Review
Benedetti's book tells you everything you need to know about film acting; how to prepare and how to perform in front of the camera. An invaluable book — I wish it had been around when I first started — no would-be film actor should be without it. —Reviewed by Joan Plowright
After this book hits the shelves don't be surprised if the quality of American film acting takes a needed step forward. Benedetti has penned a true how-to guide for actors who want to shine onscreen. He has put into doable English what should actually happen in front of the camera. What great luck for those new to the medium, and experienced actors, grab this book and earn that money you're making!
—Reviewed by Alfre Woodard
In his new book, Robert Benedetti brings his experience as both an acting teacher and a film producer to the subject of screen acting. He clearly demonstrates the need to achieve the often challenging balance between respect for craft and the dictates of the visual media. For those seeking a road map to a successful screen performance, read and enjoy!
—Reviewed by Don Cheadle
'Beny' was one of my acting teachers years ago and subsequently went on to become an award-winning TV/film producer. He excited my imagination then, and through his books, still does.
—Reviewed by Ted Danson
This is the first book I know that recognizes the difference between acting for the stage and acting for film and television. It couldn't have come at a better time.
—Reviewed by Ossie Davis
Bob Benedetti is one of the most intelligent and insightful teachers that I know. His lifelong dedication to the field of drama along with his numerous accomplishments in film and television make this book a "must read" for actors on any level.
—Reviewed by Noah Wyle
How I wish I could start my film career all over again, with everything I now know in one hand and Bob Benedetti's book in the other. I am happy to discover, however, that unknowingly I have always been in agreement with D. W. Griffith: film acting is thinking.
—Reviewed by Patrick Stewart
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Inside Flap
Preface
When I wrote the first edition of The Actor at Work thirty years ago, I was teaching at Carnegie-Mellon University. Despite our frequent collaboration with public television station WQED, it never occurred to any of us to offer formal classes in acting for the camera. The situation was the same when I became Chairman of the Acting Program at the Yale Drama School. Even later, when I moved to the California Institute of the Arts as Dean of the School of Theatre, we offered no courses in film acting, despite the fact that our students frequently acted in films made by students of the School of Film/Video. As far as I know, not one of the burgeoning professional actor training programs of the sixties and seventies offered significant actor training for the camera; we all dreamt of the rosy future of repertory theatre in America and disdained training for the "commercial" world of film and television.
By the late eighties, the retrenchment of the American repertory theatre movement had greatly reduced the opportunities for stage actors in America. At the same time, the expansion of television and film production drew more and more actors away from the stage. One by one, most of the wonderful repertory theatre actors with whom I had worked in the seventies and eighties came to Los Angeles to try their luck. Most of them, being seasoned and versatile after years in repertory, managed to muddle through the adjustment from stage to camera on their own, and are having successful careers.
At the same time, I abandoned my twenty-five year career as a teacher of acting and, with the help of former students (most notably Ted Danson) started producing films. By observing the work of a number of wonderful film actors (some of whom are quoted on the back cover) I began to appreciate first-hand the unique demands the camera makes on actors.
Our schools cannot go on pretending that film and television are not the major employers of actors in this country; a glance at the union membership numbers proves it. There is a real need for systematic, no-nonsense training for the camera wherever actors are trained in this country. This book was written to help address that need. It uses the same approach I have employed over the eight editions of The Actor at Work: to define underlying principals, present them in a logically sequential program of development, and provide experiential exercises that help the student to discover and internalize them for herself or himself.
My thanks to those who reviewed this manuscript. Thanks also to the fine people at Allyn & Bacon with whom I have now done several books, especially Karon Bowers.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
