The Art of Acting Hardcover – November 1, 2000

This is going to the top of the "books my kids must read" when they are going off to college or leaving home. This book is a supposedly a series of Stella Adler's lectures about acting, but it is also very inspirational as a series of lectures about how to live.Addler says that "The whole thing about acting is to give. The actor must above everything be generous. He doesn't hoard his riches...But before you can be giving and magnanimous, you must have something to give. Ideas don't come from your legs. They don't come from your voice. They come from your mind. The theatre is built on developing your mind. It's an education for your mind."She works on critical seeing, self-awareness, discipline, self-control - skills that are important to everyone, not just actors. She discusses the importance of developing your imagination, "Eventually your imaginative reach will extend to other things, until you can say, I know how it feels to be in mourning, how it feels to be isolated, what it means to be abandoned, what it's like to be engaged or to be married." She means this in the context of acting on stage, but for the non-actor, it translates into becoming truly empathetic, to being able to truly understand and communicate with others.Every page is full of memorable comments:"You must be aware that even a subject of profound importance can be trivialized and degraded if you haven't the energy and interest to match it.""Sometimes, when a husband and a wife go on a trip together, he might say, "My God! Do you know what that is? Why that's Notre Dame!" and she replies, "Yes I know. I can see it." They are seeing in Notre Dame something entirely different. As actors you must make everything you see come alive.""You will fail. That's great. Here's a secret for you - that's the only way you can learn. Learning has to cost you something."And on and on and on! She must have been such a strong, amazing woman, so completely different from anyone in my own solidly suburban middle class life. It is profoundly uplifting to hear her voice through the pages of this book. I highly, highly recommend this book.

I'm currently reading the book at my leisure. However, thus far, I'm very intrigued by the amazingly profound life insights and truths that are rendered. The "method" approach to acting is a lifelong development pathway that can be applied to the craft of acting but can also be a useful tool to incorporate (whenever necessary) in one's life to the best of their ability. I like and wholeheartedly appreciate the experience, candidness, humility, confidence, seriousness, wittiness, and marvelous talent/abilities of the instructor, Stella Adler. This book is a must-read, and in my opinion, would be a remarkable (as well as iconic) addition to anyone's personal and/or public library.

Greatest Book on acting I've read to date. I read all the other acting theory books by Uta Hagen, Stanislavski, Checkhov, and Meisner back when I was training but never got around to Stella's until I heard Gary Oldman mention it in an interview with Backstage, and I'm glad I took the time to seek it out. I used Stella's book to prep my entire role for the last feature film I starred in, and definitely learned a lot more tricks to throw in the ol' acting bag, and by tricks I really mean technique. Good prep and technique -- many of which I learned in this book -- gives you the confidence and allows you to be free once you get to set. I'd highly recommend. I'll likely be referring to this book while prepping roles for the rest of my life.

Well-organized collection that reflects her teaching style and methods. This is not a book by Ms. Adler, but is a compendium of notes/quotations from her actual classroom instruction. I never really studied acting or theater before, but I know I need to do so if I want to move into voice acting. I knew Stella Adler’s name, so this book caught my attention. Within the first four pages her approach instantly resonated with me. It’s not perfect, and of course it’s not like actually being in an acting class, but there are tons of useful insights and practical activities to take away. It also does a great job of setting forth the roots of her acting philosophy. As a complete newcomer to the study of acting, I found this book both informative and accessible. Highly recommended!

The Art of Acting is a great book on the subject of acting written by one of the premier acting teachers of the 20th century. Adler's book is inspirational, powerful, and profound. She explains, in great detail, various actions the actor may be called upon to perform on stage and leads her students through various exercises meant to connect the actor with the imagination and train themselves to realistically behave within the context of their character's background, costume, environment, social status, and culture. The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is that I feel it is not as use-able as some other acting books. Adler sometimes goes on (and on and on) describing the nature of some kind of action ("to reminiscence") or something and...what am I supposed to DO with that? It feels a lot like her interpretation (read opinion) of the nature of those things and how they should be played. Again, it just seemed to wax philosophical more than useful from time to time. There was also the advice "the actress does not sneeze on stage" to which I wanted to shout "COME ON Stella!"...my point is, again, if you want something really practical you should take a class while reading the book so it's easier to see how to use this information, and/or pick a different book. With all that said, she makes a lot of good points and is very powerful. The dignity she brings to acting is extraordinary and her emphasis on imagination is fascinating. I recommend this book to actors, directors, and anyone interested in theatre and acting. It's a beautiful book, and I intend to re-read it eventually. Hopefully I'll find more utility in a second reading.