Respect for Acting (eBook)

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.

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

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