The Great Guskin (John Lahr, The New Yorker) shares the approach he
uses to help actors land roles, develop them, and keep them alive
Harold Guskin is an acting doctor whose clients include Kevin Kline,
Glenn Close, James Gandolfini, Bridget Fonda, and dozens more. In How
to Stop Acting, Guskin reveals the insights and techniques that have
worked wonders for beginners as well as stars. Instead of yet another
method, Guskin offers a strategy based on a radically simple and
refreshing idea: that the actor's work is not to create a character but
rather to be continually, personally responsive to the text, wherever
his impulse takes him, from first read-through to final performance.
From this credo derives an entirely new perspective on auditioning and
the challenge of developing a role and keeping it fresh, even over
hundreds of performances. Drawing on examples from his clients' work and
his own, Guskin presents acting as a constantly evolving exploration
rather than as a progression toward a fixed goal. He also offers sound
and original advice on adapting to the particular demands of television
and film, playing difficult emotional scenes, tackling the Shakespearean
and other great roles, and more. His book will find an eager and
appreciative audience among novices and established actors alike.
