Hi, I’m Thomas Leverton. An Actor, Writer, and Creator.

I lived and worked as a professional actor in New York City for over 14 years, and now reside near Dallas, Texas. I’m both a New Yorker and a Texan at heart (having been born and raised in Abilene, Texas). I’m open to work that requires travel.

I’m a method actor, but don’t let that scare you. Method acting is not what so many believe it to be.

It’s not sending boxes of dead rats to your castmates because you’re playing a maniacal supervillain.

Method acting is the process of reaching a deeper truth of a character’s lived experience.

When playing Richard III, I wanted to figure out how he moved with a humped back. I contorted my back into a shape imitating a picture of his exhumed spine to see how that affected my gait. It offered such a profound insight into his character that I didn’t do the show with any prosthetics, but my own humped contortion. My back was a constant thought during my performance, just as it was for Richard in his daily life, according to the text.

My Lee Strasberg number is 2. I was trained by students of the father of The Method—Irma Sandrey, Chad Burton, and James Jennings, who, as Strasberg’s students, are in the company of Al Pacino, Marylin Monroe, James Dean, and Marlon Brando.

I met another student of his at the Actors Studio—Ellen Burstyn—and we spoke often about The Method. Marking your script with “frown here” and “rub your forehead in frustration”—as students of The Method, “it’s not how we work,” she said. It’s about living the character’s emotions and environment to channel a natural reaction in the moment.

When playing the artist’s assistant to Mark Rothko in the play Red, I asked the artist who was creating the paintings that would become the props in the production if I could assist her in making them. I knew that this would help inform my character and movement on stage, and allow the subtleties shine through as I actually handled paintings that I had helped produce. You can read the full review here: A Review of ‘Red’ in Hartford - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I believe acting is a collaborative artform. I enjoy working with others over anything creative. For those who have read this and think I am too snobby to want to be in your project, I say that I once was a Spider-Man for Toys R Us and a Luke Skywalker for birthday parties, and I enjoyed it. I am always looking for future collaborators—either to be in your projects or for you to be in mine.

Education

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute

The Pearl Theatre

University of Utah

Theatre Studies BA

Film Studies BA

London Study Abroad