The Actor's Guide to Creating a Character
William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique
$35.40
- Paperback
304 pages
- Release Date
15 April 2014
Summary
Celebrated acting teacher Bill Esper’s step-by-step approach to the central problem in acting: learning to play a character.
William Esper, one of the most celebrated acting teachers of our time, takes us through his step-by-step approach to the central challenge of advanced acting work: creating and playing a character. Esper’s first book, The Actor’s Art and Craft, earned praise for describing the basics taught in his famous first-year acting class. The Actor’s Guide to…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780345805683 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0345805682 |
| Author: | William Esper, Patricia Heaton, David Mamet, Damon Dimarco |
| Publisher: | Random House USA Inc |
| Imprint: | Anchor Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 304 |
| Release Date: | 15 April 2014 |
| Weight: | 249g |
| Dimensions: | 17mm x 131mm x 202mm |
Critics Review
“Bill Esper’s training gave me many precious gifts… . He is a master teacher
“Bill Esper’s training gave me many precious gifts… . He is a master teacher and I use what I learned with him every single time I work. I will be forever grateful.” —Christine Lahti, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, Academy Award-winning director
“Simple, straightforward, inspiring and invaluable… . This book reminds me of how incredibly fortunate I was to have been taught by Bill Esper.” —Timothy Olyphant, Emmy and SAG Award winner
“Reading this book brought me back to Bill’s classroom. His vast experience and joy of the craft resonate on every page. Studying with Bill was an amazing time of discovery.” —Gretchen Mol, Boardwalk Empire
“My time studying with Bill Esper left me feeling like a completely trained actor and a more honest, grounded person. Training and studying with him has informed all the stand-up, acting and writing I do. I am forever grateful.” —Amy Schumer, Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer
“Anyone serious about acting ought to read this excellent book and then run to New York to study with Bill. He is the real deal—insightful, generous, uncompromising, and endlessly inspiring.” —Stephen Adly Guirgis, actor, playwright, artistic co-director of LAByrinth Theater Company
“I read Bill Esper’s first book with total glee because it reminded me of all the guidance he gave me not only as a beginning actor, but as a person hungry to live a full artistic life. His words not only illuminate the Meisner technique brilliantly, they also serve as a beautiful rumination of how to live a creative life. He was and is my teacher and spirit guide. Bill Esper is a national treasure and he has generously shared his wisdom and effervescent soul through these books and I am eternally grateful.” —Patricia Wettig, Thirtysomething, Prison Break, Brothers & Sisters
William Esper
William Esper was a graduate of Western Reserve University and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City. He trained as both an actor and a teacher under Sanford Meisner, with whom he worked closely for 17 years. During this time, Esper served as Associate Director of the Playhouse’s Acting Department from 1973 to 1976.
In 1965, Esper founded the William Esper Studio, and in 1977, he established the Professional Actor Training Program at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. These institutions are recognized for consistently producing actors of exceptional talent for the stage and screen. William Esper passed away in 2019 at the age of 86.
Damon DiMarco earned his M.F.A. from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, where he studied under William Esper. DiMarco is a professional actor working in stage, screen, and television, and he also teaches at Drew University. His published works include Tower Stories: an Oral History of 9⁄11, Heart of War: Soldiers’ Voices from the Front Lines of Iraq, and My Two Chinas: The Memoir of a Chinese Counterrevolutionary (with Baiqiao Tang), which includes a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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