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: 246
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 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
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A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.
Helbig and Norman present a game plan for making leadership more responsively human.
In this expanded update to The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human (2023), the authors provide “practical strategies for responding to resistance, sparking change, embodying the change we want to see, and moving forward deliberately,” specifically in a business setting. They suggest ways to encourage what they call “changemakers” through the use of five key “plays” from their playbook: Communicate Courageously, Master the Art of Listening, Manage Your Reactions (“shift from automatic reaction to conscious response to stay better connected to yourself and others”), Embrace Risk and Failure, and Design Inclusive Rituals. The goal is to ensure that organizational cultures promote psychological safety, guided by leaders who “walk the talk” by emphasizing their own humanity at every turn. (“We must be the first to share our own failures with our teams, which will start to make it possible for others to do the same.”) This call for example-setting is sounded throughout the book as Helbig and Norman urge their target audience (leaders and would-be leaders) to go beyond mere instruction and instead embody the qualities they want to see in their subordinates, such as continuous learning, active curiosity, and self-reflection. Each chapter includes a detailed “Recommended Reading” section and text with extensive numbered and bulleted points formatted to make the core concepts more immediately digestible. The authors effectively employ clear and empathetic prose to assure readers that psychological safety is slow to build and quick to break, observing that such safety requires steady attention and delivers outsize payoffs as a result. They refreshingly ground a great deal of the material in psychology and neuroscience, pointing out, for instance, that research has demonstrated that the parasympathetic nervous system responds to honest appreciation, which improves creative thinking. Some wistful readers might consider some of the authors’ suggestions beyond the reach of their own organizations, as when group facilitators are advised to “gently intervene when someone dominates the conversation,” but hope springs eternal.
A passionate and accessible guide to humanizing the workplace.Pub Date: May 19, 2026
ISBN: 9798993550503
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Crazy Idea Press
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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