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The Outstanding Actor: Seven Keys to Success

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Drawing on Ken Rea's 30 years' teaching experience and research, as well as interviews with top actors and directors, The Outstanding Actor identifies seven key qualities that the most successful actors manifest, along with practical exercises that help nurture those qualities.

Featuring contributions and insights from Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Judi Dench, Al Pacino and many more, The Outstanding Actor gives you techniques that you can immediately put into practice in rehearsals, classes or private preparation. It also shows you how to increase the chances of having a more successful career.

'Ken taught us to be dangerous, to abandon any sense of failure and to take risks – that's where to find creativity. A lesson we can never stop learning.' Orlando Bloom

'The classes with Ken at Guildhall, I consider to be the most important part of the acting training. They are exercises in patience, unpredictability and encouraging students to make utter fools of themselves – vital for any actor embarking on a life in the profession.' Michelle Dockery

'Ken's classes were some of the most interesting that I was lucky enough to attend at drama school. He opened the mind to what acting could be.' Ewan McGregor

Includes a foreword by Damian Lewis.

312 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2015

13 people are currently reading
67 people want to read

About the author

Ken Rea

4 books

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Sophie Bloor.
94 reviews
January 8, 2021
Someone useful but nothing overly ground breaking. Nice sectioning and effective exercises but I don’t necessarily agree with considering the audience in performance too- surely that interrupts moment to moment responses?

9 reviews
January 13, 2019
This is an excellent book by Ken Rea acting teacher extraordinaire at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, this book is not only relevant to performance practitioners as his ideas and insights would enhance any human being.
Profile Image for Louise May Mosley.
17 reviews761 followers
January 12, 2022
Gorgeous gorgeous actors read this book. Full of optimism and honest advice that I’m sure I will carry with me for my whole career.
Profile Image for antonia.
320 reviews3 followers
August 17, 2022
I believe every actor should read this! Extremely helpful and insightful.
Profile Image for Davinia.
41 reviews5 followers
April 10, 2017
If you're in actor training, you NEED TO READ this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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