Product Description

Respect for Acting

"This fascinating and detailed book about acting is Miss Hagen′s credo, the accumulated wisdom of her years spent in intimate communion with her art. It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she [taught], and an explanation of the means to the end."
––Publishers Weekly

"Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her ′object exercises′ display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation."
––Library Journal

"Uta Hagen′s Respect for Acting . . . is a relatively small book. But within it, Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft."
––Los Angeles Times

"There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by Uta Hagen."
––Fritz Weaver

"This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind–the–scenes flavor."
––King Features Syndicate

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20009 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

From the Inside Flap
"Uta Hagen wanted us never to settle, period, to keep on endlessly exploring, digging deeper, and aiming higher in our scenes, in our plays, in our careers. Respect for Acting is not a long book, and with any luck, it will take you the rest of your life to read it."
—David Hyde Pierce (from the Foreword)

Legendary actress and teacher Uta Hagen knew that an actor′s finest work was often achieved for love rather than for money. She lived this philosophy alongside her husband, Herbert Berghof, at HB Studio, their acting school in New York. It was there that they created a workplace and spiritual home for actors such as Robert DeNiro, Jack Lemmon, Anne Bancroft, and Bette Midler.

Respect for Acting is Hagen′s blueprint for the actor, her design for "enlightened stage acting." This classic book has helped generations of actors hone their craft, and its advice is as useful now as it was when it was first published. Hagen draws on her own struggle with the techniques of acting as well as her decades of teaching experience to break down the areas in which actors can work and search for realities in themselves that serve the character and the play. This approach helps actors to be specific in their actions in order to communicate an artistic statement. Hagen′s instructions and examples also guide the aspiring actor through practical problems such as "How do I talk to the audience?" and "How do I stay fresh in a long run?"

Part One, "The Actor," deals with the actor′s concept of him or herself, as well as techniques that set an actor in motion physically, verbally, and emotionally.

Part Two, "The Object Exercises," offers specific and detailed work for the actor, covering a broad range of problems and circumstances, from making an entrance to using the Fourth Wall.

Part Three, "The Play and the Role," covers how to approach the play and identify with the character the actor will undertake. It also shares practical thoughts and answers the questions young actors ask most.

Uta Hagen′s influence endures in many of today′s most compelling stage and screen performances. Informative and inspiring, Respect for Acting will bring her timeless techniques to actors and audiences for years to come.

From the Back Cover
Respect for Acting

"This fascinating and detailed book about acting is Miss Hagen′s credo, the accumulated wisdom of her years spent in intimate communion with her art. It is at once the voicing of her exacting standards for herself and those she [taught], and an explanation of the means to the end."
—Publishers Weekly

"Hagen adds to the large corpus of titles on acting with vivid dicta drawn from experience, skill, and a sense of personal and professional worth. Her principal asset in this treatment is her truly significant imagination. Her ′object exercises′ display a wealth of detail with which to stimulate the student preparing a scene for presentation."
—Library Journal

"Uta Hagen′s Respect for Acting . . . is a relatively small book. But within it, Miss Hagen tells the young actor about as much as can be conveyed in print of his craft."
—Los Angeles Times

"There are almost no American actors uninfluenced by Uta Hagen."
—Fritz Weaver

"This is a textbook for aspiring actors, but working thespians can profit much by it. Anyone with just a casual interest in the theater should also enjoy its behind–the–scenes flavor."
—King Features Syndicate

About the Author
Uta Hagen was the recipient of innumerable honors and awards during her long career, including the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2003. She died in 2004 at the age of 84.

HASKEL FRANKEL was the drama critic of the National Observer.

Customer Reviews

An eye-opening experience for any actor
As an actor, I have found myself unable to describe how I feel towards a scene or how/why I reacted the way I did. The choices I made sometimes were not the best. Uta Hagen's book has been the understanding I needed along with the edge I desired. Thank You Uta Hagen

a beautifully written guide to acting
This book has been with me for 20 years now ever since I first came across it during my student days at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. I have used it then as it should be used, as a way to put the roots into your charector, to give him or her life and then to forget it. The mere act of going through the guidelines that this marvellous actress teaches us is enough. The rest of course is just acting and should remain mysterious! A brilliant bible for the actor!

Mrs. Hagen has summed up all actor's needs in a handbook.
By reading Mrs. Hagen's theories on acting skills and techniques, I felt, as an actress myself, the strenghth, courage and proudness of having encountered such usefull and helpful "tips". Her generosity has inspired many young actors to fully understand the meaning of the word "respect" towards the acting profession. It was a pleasure to read and an honour to be reviewing this essential actor's "must-have" hand book. Thumbs up, and thank the Gods of the Theater for having people like Mrs. Hagen guiding us actors not to sucumb to mediocre acting. Many actors in Brazil have read and applauded Mrs. Hagen's books.