Amber DuPuy

Founder & Lead Instructor

Amber DuPuy’s relationship with acting began in Austin, where she performed with the Austin Ballet Theatre Jr. Company and discovered the particular satisfaction of connecting with an audience. Her early training taught her something that has remained central to her teaching: the actor’s attention must move beyond the self and toward the circumstances, relationships, and actions of the character.

Amber studied theatre at Pomona College before moving to New York City, where she spent more than six years studying the Stella Adler technique at Actors Theatre Workshop with Thurman and Janet Scott. She later returned to Austin and continued her training in Meisner technique with Ron Hayden at Two Chairs Studio. Over the years, she has also studied with and learned from teachers including Larry Moss, Matthew Harrison, and Howard Fine, and has drawn extensively from the work of Uta Hagen.

Her professional acting experience includes theatre, film, and television. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Bowles in Cabaret at Austin Playhouse and appeared as an Administrative Nurse on Friday Night Lights.

But acting has never been the end of the learning process for Amber. She has spent decades studying how actors work, how different techniques approach the same fundamental questions, and what helps an actor develop a process they can actually rely on.

That experience is at the heart of DuPuy Acting Studio.

Amber teaches actors to approach their work with curiosity, discipline, imagination, and specificity. Her classes combine theory and practice: students learn how to analyze a script, understand circumstances and relationships, identify objectives and actions, create character, listen and respond truthfully, prepare emotionally, and evaluate their own work.

Her goal is not to tell actors how to “act.” It is to give them a process they can practice, refine, and eventually trust.

Train now. Be ready when the opportunity comes.

Shannon Manning

Foundations Instructor

Shannon Manning is an actor, teacher, and longtime student of Amber DuPuy. She has more than ten years of experience teaching students in Houston and Austin, Texas.

Shannon approaches teaching with an emphasis on community, trust, presence, and responsive instruction. She believes that creating a strong learning environment allows students to take risks, remain curious, and fully engage in the work.

Her own long-standing practice of yoga has also shaped the way she approaches acting and teaching. For Shannon, learning to become present in the body is an important part of learning to act—and of learning to live fully.

At DuPuy Acting Studio, Shannon teaches Foundations I: Understanding the Story, where beginning actors develop the fundamental tools of the actor’s craft. Her classes introduce students to script analysis, given circumstances, objectives, actions, listening and responding, improvisation, memorization, and basic scene work.

Her approach is grounded, attentive, and focused on helping students understand why the work works—not simply on producing a performance.

Julie Rocha

Teen Program Instructor

Julie Rocha is a bilingual English/Spanish actor and singer based in Austin, Texas, with professional experience in film, television, and theatre.

Her work includes a lead role in the acclaimed web series SKAM Austin, which was featured by The New Yorker and Teen Vogue. Her training includes on-camera performance, scene study, and character development, and her work as a performer has given her experience with the demands of both stage and screen.

Julie brings a strong combination of vocal ability, musicality, physical versatility, and a natural, authentic presence to her work. She is a mezzo-soprano and also has experience with guitar and piano.

At DuPuy Acting Studio, Julie teaches the Professional Acting Program for Teens, working with young actors who want to develop the actual craft of acting.

Her classes emphasize exploration, preparation, imagination, character development, and truthful work. Students are encouraged to take the work seriously while remaining curious, playful, and willing to experiment.

Julie brings her experience as a working actor into the classroom while helping young actors begin developing the skills, discipline, and confidence to approach the work for themselves.