Books on acting, for actors..........-
also see :.. The Inner Actor site...and more Acting pages
Talent Development Resources ...site map
Joan Baker. Secrets of Voice-Over Success : Top Voice-Over Actors Reveal How They Did It Reviewer: Jerry W. "Jerry" (Seattle, Washington) - I just finished Secrets of Voice-over Success. I got now how I would fit into the vo industry and create a niche for myself. Wow, I've wanted to do voice-overs since college but made it into a someday dream. I related to many peoples chapter's and got into there experinces and how they did it. I was encouraged to know how these artists mind's worked and figured out the themes and the courage it would take for me to move ahead. From the book, I got a great vo coach and my next move after making a demo is moving to LA and getting my demo out to agents there. I had never really known what to do and people I asked don't really know too well either. I loved the history- it really was grounding to know that there is a history and a future to all this. Tony Barr, Eric Stephan Kline, Edward Asner Acting for the Camera [reader:] "I found this book to be extremely assistive to me, as an actress. Obviously, the author understands the fundamentals of acting, and illustrated them beautifully in this book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to act." Brian Bates The Way of the Actor: A Path to Knowledge & Power "[reader:] Dr. Bates paints a fascinating picture of actors as modern day shamans, and interviewed many actors, including Sir Lawrence Olivier, in the process. This is a must read for all serious actors, and for anyone interested in shamanic practices, it will also be very interesting."
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~ ~ ~ Ann Brebner. Setting Free the Actor - Overcoming Creative Blocks "Coming to terms with our emotional history is as much a part of 'our work' as going to classes, interviewing, auditioning, and giving performances." Adrian Brine, Michael York A Shakespearean Actor Prepares [publisher review:] "Shakespeare knew more than any other playwright about the art of acting and the art of theatre; practitioners affirm this. While creating superhuman characters and setting them in situations that stretch the imagination to it's limits, he also provided actors with the keys to playing them. A Shakespearean Actor Prepares reveals these keys. There is no general consesus about how Shakespeare "should" be played: there are no rules. This book is not concerned with arriving, but with setting out. It will point out the sources of energy in his plays, which, if tapped, will galvanize an actor's fantasy and liberate his talent." Linda
Buzzell,
M.A.,
MFCC. How
to Make It in Hollywood: All the Right Moves
Michael
Caine. Acting
in Film K. Callan.
How
to Sell Yourself As an Actor: From New York to Los Angeles and
Everywhere in Between - "This tough little book makes it clear that an
actor in America is a small businessman selling a product that
nobody particularly wants. Author K Callan shows the young actor how to
maintain dignity while merchandising the product, but she makes it
clear how hard it is to keep the two things in balance." - Los Angeles
Times -- [Sweden Press] or [Amazon.com] "The ones of John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, and Moira Harris are particularly good. In addition to the pictures, the book also contains a history of the company, telling how it was formed by Jeff Perry, Gary Sinise, and Terry Kinney in 1974 in Highland Park, IL, and leading up to the company receiving the National Medal of Arts in 1998. There are also insightful and thoroughly entertaining short essays written by outsiders who have worked with the company over the years, including Sam Shepard and Terry Johnson." |
I was listening
to Felicity Huffman [right], who won an Emmy
for Desperate Housewives, and she talked about her audition for the
role and told the story that she was so rattled because her kids at
home were all over the place. ... ......
 Acting
is a complex and elusive art to define. Yet almost everyone can tell
good acting from bad acting -- or good acting from brilliant
acting. Why can one actor be riveting in a play and another actor be dull and boring in the very same play, doing the same character, the same lines? If it were just the script, the beauty of its language, the artful turn of a phrase, we would only need readings. But the words are not just read with sterility from the page. They are performed and brought to life by actors. |
Every actor knows that discovering and
understanding your
personal pain is an inherent part of the acting process.
This has been true since Stanislavski. The difference between the Chubbuck Technique and those developed in the past is that I teach actors how to use their emotions not as an end result, but as a way to empower a goal. Ivana Chubbuck - from the Introduction of her book : ....The Power of the Actor: The Chubbuck Technique > photo © Mary Ann Halpin - from ivanachubbuck.com |
Carlos de Abreu Opening Doors to Hollywood: How to Sell Your Idea Story, Book, Screenplay, Manuscript
Sherry Eaker. The Back Stage Actor's Handbook: The How to and Who to Contact Reference for Actors, Singers and Dancers
review by Lucas Brachish "www.celebritycola.blogspot.com" (NYC, USA) -
An informative book for those just starting out in the business or just getting out of theatre school... or anyone curious about the ins and outs of the entertainment world, from an actor's point of view. Lots of need-to-know information here. This handbook is basically a "Best of" collection of articles from the foremost acting/performing trade magazine in the biz, Back Stage (and its sister publications: Back Stage West, the Ross Reports, Billboard, and the Hollywood Reporter). And it has a very good chapter on "Acting in Student Films" that should be read by film students and actors alike.Sherry Eaker. Bob Harrington. Cabaret Artist's Handbook: Creating Your Own Act in Today's Livliest Theater Setting
Reviewer: K. Bingham "kirstieb" (New York, NY) - For anyone who wants to create their own cabaret show or revise a current show, this is a must-have book. Especially for new cabaret artists, it provides you with the history of cabaret (in NYC especially), issues such as song licensing, researching songs and generally provides great insight into creating an interesting, well-planned and well-performed cabaret show. More experienced cabaret artists will benefit from some of the suggestions for avoiding common pitfalls and other tips and tricks.Robert Evans. The Kid Stays in the Picture
Robert Evans believes actors must have strong technique, and he's been known to send quite a few famous actors to acting teachers and vocal coaches. If there's one thing that separates an actor from a star, according to Evans, it's his or her voice. "The voice is the single most important instrument for any actor -- much more than looks, height, beauty, measurements, anything. If you can close your eyes and know who's saying the words, that's what makes a star..."
Mario Falsetto Personal Visions : Conversations With Contemporary Film Directors 17 filmmakers discuss their creative visions, their careers and the state of today's film industry: Neil Jordan; Michael Radford; Tom DiCillo; Atom Egoyan; Alan Rudolph; Lynne Stopkewich; Alison Maclean etcMia Farrow. What Falls Away: A Memoir "Drawn by dreams, and some mysterious brew of talent, determination, looks, and luck, our parents came from towns and cities across the United States and Europe too, to their positions in the Hollywood constellation. Once there, in that rarefied setting, it was easy to lose touch with origins, roots, people, perspective."
Carolyn Gage. Monologues and Scenes for Lesbian Actors
"A book for lesbians who are tired of "passing" at auditions and in acting classes and workshops! Here at last, from one of the most talented and inventive contemporary playwrights, is a book of twenty-five monologues and forty-five scenes by, for, and about lesbians. Here are dramatic portrayals of our coming-out stories, our strategies of resistance, our rescue of survivors of sexual abuse, our passions, our torture, our triumphs. The settings are historic and contemporary, ranging from the goddess temples of Lesbos to the locker rooms of a softball team. [from author site carolyngage.com]
|
A manager or an agent will have a vision of how to market you that you may not see for yourself. And if you're on your own, you'll definitely need to check in with others at times. While
self-management is a term that implies you do it all for yourself,
there certainly will be ample opportunity for you to consult with
experts and peers. So,
make sure you have a mindset that allows for constructive criticism
without interpreting such feedback as an ego-shattering blow. How best to do that? Remember that your acting career is, in
fact, a business. |
Some people will recommend that actors see themselves as products, with the casting director as the shopper, the producer as the buyer, the agent or manager as the marketing director for the product, and the audience as the product's consumer. If that analogy works for you, by all means, go with it. I will simply state that you are operating a business every day and that that requires not only the lovely creative mind that allows you to embody other characters, but also the organizational skills of a successful business owner. ...from Self-Management for Actors: |
Bonnie Gillespie. Casting Qs: A Collection of Casting Director Interviews by Bonnie Gillespie
[reader:] The book has given me a clear picture of what is expected of me in this profession. I know now how to approach agents, casting directors, and how to promote myself. I recommend you buy this book in conjunction with "Your Film Acting Career" by M.K. Lewis. Both give a great overview of how the business is run.
[reader:] Author Gillespie obviously knows her stuff when it comes to the business of show business. Written with humor and candor, this collection of interviews with industry insiders will enlighten entertainment novices and veterans alike. Definitely a new must-have for people who want an objective look into a surreal and unpredictable profession-- Well done!
Erin Gray, Mara Purl. Act Right "A painter can work in the solitude of his loft; a writer can commune alone with her computer; a potter can find himself in the spin of his wheel. But when it comes time to work as an actor, you cannot do so alone. .. On one hand you'll have to listen closely to your instincts, and on the other hand, you'll have to hone your diplomatic skills." [from intro]
Don Greene, PhD Audition Success: An Olympic Sports Psychologist Teaches Performing Artists How to Win "... chronicles the story of two musicians as they learn how to prepare for important auditions, employing the same techniques and strategies used by top athletes to perform well under extreme pressure. It is based on the artists' transcribed conversations with Dr. Don Greene during an intensive two month training period. Don Greene, Ph.D., was the Sports Psychologist for the U.S. Olympic Diving Team... now specializes in teaching performing artists how to perform well under extreme stress. .. has worked with singers and instrumentalists at the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Lyric Opera.."
Lawrence Grobel Conversations With Brando
Harold Guskin. How to Stop Acting ............
"Good luck. And remember, acting is not brain surgery. So have fun." Heather Locklear from book:*Margie Haber. How to Get the Part...Without Falling Apart!
Oddly enough, actors are as afraid to succeed as they are to fail. I call this "The Success/Failure Syndrome." Some actors have a subconscious enemy that whispers, "If you spend time preparing but they still don't want you, then you must not be talented. You'll never make it so why not just wing it?! Then, if they don't hire you, you have a good excuse - it's because you didn't have time to prepare." In other words, secretly, an actor would rather lose the part than risk being rejected.
Uta Hagen. Respect for Acting
Uta Hagen. A Challenge for the Actor
"Theoretically, the actor ought to be more sound in mind and body than other people, since he learns to understand the psychological problems of human beings when putting his own passions, his loves, fears, and rages to work in the service of the characters he plays. He will learn to face himself, to hide nothing from himself -- and to do so takes an insatiable curiosity about the human condition." [from prologue]
David Hyde Pierce: "I'm reading her second book, 'A Challenge for the Actor,' almost every day now... it points out the infinite possibilities you have as an actor." Uta Hagen: "That's the best part of the book, it opens the door. It never stops, the hunt never stops. Everybody says, 'Well now you know how to act.' Nobody ever learns how. If you did, it'd get boring. If you have all the answers, what else is there to learn? But the search for human behavior is infinite; you'll never understand it all. I just think that's wonderful." [LA Times June 3, 2001]
Renee Harmon. Teaching a Young Actor: How to Train Children of All Ages for Success in Movies, Tv, and Commercials
Topics covered include: Basic Acting Techniques, On Camera Techniques, Thinking Skills, Characterization, Method Acting and Auditioning. Each unit begins with a brief introduction for the teacher, including the purpose and goal of each unit and some explanation for the uninitiated. [from review by Northwestern University Center for Talent Development]Roy Harris Eight Women of the American Stage: Talking About Acting "Each of the eight interviews is presented as a narrative, in which the subject reveals what brought her to acting, what draws her to a particular role, her method of preparation and other elements of acting technique, and her experiences with different directors. The actresses include: Joanne Woodward, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwen Verdon, Mary Alice, Judith Ivey, Cherry Jones, Mary McDonnell, Donna Murphy."
Mari Lyn Henry, Lynne Rogers. How To Be A Working Actor: The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film, and Television "Co-written by a leading casting director/agent and a seasoned actress/author... can help you manage your acting career like a business... reveals who the decision-makers are, how they do business, and what they look for when casting a role. You'll also learn how to select the right agent; deal with high living expenses; nurture yourself mentally and emotionally; more."
Ed Hooks. Acting Strategies for the Cyber Age
"Becoming a professional actor is like getting called to the priesthood. It requires an act of faith
and a commitment... you don't enter a career as an actor in a conventional way. As is the case with all arts,
acting is an irrational thing to be doing for a living."S. Loraine Hull, Susan Strasberg (Foreword) Strasberg's Method : As Taught by Lorrie Hull "When I read Lorrie Hull's book, I thought, 'My God, she's done it! She's caught so much of the work.' She got the answers, wrote them down, used them in her own twelve years of teaching for my father and then translated it all into an understandable, explicit, practical book that offers valuable tools for any actor (beginner or professional) as well as for writers, directors, and teachers. I'm sure a lot of misconceptions about my father's work will be cleared up by this book. After reading Strasberg's Method I feel sure that my father, 'Pop', wherever he is, would be enormously pleased." -- Susan Strasberg
Gordon Hunt How to Audition : For Tv, Movies, Commercials, Plays, and Musicals
Milton Katselas Dreams Into Action
Mimi Kennedy Taken to the Stage : The Education of an Actress ["Abby Finkelstein" of "Dharma & Greg"] [bn.com synopsis:] "An actress who "never wanted to be anything else," Mimi Kennedy offers insight into all stages of the female actor's life: from starving artist to up-and-coming star to star. As both working actress and wife and mother, she shows how family, education, and professional experience shape an actor's persona. Using her life as an example, Kennedy reflects on the actor's identity and on the necessity of using an actor's inspiration not only to illuminate one's own image but also to make a difference in the "ordinary" world."
Judy Kerr. Acting Is Everything: An Actor's Guidebook for a Successful Career in Los Angeles
Howard Kissel (Editor) Stella Adler : The Art of Acting
Karen Kondazian. The Actor's Encyclopedia of Casting Directors: Conversations with Over 100 Casting Directors on How to Get the Job [foreword by Richard Dreyfuss]
Brad Lemack, Isabel Sanford. The Business of Acting: Learn the Skills You Need to Build the Career You Want
"I wish I had The Business of Acting when I was first starting out. It would have helped me to understand the difference between talent and skill in the acting process. Brad's perspective on casting directors put a whole new spin on that part of the business for me. His report and explanation about potential, new regulations and changes in the laws impacting how agents and managers conduct business is very important for all actors to know about. This book has helped me rethink my career strategy in a very positive and supportive way." Laura Bryan Birn,actress, "The Young and the Restless" //
Brad Lemack's The Business of Acting is a must-read for any actor who is starting his or her career. A Los Angeles-based talent manager, publicist, and professor, Lemack offers readers a valuable gift: true insight into what managers and agents look for in potential clients and expect of their clients by way of professional conduct. He also explains the casting process: how it really works, how actors need to conduct themselves, and how not to get bitter in the process. from review by Jamie Painter Young, Back Stage West
<< more book reviews and info on site: thebusinessofacting.comDawn Lerman. Twelve Step Plan to Becoming an Actor in L.A.: The Method to Create a Life
Frederick Levy Hollywood 101 : The Film Industry
[the author:] "Why I wrote this book... I was just 17 years old when I first moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film business. At that time, I didn't know a soul and I had to start at the very bottom and work my way up. Today I am the Vice President of a feature film production company and have worked on such films as TITANIC and REINDEER GAMES. Making it in Hollywood IS possible and I've written this guidebook to help others follow and achieve their show business dreams."M. K. Lewis, Rosemary R. Lewis. Your Film Acting Career: How to Break into the Movies & TV & Survive in Hollywood
 |
On
Acting by Mary Luckhurst, Chloe Veltman
Twenty performers -- including Willem Dafoe, William H. Macy, and Eve Ensler -- consider the question of how an actor creates a character on stage. From Luba Kadison, who was on stage during World War I, to Aysan Celik, who was born in the mid-1970s, the actors interviewed by Mary Luckhurst and Chloe Veltman discuss the origins and uses of a wide range of physical and psychological approaches to acting. Some actors pour their energies into researching the era and circumstances of a character's life, some expand their versatility through work with ensemble groups or experimental companies, still others prefer to depend on traditional rigorous academic instruction. And sometimes inspiration comes from beyond the proscenium -- The Who, Martha Graham, opera singer Jessye Norman, and Pablo Picasso are just a few of the artists who have had a profound influence on the actors interviewed here. |
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Helena Lumme, Mika Manninen. Great Women of FilmHelena Lumme. Screenwriters : America's Storytellers in Portrait "salutes the men and women who have created hundreds of America's most beloved films. For the first time in the history of the much-documented film industry, this landmark book celebrates - in spectacular photographs and in the screenwriters' own unforgettable words - 47 of the film world's best writers including 18 Academy Award winners and 36 nominees for Best Screenplay."
"Fear has been something I've lived with my entire life, the fear of being in public places..” Kim Basinger
~ ~ ~
An actor may read about a particular audition, experience anticipatory anxiety (without realizing it), and decide not to audition, rationalizing away their avoidance by saying, “Oh, I don’t think I’m right for that role,” “I’m sure that part’s pre-cast,” or “That director’s never liked me.” This is another classic instance where the sufferer has no idea that anxiety is the issue.
> from Performance Anxiety : A Workbook for Actors, Musicians, Dancers and Anyone Else
Who Performs in Public - by Eric Maisel, PhD.
David Mamet True and False: A Practical Handbook for the Actor
"It's not the actor's job to embellish the play, but to do something more worthwhile and difficult: to resist embellishing it. It's when one resists the impulse to help that the truth emerges. The great actors I've seen in movies or on stage are capable of being quite still, and letting their uncertainty, fear and conficting desires emerge rather than trying to cover them up with their ideas." David Mamet [London Daily Telegraph, 1998]Monroe Mann. The Theatrical Juggernaut: The Psyche of the Star
from Table of Contents : PART A: PSYCHOLOGY 1. Attitude 2. Unlucky 3. Wall Street 4. The Right Stuff
5. Negative Extremes 6. Against the Grain 7. 'REAL' Actors 8. Straight to the Top
PART B: THE TANGIBLES 10. The Trades 11. Publicity 12. Experience 13. Agents/CDs
14. Unions 15. Headshots 16. By The Way
> author Monroe Mann : If you want to succeed in this business where the supply for actors is high and the demand is low, you better get any trace of negativity or pessimism out of your system from the outset... If you don’t think you are just as good, and just as worthy of success, as the stars, then you are doing yourself a grave disservice.
Katherine Mayfield Smart Actors, Foolish Choices : A Self-Help Guide to Coping With the Emotional Stresses of the Business
[reader:] "is not an artificial feel-good book;i t is an honest book about the necessity of knowing and accepting yourself so that you can deal with the business of acting in which actors are product. The interviews with actors are excellent in bringing, in 12 unique personal stories, this reality to light. As one interviewee observed, Who you are as a person, how good you are as an artist, and how well you do in the business seem to be completely unrelated." (Johnny Kline) Katherine Mayfield's extensive experience with acting herself makes this a credible and insightful guide for actors... an unflinching look at the realities of choosing acting as a career."Katherine Mayfield. Acting A to Z : The Young Person's Guide to a Stage or Screen Career
[reader review:] "This book takes you step by step, through the whole process. It tells you how to present your resume, what type of photo's you should have made of yourself, and how much it will cost to be a working actor. The second chapter.. tells how you can use your body as your tools. The book lists warm up exercises that you can do to prepare yourself for an audition or play. There are vocal exercises and more. In the tenth chapter it tells how some agents and casting directors like to scam amuater actors. It tells how to avoid them and how to get out of a situation like that. It says to trust your feelings when you feel uncomfortable about something. You should get this book if you want to know how to begin acting."
............
 |
My experience with Sandy
Meisner
at the Neighborhood Playhouse was pretty amazing. It's really been the
foundation of all my acting. I really learned the tool of what became
my trade.
It provided a kind of freshness, or, as he called it, living truthfully in imaginary circumstances, so with that in mind, we played this game where you learned that you're nothing without your fellow actor, without them changing and guiding you. Diane Keaton - from article Divine Inspiration - By Lori Talley, backstage.com Dec 17, 2003 |
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Sanford Meisner The Sanford Meisner Approach: Workbook Three : Tackling the Text
Sanford Meisner on Acting
"Every actor’s instrument is different because every actors instrument is their humanity,
their sensitivity. Their soul. And there is no 'right way' or 'one way' to get to that instrument. That soul."
Sanford Meisner [from notes by Jim Jarrett: jarrettproductions.com]> also: Larry Silverberg. The Sanford Meisner Approach : An Actors Workbook
Allan Miller. A Passion for Acting
"Talent is an aptitude for expression in a given medium. Some of us have less aptitude than others.
So what? It doesn't mean we don't have any. Give me people with enough appetite, and within
a reasonable amount of time, I can train them to act well. We all have deep, secret feelings.
With enough craft and discipline, they can be connected to our work. Even if we don't achieve
greatness, even if we sometimes fail, if we stay connected to our deepest feelings and attitudes
towards life, we will find gratification and a sense of accomplishment."Eric Morris. Acting, Imaging and the Unconscious
Joy Morris. For the Love of It: The Heart of the Actor
Oriah Mountain Dreamer. What We Ache For : Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul
"I am drawn to write not because I think the creative process will bring me happiness, but because when I write I am happy." So admits Oriah Mountain Dreamer, writer, artist, workshop and retreat leader. Sharing more than a handful of deeply personal experiences, she demonstrates the intrinsic connection between creativity, spirituality and sexuality, which she defines as "an awareness of and appreciation for our physical life and a material reality alive with sensual detail." While most of her examples discuss the process of writing, she carefully includes all forms of creativity—from dance to music to physical art. [Publishers Weekly]
Joyce Carol Oates Blonde "The role of women [in film] has changed dramatically since Marilyn Monroe. Women are now so much more free agents. Julia Roberts... is hardly a victim, and won't sign a contract for $50,000 a year when she's making millions for the studio. But that's what Marilyn Monroe was doing. She signed contracts that bound her to movies.. she couldn't choose. .. Norma Jean was an actress, and played a number of characters. Her Marilyn character was one of them. But she had a more introspective and intellectual self."
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...Performing Women: Stand-Ups, Strumpets and Itinerants - by Alison Oddey Alison Oddey's interviews with prominenet performing women span generations, cultures, perspectives, practice and the best part of the twentieth century, telling various stories collectively. Stand-ups, "classic" actresses, film and television personalities, and performance artists discuss why they want to perform, what motivates them, and how their personal history has contributed to their desires to perform. [Amazon.com summary]
interviews include: Imogen Stubbs; Josette Simon; Jane Horrocks; Kathy Burke; Marianne Jean-Baptiste; Heather Ackroyd; Juliet Stevenson; Fiona Shaw; Miranda Richardson; Brenda Blethyn; Julie Walters and others
......~ ~ ~
| When Stacy
Keach
was asked to name one of his favorite books on acting, he went through
his library at home and came back with Laurence Olivier's On
Acting.
As
Keach told Back Stage West in his dressing room at the Mark Taper
Forum, where he's currently starring in Jon Robin Baitz's play Ten
Unknowns, Olivier was someone after whom Keach modeled his career. Keach noted, "The thing I love about this book is that it talks about the difference between Shakespeare on the stage and Shakespeare on film. I think it's really interesting from a standpoint of following his process, in terms of how he created characters. "He usually started with an image of a character. He said when he was doing Othello, for example, he used lots of paintings in order to find out what the character looked like, what his behavior was, what he sounded like. He worked externally at first and then worked inwards. "Olivier was criticized over his career by those who didn't like him for being an external actor--somebody who was not from the Method school. And yet he conveyed emotions and feelings that, particularly in something like The Entertainer, were equal to anything that Brando or James Dean did, as far as I'm concerned. |
 .. .. Other craft-oriented books Keach recommends are: To the Actor: On the Technique of Acting by Michael Chekhov, Michael Redgrave's The Actor's Ways and Means, Dennis Brown's Actors Talk: Profiles and Stories from the Acting Trade, John Barrymore's Confessions of an Actor, and the writings of Konstantin Stanislavski and Jerzy Grotowski. from article: Recommended Read by Jamie Painter Young - |
......
John Pierson. Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes : A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema
"John Pierson--who is responsible for getting films such as Michael Moore's Roger & Me and Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It produced--provides an account of what goes on behind the scenes in independent filmmaking. "Mr. Pierson covers his territory with urgency and conviction."--New York Times Book Review.James Russell Screen & Stage Marketing Secrets [review by a Literary Agent:] "There should be a written guide so screenwriters can learn how to submit scripts, professionally... [this] is the book!" // [screenwriter:] "I was surprised to discover many things I was doing wrong... [this] is the only book for writers to insure query letters and scripts are submitted professionally. The book absolutely increases the impact of your query letters, log lines and script writing in a powerful way."
Joal Ryan. Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted
Drawing on first-hand interviews with ex-kid stars of My Three Sons, The Brady Bunch, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes, and more, author Joal Ryan traces how the TV kid went from the object of adulation to a target of derision. ... A Los Angeles-based journalist, Ryan has talked to dozens of former child stars in launching the noted website Former Child Star Central [book summary from site]Delia Salvi. Friendly Enemies: Maximizing the Director-Actor Relationship
[publisher:] Professor, acting coach, and actress Delia Salvi shows today’s young film and television directors how to overcome the obstacles and meet the challenges of working with actors effectively and successfully. Based on the popular course she teaches at UCLA, seven comprehensive chapters provide proven guidance on such key topics as understanding the actor, the director’s preparation, casting, rehearsals, and working on the set. An additional chapter features directors’ notes, character analysis, and a scene breakdown from a section of the movie classic On the Waterfront.
Finally, Friendly Enemies features fascinating one-on-one interviews with entertainment professionals including: Burt Brinckerhoff, well-known producer and director of the successful television series Seventh Heaven and director of over 46 legendary television shows; Tom Holland, Emmy-winning director of Malcolm in the Middle, as well as The Larry Sanders Show and Twin Peaks; Geena Davis, star of The Accidental Tourist, Thelma and Louise, and A League of Their Own; Anthony Franciosa; Barry Primus, who has recently appeared in the films Life as a House and 15 Minutes, as well as such television shows as The Practice, X-Files, and Law and Order.
Delia Salvi is a full professor at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. She is also a professional acting coach whose students include Geena Davis, Craig Berko, and Mia Sara.Elayne Savage. Don't Take It Personally! : The Art of Dealing With Rejection
Judith Searle Getting the Part : Thirty-Three Professional Casting Directors Tell You How to Get Work
in Theater, Films, Commercials, and TVWallace Shawn My Dinner With Andre
"The world of my imagination was becoming a prison... the real world, with its bounteous profusion of fascinating everyday-ness, was lying resplendent outside the gates, winking at me, beyond my grasp. I had generously shown on the stage my interior life as a raging beast, but my exterior life as a mediocre human and dilettante of normal intelligence remained unchronicled. And although my conscious, rational self had cried for expression for years, my unconscious self still kept a brutal grip on my pen. I knew -- I knew -- that beneath my work's primeval, hysterical façade, there was a calm little writer in an armchair just waiting to burst forth..."............
If you have a great director and you have wonderful writing, the possibilities are just incredibly magical - but that rarely happens in the working world. So an actor has got to be analytical, vulnerable and incredibly focused. Jolene Adams, Artistic Director, Actors Art Theatre
from book - Larry Silverberg. The Actor's Guide to Qualified Acting Coaches : Los Angeles
............
Larry Silverberg. The Sanford Meisner Approach : An Actors Workbook
Victor Skrebneski (Photographer), Richard Christiansen. Steppenwolf Theatre Company : Twenty-Five Years of an Actor's Theater [reader:] "This is such a wonderful tribute to the thirty-three actors, directors, and writers who make up the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Most of it is all full-page pictures of every ensemble member. The pictures are all black and white and done in a sort of avant-garde style that reflects the spirit that the theatre company has conveyed for the past 25 years.
"The ones of John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, and Moira Harris are particularly good. In addition to the pictures, the book also contains a history of the company, telling how it was formed by Jeff Perry, Gary Sinise, and Terry Kinney in 1974 in Highland Park, IL, and leading up to the company receiving the National Medal of Arts in 1998. There are also insightful and thoroughly entertaining short essays written by outsiders who have worked with the company over the years, including Sam Shepard and Terry Johnson."
Susan Sontag In America: A Novel [excerpt] "She had loved being an actress because the theatre seemed to her nothing less than the truth. A higher truth. Acting in a play, one of the great plays, you became better than you really were. You said only words that were sculpted, necessary, exalting. You always looked as beautiful as you could be, artifice assisting, at your age. Each of your movements had a large, generous meaning. You could feel yourself being improved by what was given to you, on the stage, to express."
Donald Spoto. The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock
Lee Strasberg. A Dream of Passion: The Development of the Method
Patrick Tucker Secrets of Screen Acting
Christine Vachon. Shooting to Kill : How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies That Matter
Stephen Wangh, Andre Gregory (Afterword) An Acrobat of the Heart : A Physical Approach to Acting
............
 .. .. Langel, who stepped into the role as Cosette in the Broadway production of "Les Misérables" while still in college -- and found herself back in the ensemble eight years later -- was shocked to find that performers who had been her inspiration still struggled. "It made me realize that no matter if you had done one Broadway show or had won three Tony Awards, all of these feelings are universal." There are stories of childhood dreams of fame, wardrobe and technical malfunctions, sudden amnesia, obsessed fans, tiny apartments infested with cockroaches (and ghosts), and the nightmare of arriving at the theater to find the show has closed. |
Elsewhere,
the artists offer up painful experiences with sexual harassment, hazing
and high jinks during shows and lack of respect from producers.
"This is the community coming together," Wienir said. "It's all kind of collectively saying, 'Look, enough's enough.' We have to stop pretending that theater is the way it used to be in the '60s. "We're now in the new millennium, and there are some problems here that we need to squarely address. "Very few people have said that this is a sad book or an angry book. If anything, what they've said is that it's a real book." from article And the Tony for pluck goes to... - By Lynne Heffley, LA Times Jul 11 2004 photo [Jodie Langel at far left] from Neil Berg '86 presents "100 Years of Broadway" site
|
...David
Wienir and Jodie Langel. ~ ~ ~ ~
Another difficult thing for you to overcome will be your tendency to "act." The more acting training that you have had, the more you will feel the need to use it. But, to be a good on-camera actor, you need to be real; you need to be yourself. Which is simply to say, you have to think real thoughts and experience real emotions. That is what the camera sees. It sees thoughts.
**from book:**You Can Work On-Camera! : Acting in Commercials and
Corporate Films by John Leslie Wolfe, Brenna McDonough
Carole Zucker In the Company of Actors: Reflections on the Craft of Acting
"Interviewing 16 Irish and British actors, Zucker doesn't waste a word on anything as silly as one's love life or as ephemeral as one's next movie, play, or TV special. That is impressive, given that her interlocutors include Alan Bates, Simon Callow, Judi Dench, and Nigel Hawthorne. Zucker instead focuses on the vocation of acting.
"She emphasizes how one trains for the profession and prepares for a role, and she illuminates the differences between acting onstage and acting onscreen. We learn that some, such as Janet McTeer and Eileen Atkins, found their vocation quickly, thanks to guiding parents or observant teachers; that others, like Hawthorne, came to acting after false starts in other fields; and that some cannot stand acting for the camera, while others easily flit from medium to medium. We learn how many do in-depth research before taking on a character and how many subscribe to "the method" style of acting. Yet these are never academic discussions. Each interview is also a portrait of a person at a specific time and place in her or his career." [review by Jack Helbig]
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