Who is Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä?

Marjo-Riikka Mäkelä is a world renowned acting and directing coach, intimacy coordinator teacher, trauma support specialist, and the founder of the MR-Method©

Central to Marjo Riikka's approach is the integration of mindfulness and self-care practices, and use of body imagination and the Michael Chekhov Technique into the acting curriculum. She emphasizes the importance of grounding techniques, and somatic awareness to help students regulate their nervous systems and stay present in the moment. By fostering a culture of compassion, self-empowerment, and communication skills Marjo Riikka equips her clients with the tools they need to navigate the emotional demands of the craft and maintain their well-being both on and off stage/set.


Marjo-Riikka is a long time practitioner and teacher of the Michael Chekhov technique, and is specialized in a variety of psychophysical, somatic, and holistic embodiment practices. Her practice is trauma informed, sensitive, salutogenic approach, by which she has helped thousands of people to find inspiration and feeling of ease in their lives.

Marjo-Riikka does weekly private coaching for many successful TV and film actors and directors*, and has clients around the world.

She has been featured in Back Stage, the Los Angeles Times, American Theater Magazine, Helsinki Times, and several major European publications.

On top of her MFA in Acting and Directing, Marjo-Riikka has a practical nurse degree with specialization in mental health, and an Equestrian degree with practice in Equine Facilitated Therapies. She is a certified Trauma Support Specialist, and certified Trauma and Resilience Life Coach (Arizona Trauma Institute), and has a Mental First Aid certifications from the Association of Mental Health Coordinators and National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
Marjo-Riikka is also a long time student of wild life rehabilitation.

Marjo-Riikka is the founder of Chekhov Studio International, and a long time faculty member at the Finnish National Theatre Academy, and MICHA . Short list of her teaching credits include The National Theatre, and Helsinki City Theatre, in Finland, California State University LB, University of Southern California, and CalArts MFA programs, ActorFest, Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, and Actors Gang, in Los Angeles, The Insurgo Theater Movement LV, the Actor’s Movement Studio, and INTAR Theater in NYC,  the Stanislavsky Institute and School of Cinema, and Latin American Film Institute, in Brazil. She is an honorary member of the Stanislavsky Institute, Brazil, and a current faculty member at the Finnish National Theatre Academy in Finland, where she teaches acting and intimacy coordination for actors and directors.