Acting is a tool for freedom of expression and choice, a mirror of possibility for humankind. Acting is a powerful medium for reflecting authenticity in the human experience.
Hollywood Actors Studio is dedicated to providing excellent and distinct training and to promoting the actor as artist in the community.
The Studio is a safe, fun and supportive environment for artistic discoveries and personal growth. We train people in revealing their true talents and realizing their potential.
Our purpose is to offer top-notch acting, self-expression and public speaking training programs to enhance communication and liberate the individual’s creativity and expression.
We deliver clear distinctions via tools and techniques, which bring lasting advancements in artistic expression, growth and development, personal effectiveness and passionate communication.
In this book, you will find distinctions in the craft of acting which aim at giving acting a context as an art form that can be learned and practiced, not a vague talent that some people are born with and others not.
This manual is designed to facilitate your understanding, study and pursuit of acting as a craft.
You will also find in it definitions and insights about the basic language and terminology of the craft as well as clarifications on fundamental concepts and ideas.
By developing a clear understanding of the craft, and by creating a healthy context for the study of acting, it is much easier to develop and become skilled and competent. It also helps develop respect for acting as a craft and an art form—something that can touch, affect and communicate with people.
The worst enemies of actors are not the job market, Hollywood, corrupt and incompetent agents or producers. Competition is not the fundamental problem either. Breaking into the various fields of acting is extremely difficult but I don’t believe anyone truly thinks that acting is easy.
Lack of skill and competence and the willingness to become competent and effective as an actor is what stops the majority of would-be actors. Lack of tenacity and endurance are also major factors.
Other traps and limitations that can affect the pursuit of acting negatively are:
• Self-defeating thoughts
• Tension, struggle and lack of flexibility
• Self-consciousness or chronic timidity
• Lack of stage manners or body control
• Improper use of imagination
• Low level of skills: too few tools and techniques to draw from
• Inadequate communication skills
• Lack of professionalism, concentration and/or focus
• No passion, desire or will power
• Unresolved personal issues
• Destructive habits and un-released negativity
The Eric Stone Studio approach to teaching the craft of acting is highly creative and rooted in time-tested and rigorous principles. The strength of this method is that it is entirely focused on training the individual as opposed to delivering a general "system." The result of this process is that it succeeds in developing strong, independent and free-spirited artists. By aiming straight at the individual, it becomes easier to understand the actor's specific needs. The training is rich in tools, insights and techniques that make sense rather than concepts and theories that remain intellectual. In this system, the theories and concepts are an integral part of the tools and techniques. It produces immediate results and makes acting tangible and real. Talent is viewed as the quality of the choices an actor makes and technique becomes the means to allow talent to be expressed with conviction and resolve. A long-time professional stage, television and voice-over actor and director, Eric Stone is the founder of the Hollywood Actors Studio in Beverly Hills, CA. He has contributed to the growth and development of many actors and performers since 1989, including some well-known stars in the U.S. and abroad. Drawing inspiration from great masters such as Herbert Berghof, Uta Hagen, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Sandy Meisner, William Hickey, and Bob McAndrew from the Wynn Handman Studio in New York, with whom he worked for many years, Eric Stone also studied under Judith Unland in New York, who is one of the few teachers alive today who worked personally with the great Michael Chekhov from Russia, who was considered one of Stanislavski’s brightest students. Marilyn Monroe, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Quinn, Ingrid Bergman, and Jack Nicholson were some of the many wonderful actors who were greatly influenced by this extraordinary master. A published author and passionate about art, Eric Stone, also known as the artist Philippe Benichou, is an internationally acclaimed award-winning visual artist represented in seven countries and displayed in many private collections worldwide. Some of his recent credits as an actor and director include Igor Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale for the Pittsburg Opera with musicians from the London, Chicago and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras. “Acting is a tool for freedom of expression and choice, a mirror of possibility for reflecting authenticity in the human experience.” - Eric Stone
