Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards)
By Lucy Spicer
It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute labs every year. Creating the most fulfilling experience possible for the fellows requires numerous moving parts, each as crucial as the next. During the Institute's annual Directors Lab, fellows rehearse, film, and edit scenes from their original screenplays, all while receiving invaluable guidance from creative advisors.
And among the many individuals who contribute to the exercise are the resource actors who help bring the fellows' scripts to life. Willing to throw themselves wholeheartedly into the creative process for the lab's duration, these actors are essential to filmmakers developing their vision as they gain experience directing performers under the watchful and insightful eye of the lab's advisors.
But workshopping scenes from these exciting new projects can be a uniquely formative experience for the actors, too - especially for young artists on a parallel path with emerging filmmakers at the lab. As we welcome another new cohort of fellows to Estes Park, Colorado, for the 2026 Directors Lab, we decided to flip through our archives to find some familiar faces in the role of resource actor through the years. Before they were household names, starring in inescapable franchises, and winning armfuls of acting awards, they were at Sundance Institute's Directors Lab, doing their part to help a filmmaker realize their bold new vision.
Martha Plimpton at the 1982 Directors Lab (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Cynthia Nixon at the 1985 Directors Lab (Photo by Roger Christiansen)
Andrew McCarthy and Laura Dern at the 1986 Directors Lab (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Andre Braugher (center) at the 1991 Directors Lab (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Steve Buscemi at the 1991 Directors Lab (Photo by Sandria Miller)
Christina Ricci at the 1992 Directors Lab (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Reese Witherspoon at the 1994 Directors Lab (Photo by John Schaefer)
John Slattery at the 1996 Directors Lab (Photo by Kent Miles)
Clea DuVall at the 1996 Directors Lab (Photo by Kent Miles)
Ken Leung at the 2000 Directors Lab (Photo by Jill Gibbon)
Kieran Culkin at the 2001 Directors Lab (Photo by Jill Orschel)
(L-R) Filmmaker Jamie Mayer and Elisabeth Moss at the 2001 Directors Lab (Photo by Jill Orschel)
Zoe Salda a at the 2001 Directors Lab (Photo by Sandria Miller)
(L-R) Filmmaker Sally El Hosaini and Riz Ahmed at the 2009 Directors Lab (Photo by Fred Hayes)
(L-R) Filmmaker Talya Lavie and Tessa Thompson at the 2011 Directors Lab (Photo by Fred Hayes)
Noah Schnapp at the 2015 Directors Lab (Photo by Jonathan Hickerson)
Inside the Archives: A Closer Look at the 2025 Spring and Summer Labs
Inside the Archives: The 1980s Directors Labs in Snapshots
From the Labs: Lessons From Cinematographers
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