Denise Woods has been the ‘voice behind the voice’ of a stellar array of actors for the last twenty years. She recently coached the Netflix feature films, A Jazzman’s Blues, Tyler Perry’s magnum opus and The Harder They Fall, starring Idris Elba. As the creative consultant for Halle Berry’s directorial debut of the film Bruised, she contributed to the authenticity of Berry’s performance in the starring role. Denise was also the vocal coach for Mahershala Ali’s Academy Award and Golden Globe winning performances in Green Book and the 3rd Season of HBO’s True Detective. She coached Don Cheadle in the critically acclaimed Showtime series, Black Monday, Academy Award winning actor Common, Golden Globe winner David Oyelewo, Golden Globe nominated actor Idris Elba, Academy Award nominated actor Will Smith for the title role in the film Ali and Ken Watanabe for his work in the film The Last Samurai. Denise worked with Audra McDonald on her fourth Tony Award winning performance for Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess on Broadway, and was Zoe Saldana’s Dialect Coach in the feature film based on the life of Nina Simone. Her dialect coaching talents can also be heard in the 20th Century Fox film, Hidden Figures, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, and the Focus Feature’s film, Harriet, starring Cynthia Erivo in the title role. Her illustrious work as dialect coach continues with the highly anticipated release of the Sony Pictures film I Wanna Dance With Somebody, starring Naomi Ackie. She is currently coaching David Oyelowo in the Paramount + Bass Reeves series, directed by Taylor Sheridan.
Denise has trained executives for public speaking at corporations such as US Borax, UPS, and Bear Stearns. She has coached broadcast news anchors at NBC Nightly News, CNBC, Bloomberg News, The Today Show, CNN, Inside Edition, KTLA News, and the TV Guide Channel; and she has prepared NBA and NFL athletes for on-camera commentary.
For over two decades, Denise’s clients have included Jessica Chastain, Amber Heard, Anthony Mackie, Phylicia Rashad, Ellen Burstyn, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Soledad O’Brien, Morris Chestnut, Queen Latifah, Taye Diggs, Paul Rodriguez, David Alan Grier, Victoria Rowell, Kellan Lutz, Ray Liotta, Portia De Rossi, Rachel Weisz, Mekhi Phifer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Wright and Mike Myers.
Denise is committed to giving disenfranchised voices the courage and tools to use their words, their thoughts and their stories in ways they never thought possible by dismantling fear, shame and insecurity. Her first book, The Power of Voice, published by HarperCollins Publishers, was released in January 2021. She is a graduate and former faculty member of The Juilliard School, and a long time faculty member of California Institute of the Arts.