Boris Leskin, from Men in Black, great teacher and friend, Rest in Peace

Boris Leskin passed away on February 21, 2020

Boris taught at Sonia Moore Studios where I studied with him. He had a deep appreciation and understanding of acting, humanity, and literature. He was a kind individual and a fun teacher.

He had just left Russia, and this was an early teaching assignment, he later taught at NYU, I read.

His favorite line that I will never forget was: Images, Think in images. Please. Images think in images. 

We talked about everything. I was studying method directing. I even gave a presentation on Bertolt Brecht's style of talking to the audience in front of him, Sonia Moore and a dozen or so students.

Boris taught me directing through the creation of an adaption and performance of Gorky's Makar Chudra, a gypsy short story. We worked on improvs for weeks, switching characters based on who was in the class that day. 

Boris was always positive, no matter how small or odd the class was. 

He had just arrived in the USA, 1983/84, and he seemed happy and excited. He was so humble and always took subways. I enjoyed our classes, one on one, across an old wooden table. I knew I was very lucky to have had him as a teacher. He lived so solidly and will be missed. 

RIP.

Boris Leskin was born on January 5, 1923, in Chisinau, Bessarabia, Romania as Boris Vulfovich Lyoskin. He was an actor and a teacher, best known for Everything Is Illuminated (2005), Men in Black (1997) The Falcon and the Snowman (1985). He died on February 21, 2020, in the USA.

Boris was born in Romania in 1923 and started out his career at the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater, where he worked for almost 30 years, before heading to the US.

Boris Leskin in Everything is Illuminated

Boris Leskin in Men in Black