Erich Fleshman is a Meisner trained actor raised in Livermore, California where he grew up playing like a performing artist and acting like a basketball player. After a BA in Economics his inner wanderer took over and he jumped into a study abroad program which led him to Vietnam. His travels continued as he delved into the languages, cultures, and film histories of Southeast Asia. His first acting job was on the HBO film A Bright Shining Lie with Bill Paxton, shot in the jungles of Kanchanaburi, Thailand. Erich was later approached on a basketball court by a TV director while he teaching at Chulalongkorn University and he found his calling after landing a supporting TV role, all in Thai. Erich then began working regularly and extensively in the local and international entertainment industry both in front of and behind the camera. Within a few years he had been involved in American, Asian and European feature films, television dramas, as well as international TV commercials. Erich won the hearts of the Thai people for his role in the popular film Heaven's Seven (2002), in which he played the role of Mike, a GI who made his living bootlegging American oil to the Thais. The role quickly pushed Erich into the limelight, and following lead roles in numerous Thai TV series, including The Red Roof (2004), Champion Boxer (2003), Strange Tree in the Forest (2002), and Power (1999), he became a genuine celebrity in Thailand. Erich went on to work with award-winning Thai filmmaker Pen-ek Ratanaruang in the short film Twelve Twenty (2006) and as Tim, the reclusive father of Paula Taylor, in the popular Thai TV3 series Lady Maha-chon aka The People's Lady (2006). He also worked with Paula in her TV debut In a Strange Country (2002) and again in the US feature film Hellgate (2009) where he worked closely with William Hurt and Cary Elwes behind the scenes. In 2009 Erich produced and directed two documentaries and over the next few years began working extensively as an acting and dialect coach. For the next few years Erich worked behind the scenes on five big budget international films including Ip Man 2 (2010) where he provided the English voiceover for a character played by Wong Shun-Leung. Also that year, he worked as a drama and dialect coach for Hong Kong superstar Shawn Yue in My Best Bodyguard (2010). In 2011, he juggled multiple accents/characters as a drama and dialect coach for a slew of international stars, including: Tomer Sisley, Ulrich Tukur, and Nirut Sirichanya on The Burma Conspiracy (2011). He capped off the year working on Elephant White (2011), with award winning talent Prachya Pinkaew (director of Ong Bak), Djimon Hounsou, and Kevin Bacon as a drama and dialect coach. After a long-term career based in Asia, Erich relocated back to California from 2012 to 2023 and worked on numerous films, TV shows, and worked on multipile national TV commercials. He worked repeatedly with with award-winning independent filmmaker Rob Nilsson and continued his career in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2024 Erich founded Illuminate Acting Academy BKK. His goal is bring his unique experiences in front of and behind the camera to the Southeast Asian talent. Erich continues this on set work as well as private training for on set talent.
