A frank and insightful guide to thinking like a successful actor.
Kimmel helps readers navigate the unspoken rules of the entertainment industry in this guide.
Every aspiring actor understands that, to succeed in Hollywood, one needs talent, tenacity, and a bit of luck. What they may not realize, however, is that there are additional expectations regarding how an actor should behave, many of which are not immediately apparent to outsiders. “Because the entertainment industry is so competitive, there are many secrets and bits of advice people will be reluctant to share with you,” writes the author in his introduction to this insider’s guide. “Many actors in Hollywood don’t know what they’re up against until it’s too late—and has already negatively impacted their careers.” Did you know, for instance, that certain agents will take on an actor with the intention of “shelving” him—sabotaging him on behalf of a similar actor whom that agent already represents? Or that there exists a “one-strike rule” that means the mere perception that you have wasted someone’s time, even accidentally, can get you blacklisted with that person forever? Or that posing for stock photos—photos taken and made available to advertisers as part of a massive library—can come back to haunt an actor when they unexpectedly resurface years later? Drawing on his decades of experience as an actor on stage and screen, Kimmel lays out often harsh realities while detailing how actors can inadvertently undermine their careers. In 50 brief chapters, each only a few pages in length, the author guides would-be actors through lessons on dealing with managers, agents, and other performers, as well as the labyrinthine workings of the entertainment industry in general. The text includes practical advice (don’t sign with a single umbrella agency for television, film, and voice-over work), psychological tips (don’t succumb to envying other actors), and counsel specific to the peculiar traditions of Hollywood (never accept the offer of coffee at a business meeting).
Kimmel dispenses wisdom with the directness and economy of a weary veteran. “There are a lot of actors out there—far too many—who simply cannot get out of their own way,” the author writes with typical candor. “They can never meet an industry person without saying or doing something completely inappropriate—and thereby obliterating that new connection.” The author has a proudly old-fashioned sensibility; he advises actors against cursing and performing nude scenes, while encouraging them to always practice good table manners (he comes out against handshaking, though; there are many germaphobes in Hollywood). Some of his advice is common sense—find a flexible part-time job to pay the bills, don’t buy a fancy car you can’t afford, prepare thoroughly for your auditions—while other suggestions are less expected (the best way to learn how to act against another person? Take a stage combat class.) While some of Kimmel’s insider stories may feel slightly dated (the text includes references to thespians such as Al Lewis of The Munsters and Jean Carol of Guiding Light), for the most part, his wisdom remains evergreen. Readers will enjoy this demystification of the acting business, and some may save themselves from unnecessary Hollywood heartache.
A frank and insightful guide to thinking like a successful actor.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781953057174
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
IN THE NEWS
Cogent, well-timed ideas for meeting today’s biggest challenges.
Helping liberals get out of their own way.
Klein, a New York Times columnist, and Thompson, an Atlantic staffer, lean to the left, but they aren’t interrogating the usual suspects. Aware that many conservatives have no interest in their opinions, the authors target their own side’s “pathologies.” Why do red states greenlight the kind of renewable energy projects that often languish in blue states? Why does liberal California have the nation’s most severe homelessness and housing affordability crises? One big reason: Liberal leadership has ensnared itself in a web of well-intentioned yet often onerous “goals, standards, and rules.” This “procedural kludge,” partially shaped by lawyers who pioneered a “democracy by lawsuit” strategy in the 1960s, threatens to stymie key breakthroughs. Consider the anti-pollution laws passed after World War II. In the decades since, homeowners’ groups in liberal locales have cited such statutes in lawsuits meant to stop new affordable housing. Today, these laws “block the clean energy projects” required to tackle climate change. Nuclear energy is “inarguably safer” than the fossil fuel variety, but because Washington doesn’t always “properly weigh risk,” it almost never builds new reactors. Meanwhile, technologies that may cure disease or slash the carbon footprint of cement production benefit from government support, but too often the grant process “rewards caution and punishes outsider thinking.” The authors call this style of governing “everything-bagel liberalism,” so named because of its many government mandates. Instead, they envision “a politics of abundance” that would remake travel, work, and health. This won’t happen without “changing the processes that make building and inventing so hard.” It’s time, then, to scrutinize everything from municipal zoning regulations to the paperwork requirements for scientists getting federal funding. The authors’ debut as a duo is very smart and eminently useful.
Cogent, well-timed ideas for meeting today’s biggest challenges.Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781668023488
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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