A Challenge for the Actor

Book excerpt: "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 "I was extraordinarily privileged to work with Uta Hagen in Circle in the Square’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s play, You Never Can Tell. She was committed to revealing the truth and we are the beneficiaries of her brilliant observations." - Victor Garber "CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR, written by one of the most important actors of the 20th Century, is a remarkable source of practical principles on how to be a human being in your work and to not just “act." Uta's purpose for this book is to clarify and update the articulation of her technique as stated in RESPECT FOR ACTING. In "Chapter 8" of this book particularly, she provides a self-empowering approach to acting that is an invaluable resource for achieving the art of acting for stage, film, and television at its highest level." - Ted Brunetti "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 "Uta Hagen’s A CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR 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 “'Cynicism leads to mental illness and insanity.' Words of warning Uta Hagen spoke often to her students. Here in lies the difference between Ms. Hagen’s classic RESPECT FOR ACTING and its companion A CHALLENGE FOR THE ACTOR. She meets head on the soul killing demon that threatens the art and craft of all actors, cynicism. The challenge is to remain curious, caring, innocent, disciplined, educated, and life-loving amid dark times. To have the courage to fight the forces of apathy and disbelief in order to serve with all one’s heart the profession that one loves.” - Victor Slezak Uta Hagen, one of the world's most renowned stage actresses, also taught acting for more than 40 years at the HB Studio in New York. Her first book, Respect for Acting, published in 1973, remains a best seller in print. In this edition of her second classic book, A Challenge for the Actor, she greatly expands her thinking about acting in a work that brings the full flowering of her artistry, both as an actor and as a teacher. She raises the issue of the actor's goals and examines the specifics of the actor's techniques. She goes on to consider the actor's relationship to the physical and psychological senses. There is a brilliantly conceived section on the animation of the body and mind, of listening and talking, and the concept of expectation. But perhaps the most useful are the exercises that Uta Hagen has created and elaborated to help the actor learn his craft. The exercises deal with developing the actor's physical destination in a role; making changes in the self serviceable in the creation of a character; recreating physical sensations; bringing the outdoors on stage; finding occupation while waiting; talking to oneself and the audience; and employing historical imagination. The scope and range of Uta Hagen here is extraordinary. Her years of acting and teaching have made her as finely seasoned an artist as the theatre has produced.