathon Majors