Showing titles in Acting & Auditioning

Screen Acting Trade Secrets is the definitive guide for the screen actor in the 21st century. From your first awakening as an actor to the end of your first day on a movie set, Screen Acting Trade Secrets walks you through it all with humor, priceless information, eye-opening revelations, helpful exercises, real-world examples, tales from the trenches, insider secrets, and a boat load of genuine inspiration. You won’t be able to put it down. Then, you’ll start again with a highlighter.

What if the very thing holding back your creativity wasn’t talent, discipline, or inspiration—but your nervous system? In Superplay, Your Instrument Is You, award-winning performer Ruby Rose Fox pulls back the curtain on the hidden biology that fuels every note, every line, and every performance. This is not another “how-to” book—it’s a survival guide for artists who want to thrive in the most demanding craft on earth.

Learning how easy improv is can be the hard part. There are important lessons in life that can lead to better improv scenes. And there are important lessons in improv that can lead to a better life. By putting improv techniques under an electron microscope of reason, The Tao of Improv: A Philosophy of Creating a Scene can improve the way we function, understand, and interact - on stage and off. Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching are woven into an overall philosophy of scenic improv acting.

How to Develop a Powerful, Clear, and Resonant Speaking Voice is a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense guide to simple techniques you can employ immediately to improve the quality of your voice. This audiobook, made for men and women, shows how to develop resonance, speak in the proper pitch, and use what’s called diaphragmatic breathing to magnify the power and expressiveness of your voice.

The master acting teacher Richard Boleslavsky presents his acting theory and technique in a lively and accessible narrative form. Widely considered a must-have for beginning as well as established actors, Boleslavsky's work has long helped actors better understand the craft of acting and what it takes to grow as an artist. He has taught generations of some of the best stage and screen actors and actresses. Written in the form of a series of dialogues, these lessons aim to inform and instruct the budding actor on some of the basic principles of acting and learning to act.

When Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton opened in London’s West End in December 2017, it was as huge a hit as it had been in its original production off - and on Broadway. For Terera, though, his journey as Burr had begun more than a year earlier, with his first audition in New York, and continuing through extensive research and preparation, intense rehearsals, previews and finally opening night itself. Throughout this time he kept a journal, recording his experiences of the production and his process of creating his award-winning performance.

In seven years of blogging only to the community of voice actors, specifically on the subject of voice acting, I've educated myself and others on the challenges of being a freelance voice artist. My first diplomatic answer to my caller is: being a success in voice acting requires more than just a voice. I've had to gingerly explain the real secret to voiceover success so often that it became clear: somebody needed to tell the truth about being a voice-actor. It's hard work! It's a business and should be approached as a business.

The poster-child victim of a dysfunctional family from Beech Grove, Indiana, Steve McQueen experienced an unsettled early life with a rebellious and alcoholic mother. McQueen channeled his difficult childhood into a masterful career on screen portraying tough, self-sufficient characters in such iconic films as The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, Bullitt, and Papillon.

If you've decided to ignore your family's wise advice to get a "real job" instead of pursuing acting, prove them all wrong by picking this book up. If the world needs another actor (you), then you need this deep dive into building an acting career, written by the storied and acclaimed voice actor and director Joel McDonald (Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina's Wonderland, New Tales from the Borderlands, One Piece, My Hero Academia, Space Dandy.)Learn what to do and what not to do to craft the acting career you've always dreamed about.

The Aspiring Actor's Handbook is written for curious and want-to-be actors, and designed to help them make informed decisions about pursuing an acting career. Veteran actresses Molly Cheek and Debbie Zipp have culled the wit and wisdom of a wide array of successful actors from Dee Wallace to Beth Grant, to bring aspiring and new actors the kind of mentoring perspective so many in the business wish they had had when they were starting out.

Veteran character actor David Dean Bottrell draws on his 35-plus tumultuous years of work in the entertainment industry to offer a guide to breaking in, making a living, and making a life in the fabulous trenches of show business. Mixing prescriptive advice with wisdom drawn from Bottrell's own professional highs and lows and those of his acting compatriots, this book's humorous, tell-it-like-it-is tone is a must-have guide for anyone hoping to successfully navigate show business.

In Character Breakdown, Zawe scrolls through a version of her life. Or is it a version of her art? Or something in between. In it, she encounters glamour, horror, absurdity and questions like: is a life spent more on performance than reality any life at all?

Have you ever dreamed of getting paid to use your voice—without spending years figuring it out? Whether you’re starting from scratch or already dipped your toes into the voiceover world, "From Broke To Booked" gives you the real, unfiltered roadmap to building a profitable voice acting career, even if you’ve never stepped inside a recording booth before.

Welcome to "Emotional Preparation Volume II", the latest installment in Simon Blake's acclaimed series dedicated to empowering performers with the emotional tools necessary for genuine and captivating artistry. This volume delves into the vast landscape of human emotion, providing actors, musicians, and creatives with an expansive resource of 325 carefully curated emotions to enrich their performances and deepen their creative expression.

Prepping songs for Musical Theatre auditions can be more stressful and confusing than a bad production of Sweeney Todd... but this book can help. Adam Wachter has taught courses on audition repertoire selection at top conservatories in the US and UK and spent years accompanying and sitting "behind the table" in auditions for everything from university programs to Broadway shows. This friendly and accessible guide is designed to answer all your questions and help you stock that rep book with tight cuts of great songs so you can walk into your next audition and totally nail it.

Second Act: A Working Actor’s Handbook is part memoir, part masterclass, and all heart. Drawing from a deeply personal return to the business after decades away, Rob DeRosa offers a no-fluff survival guide for actors navigating co-star roles, stage performances, auditions, set life, and the emotional rollercoaster of working in film, television, and theater.

Learn how to become a successful working actor in TV commercials in Los Angeles in this fun step-by-step guide by top casting session director and commercial actor Shaan Sharma. The audiobook covers everything you need to know about the business, what you need to get started, how to get the right training, and walks you through the entire process of auditioning, booking and shooting projects - all from an insider's point of view. Even veterans will learn useful tips for converting more auditions into bookings.

Access Accents bring the highly sought-after voice techniques of top voice coach Penny Dyer to the actor's audio device. A unique opportunity to prepare for auditions at short notice.

At 17, Susanna Moore left her home in Hawaii, with no money, no belongings and no prospects. But in Philadelphia, an unexpected gift of four trunks of beautiful clothes allowed her to assume the first of many disguises. Her journey takes her from New York to Los Angeles where she becomes a model and meets Joan Didion and Audrey Hepburn. She works as a script reader for Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson and is given a screen test by Mike Nichols.

Elevate your acting skills and expand your casting potential with this comprehensive American accent guide designed specifically for actors. Unlike traditional accent books that focus on rigid rules, this practical acting resource blends accent mastery with authentic character work, helping you deliver believable performances every time. Learn the key features of American accents, from mouth placement and speech rhythm to intonation patterns, ensuring your delivery sounds natural and convincing. The book covers regional American accents across the U.S.