Combining artistic enquiry with practical career considerations, this work looks at how modern actors work. A collection of 15 interviews with actors, coaches, directors and producers, explores the difficulties and rewards of being an actor, with ideas on technique, training and careers.

Taking as its basis 15 interviews with actors, coaches, directors, and producers, this work explores the difficulties and rewards of being an actor today. Those interviewed address the artistic challenges and practical difficulties of a career in acting, and present an open interchange of ideas about acting technique, training, and careers. The conversations provide varying viewpoints, allowing the reader to make his or her own comparisons and conclusions. The American theatre and film of the late-eighties to mid-nineties are also chronicled; a time of expansion and changing opportunity within the industry. The interviewees are; Stella Adler; Harold Baldridge; Tanya Berezin; Andre Bishop; Robert Brustein; Ellen Burstyn; Robert Falls; Marilyn Fried; Spalding Gray; Henry House; Scott MacCauley, Austin Pendleton; Neil Pepe; Juliet Taylor; and Nela Wagman.