Acting

At Berry Camera Acting, we collect books on filmmaking that are available for local actors and filmmakers. If you live in the Vancouver area and would like to borrow a book, please reach out to info@bcacting.com

Most Important Books for Actors

There are a few books which are more important for an actor than those mentioned below. If you ask any acting teacher in Canada, most likely those books will be on the list, regardless of whether they follow specific techniques. 

Books by casting directors

The Audition Bible is possibly the most up-to-date book about auditioning post-pandemic in the self-tape times. It's a new edition and discusses not only what the casting directors focus on when reviewing your self-tapes but also aspects like the colour of the background and how to set up your home self-tape studio. The Confessions of the Casting Director is a must-read for any aspiring actor; it's an uplifting how-to guide on the manners and behaviour expected from any young performer and their parent.

Books by Acting Coaches

Books by the best acting coaches in Hollywood, well, you can also get some of the advice, in a written form, whether the specific advice would be good for your specific case it's a different story, but here are few books on the topic:

Books about emotions

Some actors have it naturally, and some actors need to learn it. John Sudol, in his books, focuses on facial expressions and emotions, techniques that would result in more lively performances.

Books by actors for actors

Those are more fun to read. The shortest and best book ever written by an actor for other actors is by Michael Caine, Acting in Film. It's fun, it's on topic, and full of hilarious anecdotes that always result in practical advice. And the best and most important advice given by Michael Caine is: "Be prepared and be on time". Jenna Fisher is an actor known as Pam from the "Office" series. Good advice about eating cake on set is worth the price of the book, but there are more important stories, a nice read, just for fun. Peter Skagen focuses on the career and technical performance details, but his narration style is also very lightweight and great to read. Michael Laskin is focusing on your authenticity again in a very lightweight fashion. 

Short books with big impact

First, the history of acting - "The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods" - you will find that some acting teachers have their favourite methods, others have their favourite methods, but you need to find your own favourite method that makes you who you are. This small book goes through the history of acting and is a fun read, especially if you wish to sound more "educated" and to be on the same page as others when they're talking about it. You will find that many ideas have similar roots. The next book is by Jordan Goldman, who is an editor,  but focuses on the practical aspects of acting - continuity, sound, framing, etc. If you want to get your time on the screen and don't risk getting cut - those are things that once you're aware of will make most of the usable material - it would make life easier for the director, editor, everyone on the set and most importantly, you - the actor. Finally, the small book "The Actor in You" - this book is a very short introduction to the art of acting that explains many of the topics acting teachers talk about in class, like subtext, superobjective and so on. 

Books about young actors

Not much up-to-date post-pandemic, but still an informative read for parents and young actors, especially those who have plans going south. 

Books with practice scenes

If you need to prepare a monologue for a theatre audition. Those might be useful. Not much to recommend here, read at your own risk. 

Books about acting for film

Books discussing specific technical aspects of acting for the camera, in case you're an actor moving from a theatrical background. 

Books about Stanislavski Method

Constantin Stanislavski is widely considered as the father of the modern American Acting Style. The pioneer of the natural acting methods, together with Lee Strasberg and Sanford Meisner, they're the most important acting teachers in the American Cinema

Other books about acting