Respect for Acting

Editor's Note by Jesse Feiler xiii Foreword by Katie Finneran xv Foreword by David Hyde Pierce xix Acknowledgments xxiii Part One The Actor Introduction 3 1 Concept 11 2 Identity 22 3 Substitution 34 4 Emotional Memory 46 5 Sense Memory 52 6 The Five Senses 60 7 Thinking 65 8 Walking and Talking 69 9 Improvisation 73 10 Reality 75 Part Two The Object Exercises Introduction 81 11 The Basic Object Exercise 91 12 Three Entrances 95 13 Immediacy 102 14 The Fourth Wall 106 15 Endowment 112 16 Talking to Yourself 119 17 Outdoors 124 18 Conditioning Forces 129 19 History 134 20 Character Action 139 Part Three The Play and the Role Introduction 145 21 First Contact with the Play 147 22 The Character 152 23 Circumstances 158 24 Relationship 165 25 The Objective 174 26 The Obstacle 180 27 The Action 184 28 The Rehearsal 192 29 Practical Problems 201 30 Communication 213 31 Style 217 Epilogue 222 The Studio Story, by Uta Hagen 224 Address to the Austrian Academy, by Herbert Berghof 239 Sources, by Uta Hagen 244 About Uta Hagen 252 About Haskel Frankel 254 Index 255

UTA HAGEN, Tony Award-winning actor and renowned acting teacher, co-founded HB Studio in New York City with her husband, Herbert Berghof, where she trained actors including Al Pacino, Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon, Whoopi Goldberg, and Christine Lahti. On stage she starred in groundbreaking productions with José Ferrer, Paul Robeson, Anthony Quinn, and Marlon Brando. HB Studio is her legacy where new generations of actors come from around the world to study.

HASKEL FRANKEL worked as a journalist and critic for publications including The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, Saturday Review, The National Observer, Show and Playbill. He wrote and collaborated on many books including Milton Berle: An Autobiography, The Admiral's Daughter with Victoria Fyodorova and All My Patients Are Under the Bed with Louis J. Camuti.

PRAISE FOR RESPECT FOR ACTING
 
"Uta Hagen changed my life. She changed the lives of thousands and thousands of other people as well. To have Uta's books, and to be able to look through them at the drop of a hat, keeps me going and keeps me inspired to keep going."
--AUSTIN PENDLETON, American actor
 
"I read Respect for Acting frequently. As a remembrance of my time with Uta and to keep myself challenged and humble. It should be utilized by every acting student and professional."
--VICTOR SLEZAK, American stage actor
 
"I was extraordinarily privileged to work with Uta Hagen in The Circle in the Square's production of George Bernard Shaw's play, You Never Can Tell. Her book, Respect for Acting, is a must read for any actor at any age. She was committed to revealing the truth and we are the beneficiaries of her brilliant observations."
--VICTOR GARBER, Canadian actor
 
"Uta Hagen and Respect for Acting have profoundly influenced nearly every actor alive today and yet to come in film, television and stage with this unmatchable, impeccably specific process developed from her life's work as the definitive 'actor's actor', and is timeless and invaluable for all beginning and working actors truly interested in the highest level of acting."
--TED BRUNETTI, Award-winning producer, director, acting and directing coach, and actor
 
"Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting is simply the bible for any acting student serious about their craft. Even as a professional, I refer to it time and again for the basics. It is a touchstone."
--LAILA ROBINS, American film actress
 
"I held onto this book for dear life throughout my twenties, and still thumb through it when I need a tune up. If I lose my car keys and I'm frantically turning my house upside down trying to find them I look up at the heavens and hope she's having a good laugh."
--AMANDA PEET, American actress