Acting and How to Be Good at It: The Second Edition (Edition 2) (Paperback)

"Basil Hoffman writes about acting from the inside of the craft in a practical, clear way, without mumbo-jumbo or mystique. He knows what he's writing about and you can feel his years of experience on the pages of this book." Sydney Pollack Academy Award-Winning Director "It's obvious he knows his stuff" Back Stage & Back Stage West review Acting and How To Be Good At It: The Second Edition is an authoritative and ground-breaking text that 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 dozens of guided, interactive exercises, veteran character Basil Hoffman guides readers through his unique, direct approach to recognizing and understanding human behavior. This approach will lead the actor to discover and demonstrate the specific, individual humanity in every character he or she plays. Over the course of a 40-year acting career, Hoffman has had the good fortune to experience many facets of the profession. During that time, he has personally endured and survived confusing and destructive teachers, while also being able to have observed, first-hand, some of the finest actors (and directors) in the world working at the top of the profession. The broad scope of those experiences and observations have given him a unique insight and perspective that he has endeavored to pass on in his seminars, workshops, classes and private coaching sessions. Now, actors everywhere can benefit from Hoffman's teachings and realize for themselves the impact his approach can have on their careers and their ability to land an acting job. Hoffman's goal is to teach actors therecognition of real human behavior and the experiencing of that behavior in the acting process. 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.