What are your favorite acting books. Which have you gotten the most out of and why?

i liked "Respect for Acting"...it just helped me alot.

Ivana C's book "The Power of The Actor"....it helped/kind of refreshed things i had learned in the past.

I love Mystic in the Theater b/c it was inspiring and also gave me a bit of history in acting. I love this thread!

Two I like are
How to Agent Your Agent - what can I say, it's all in the title and well worth the read.

How to Act & Eat at The Same Time This is a great book especially the "DONT's" for those who have been around

ohh and i like Bonnie G's books.

No Acting Please by Eric Morris

I love "Acting: The First Six Lessons" by Richard Boleslavsky. I review it any time I feel like I have to get back to basics when approaching a character.

buisness of acting by brian o'neil

This is a strange one but I read "Uses of Enchantment" by Bruno Bettelheim. It takes a look at the psychology behind fairy tales.

Fairy tales can teach us how to address suffering, hardships and the reality of death. According to Bettleheim, the fairy tale is a "manifold form" that is specifically designed to communicates to children to teach them about life's unaviodable uncertainties and realities. The bottom line is that fairy tales are an educational tools to help children mature into adults. He states that the child needs to be given, "...suggestions in symbolic form about how he may deal with these issues and grow safely into maturity."(page 9)

Yes, I did do a book report on this book.

the fairy tale books sounds cool!

Beez!! Is that your mew??? I love it!

No. Sorry. It is just a picture of a cat licking a mouse that I found on-line. My Mouselicker held the mice down as she licked them within an inch of drowning. You have never seen anything like it.

I can't figure out how to get a picture up on-line. When I do, you will be the first to know.

Back to the book. I liked it because it helped me as an actor get the motivation behind the fairy tale characters actions. It really helped me figure out the deep - almost existential - emotion that is in any two dimentional script.

to keep this thread alive

My favorite books are:

to the actor - Michael Chekhov

On Method Acting - Edwin Dwight Easty

No Acting Please - First and last chapter only - Eric Morris

Acting in the Million Dollar Minute - Tom Logan

Acting is Everything by: Judy Kerr

is a must have!

Michael Caine's "Acting In Film"
Sydney Lumet's "Making Movies"
Simon Callow's "Shooting The Actor"

Michael Caine gives a lot of helpful tips and he's funny. Sydney Lumet gives you a look into the inside of the whole aspect of film making, not just the acting, that is amazing.

Simon Callow gives you the emotional upheaval, possible scenarios and stresses an actor will go through with his career