Leigh has trained with leading acting teachers and coaches from Australia and around the world. He has performed on some of Australia’s best known stages, from independent theatre powerhouses La Mama and Downstairs Belvoir, to the iconic Sydney Opera House.
Leigh made his professional theatre debut in Stella by Starlight (dir. Andrew Doyle) at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in 2007, picking up a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Sydney Theatre awards. Also at Ensemble, he played the title role in the premier production of David Williamson’s Managing Carmen (dir. Mark Kilmurray).
Since moving to Melbourne in 2017, his notable stage credit include transforming into a paranoid Albert in the Green Room-nominated production of Traps by Carol Churchill (dir. Laurence Strangio); terrorising the stage as the violent Captain in Brodie Murray’s Soul of Possum (dir. Beng Oh); and breaking audience’s hearts at La Mama in When the Light Leaves (dir. Jayde Kirchert). He has also toured as John Proctor in Complete Works’ touring production of The Crucible (dir. Andrew Blackman).
In 2022, Leigh (with Bronte Charlotte) co-wrote and starred in Pieces of Shit, receiving Green Room nominations for Best New Writing, Best Ensemble, and Best Production. Other writing credits include the short film Harm, which he also starred in, winning Best Actor at Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2018. In 2020, in the middle of Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown period, Leigh filmed and released an entirely improvised comedy web series, King of the Crossing. Leigh continues to develop new pieces of writing for both stage and screen.
On camera, Leigh starred as Brad in the indie horror feature Living Space (or: Nazi Undead) (dir. Steven Spiel), and in 2018 he picked up a Best Supporting Actor nomination for indie feature Zelos (dir. Jo-Anne Brechin) in a US film festival. He’s had turns in La Brea (NBC) and All Her Fault (Universal/NBC), appeared alongside some of Australia’s best known actors in numerous Australian TV shows, including A Place to Call Home, Deep Water, and Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.
A friend recommended me to Impulse. I’d been curious about Meisner training, but had minimal exposure to it. My friend mentioned the complete lack of ego in the classroom, which was a big drawcard for me.
I was struggling with consistency both in quality of my work, and my presence within it. I often felt pressure - from a high stakes audition, or challenging role, or just overthinking - to “do something with” a character or scene. Conventional training of actions and objectives tended to deepen this problem for me, as I found myself too self-focused during a scene.
Impulse has given me complete freedom and presence in my work. Through time spent in the repetition exercises (and with Erica’s passionate, precise, and expert guidance), I instinctually focus on the other person and am far more unselfconscious. I now also have a lived experience of being “myself” in almost the full range of human emotion. This occurs through the repetition exercises, with excellent coaching in technique and a lot of practice. It’s allowed me to relinquish notions of “character” that used to cloud my work. Instead, I have confidence in myself and my natural uniqueness being the thing that will get me a job, not something I need to adjust or conceal in order to be hired (or even to do what’s “required”). I’m endlessly grateful for the supportive, judgement-free, and challenging coaching I’ve had from both Erica and Scott over the years.
No ego. Despite Eric’s and Scott being gifted and experienced coaches who weekly offer insight and inspiration, Impulse does not position their teachers as gurus or prophets, as is with the case with so much acting training. There is no thought of needing to change anything about an actor as a person - instead, they focus on coaching technical precision, embracing the individual that the technique reveals. Erica endlessly encourages and challenges without being confrontational or ever causing the shame or inferiority that so often comes from drama school or ego-driven coaching. In this way, you grow as an actor and as a human in the same breath. It sounds gushy, but it is a remarkable effective counterpoint to what most experience experience routinely.
That the majority of the training you do at Impulse is will contribute to improving your work no matter what “technique” you usually employ. It doesn’t have to be a Meisner rehearsal room, you don’t have to be a “Meisner actor” - the freedom, presence, unselfconsciousness, bravery, and confidence this work produces will serve any work you do.
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I did extra training while I was filming Hustle. I’d finish a six-hour acting day then train with Scott for three hours on a Friday and six hours on a Saturday. He reinvigorated my love for acting.
Jaime Murray
Actor
The Originals, Once Upon a Time, Dexter, Hustle
