Fine, 67, has become one of the most respected acting coaches of his generation, an industry institution whose career reached an unexpected milestone one night in 2005 on HBO.
“When they mentioned me on ‘Entourage,’” Fine said, laughing about getting name-checked on a show built on cameos and insider references.
Fine is quietly part of a talented Rhode Island family that includes his brother, Alan Fine, the former president of Marvel Entertainment. But it’s Howard Fine who caught the acting bug at Cranston East High School under the tutelage of drama teacher Donald Babbitt. It was in Babbitt’s classroom that he realized he was drawn less to the spotlight than to helping others find it.
“Donald Babbitt changed my life,” Fine said.
Fine originally set out to direct on Broadway — a goal he eventually achieved with “Defending the Caveman” — but his career took a different turn in 1985 when he moved to Los Angeles to teach at Tracey Roberts’ acting school.
He quickly discovered he had found his calling.
“In class, when someone starts to put it together, you can see the transformation in them,” Fine said.
He opened his own school in 1988. Before long, aspiring actors who would become household names were walking through the door.
Austin Butler, whom Fine helped prepare for his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Elvis Presley, first came to him as a child actor working on Nickelodeon.
Fine also helped Will Smith make the transition from rapper and sitcom star to one of the world’s biggest movie actors, coaching him through performances as Muhammad Ali and Dr. Bennet Omalu, the physician who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in “Concussion.”
“What separates people ultimately isn’t talent, it’s work ethic,” Fine said. “Some people make fun of actors’ homework, but it’s a real thing. And Will spent so much time around Dr. Omalu for that movie.”
Fine also carved out a niche working with professional wrestlers making the leap into acting, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, and Dwayne Johnson before he became a global movie star.
One of his favorite stories involves Cody Rhodes.
Rhodes, whose real name is Cody Runnels, is the son of wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes. As a teenager, Cody hoped to become an actor rather than a wrestler, and his father pawned his Rolex watch to pay his tuition at Fine’s school.
Years later, after Cody Rhodes became one of wrestling’s biggest stars, WWE executives tracked down the watch and built an entire storyline around its return.
“Wrestlers are not difficult to deal with. They’re humble by nature,” Fine said. “And wrestling is not fake, it’s fixed. You can’t fake gravity.”
Fine’s resume now stretches far beyond film and television. Students travel from around the world to study with him, and after the pandemic, many more began taking his classes online.
One of his most popular — and demanding — courses focuses on acting technique. It’s also the gateway to his studio. Over six weeks, students learn everything from script analysis to using their voices and bodies with intention. They take an emotional inventory of their own lives and learn how to make an author’s words feel like their own.
“When acting is done well, you don’t see the technique,” Fine said.
I asked whether, at 67, he had given any thought to slowing down.
“No,” Fine said with a laugh. “What would I do with myself?”
His advice to young Rhode Islanders chasing dreams that seem just out of reach is simple.
“Anything is possible,” Fine said. “That’s my life. Dare to dream.”
Fine’s story is a reminder that the next great Rhode Island success story doesn’t have to come from Los Angeles or New York. It may already be growing up in Cranston, Providence or Woonsocket.
And if Taylor Swift ever decides she needs an acting coach, Rhode Island already knows who she should call.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @danmcgowan.
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