Dan Stearns

Actor, Teacher, Filmmaker

WELCOME! This portfolio is a collection of the projects I have completed in recent years while serving as Assistant Professor of Acting in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Mississippi.

As a stage actor I have worked at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Virginia Rep, and many others. My work has also included television, film, commercial, and industrial work. In recent years I branched out into screenwriting and filmmaking, taking advantage of the dual nature of our department.

As a performer I love to engage deeply with text, a passion I developed during long experience with Shakespeare. I love words, wordplay, humor, and the struggle for meaning. In my teaching, whether in the classroom or rehearsal hall I guide students toward truth and vulnerability, their two greatest tools in artistic exploration and the waypoints on the path by which dramatic art reveals facets of our common humanity. I have also striven to develop a pedagogy that will prepare them to function as independent, self-reliant artists.