About The Instructor
Josh Karch is a seasoned actor, director, and acting coach whose career spans the stages of Los Angeles, New York City, and Harvard University’s American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His training and experience form the backbone of Living the Character, a transformative acting course designed to immerse students in the craft of character creation and performance.
Josh’s classical stage work includes roles such as Roderigo in Othello, Arlequin in Successful Strategies, and Troilus in Troilus and Cressida with the Classical Theater Lab in Los Angeles. At the American Repertory Theater, he portrayed Gloucester in Henry V under the direction of Ron Daniels, acting alongside Bill Camp in the role of Henry, and appeared in innovative productions like The Island of Anyplace and Overboard. He honed his craft further in demanding roles including Giovani in ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore (directed by Leland Patton), Eric Bellows in The Great Attractor (directed by Tina Landau), and Raj in Winter Circus.
Josh’s journey as an actor has been shaped by rigorous training with some of the world’s most respected acting teachers. He studied under Larry Moss and Jeff Corey in Los Angeles, as well as with Susan Grace Cohen at the Susan Cohen Studio (now teaching at Julliard). His education also included mentorship from Frank Corsaro, then-President of The Actors Studio in New York City, and Wynn Handman of The American Place Theatre.
Beyond the stage, Josh has explored the realms of film direction and screenwriting in Hollywood, selling a screenplay to help fund his studies at Harvard’s renowned A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theater Training. His directing work, though modest in scale, has given him a deep understanding of the nuances of performance both in front of and behind the camera.
Josh’s teaching approach is enriched by his exposure to the Mike Leigh process, where he learned firsthand how to foster truthful, nuanced performances through improvisation and deep character work. While his Army service called him away from completing that project, the experience solidified his passion for teaching and developing actors.
Living the Character draws from Josh’s broad and immersive experience—merging classical technique, physical theater, stage combat, and the improvisational rigor of the Mike Leigh method. His mission is to guide actors to discover the moral, ethical, and emotional depths of their characters, and to empower them with the tools to craft authentic, compelling performances.