Lemme tell ya, this book deserves 5 stars just for Uncle Miltie's graphic depiction of his steamy affair with evangelist Aimee Semple MacPherson ... not to mention a ton of other raunchy Hollywood gossip. Way to go, Milt! Let me know when you're available ...

Uta Hagen has a great writing style, and "Respect for Acting" is clear and easy-to-read. She has many wonderful ideas, and I would definitely recommend this book to aspiring actors.
However, her methods (particularily sense and emotional memory) don't work for everyone. Be sure to also read Meisner, Clurman or Adler for more ideas, and find out what methods work for you.

Uta Hagen has long been considered one of "our" best. Here she examines what makes a human being "tick" and how an actor can use this to enhance his/her performance. Too many times books on acting tend to be very bland, and uninformative. Or even worse, they tend to take an almost clinical approach to our art, making it impossible to enjoy, and almost equally impossible to learn.

Having read many books on technique, I would consider this one of the best. Unlike Stanislavski's trilogy, which to me is like reading a science textbook, it doesn't bore the reader while trying to teach him, but rather inspires the artist to a greater understanding of his art and himself as an artist. In the book, she challenges us to work to achieve a higher form of theatre, one that works collaboratively, not individually. In summation, all I can say is that, for me, she speaks to my soul.

I have had the great pleasure and privilege of seeing Uta Hagen perform in plays by Edward Albee, Donald Margulies and George Bernard Shaw. She is surely one of the finest actors of our time. I have also had the great pleasure and privilege of studying for four years with Uta in the school she helped create with her late husband, Herbert Berghof (the famous HB Studio in New York City). I can assure you that she is one of the finest teachers of our time. It is a very rare actor who can actually communicate as a fine teacher. Uta is one of those very few who do just that.

In this, her first book, she lays out a "blueprint" for actors which, as surely as a blueprint by an architect, can be followed by those actors who are novices or those who have great experience. No, she cannot give you talent, but she can (and does) show you the how and why to use your talent to serve the playwright.

She believes in acting as an Art and this "how-to book" is invested with the love and respect of its title. It can be read and enjoyed and actually used by actors. It can also be read and enjoyed and relished by lovers of fine theatre who do not happen to be actors. It would make a terrific gift for any young actor along with the only books I would rate as its equal: Constantin Stanislavski's "An Actor Prepares" and his "Building A Character." It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.