Acting and How to Be Good at It

by Basil Hoffman

This authoritative and ground-breaking text teaches the serious student of acting a proven, comprehensive and effective approach to the craft and to character development. Through revealing, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and practical exercises, the veteran character actor guides readers through his unique, direct approach to recognizing and understanding human behavior, leading actors to discover and demonstrate the specific, individual humanity in every character. The broad scope of Hoffman's experiences has given him a special perspective that simplifies, demystifies and illustrates, in specific and easily understandable terms, the acting experience, not in theory, but as it is practiced at the highest levels of the industry. Includes: 100 specific questions and answers from Hoffman's acting classes * Fifteen production photographs of Hoffman's work in scenes from select films and plays.

Genres: Nonfiction

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hoffman manages to explain each concept with such precision and diligence without it being too hard to read. i recommend this book to any actor or anyone who wants to learn more about acting.

[Clay Aurther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this is not on my typical list of books I planned to read for this year, it is still a book, and a good one at that. The reason I decided to read this book in the first place is self-explanatory; I want to be an actor. And this book has good suggestions, pointers, and critiques for every aspiring actor. It definitely helped me be more confident in myself and my career path for the future and it has helped me conclude the choice of not giving up in what I love to do most.
Since reading this book, I will not expect to become an amazing actor, or even a great one, but I will at least strive to be an actor who does not give up.

[Rachel L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written book on acting, specifically focusing on character development but also discussing working with directors, other actors, developing a career and various other points of acting. It's written in a question-and-answer format so it's fairly easy to just find the topic you are interested in, if you're not wanting to read the whole thing. I appreciated the fact that it was clean, for the most part, and puts a high value on character and a good work ethic. I'd recommend this for anyone interested in acting.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I've about had my fill of acting books.