Your Face Looks Familiar...: How to Get Ahead as a Working Actor

By Michael Bofshever

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325007632
• ISBN13: 9780325007632
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Heinemann Drama
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 0.4" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

real stories from reel actors

I heard Michael Bofshever speak at a Screen Actors Guild event recently. He has a genuine respect for the craft of acting, and over many years of being a professional actor, has come to terms with the realities of a career in 'the biz'. The beginning of each chapter in this book is great at describing the various aspects of a working actor's career and everyday life. Then there are blurbs from actors whose faces really are 'familiar', like Marcella Lowery from 'The Cosby Show' or James Rebhorn from 'Talented Mr. Ripley'. The stories are fun and down-to-earth, and truly give you a picture of what the entire process of becoming a professional actor is like. Because you are reading verbatim accounts from each person, you get many different perspectives on the types of successful careers one can have. It can be a little confusing sometimes to go from story to story, but all in all it's really informative and a fascinating read, for anyone interested in what it's really like to be an actor!

Of value for any actor

I think this is a pretty good book for any actor, regardless of what stage his career presently occupies. It is a realistic guide to the acting profession. As a professional returning to performing after 24 years on Wall Street, I found it a good reminder of many things I had forgotten. Bofshever gives knowledgeable advice on how to break in and, more important, how to stay in the acting business. Particularly valuable to me was the chapter on what to expect and how to behave once you report for work on a television or film sound stage. The book is divided into ten chapters in which Bofshever gives his views on a particular aspect of performing professionally (auditions, agents, acting teachers, day jobs, stage acting vs. film acting, mental health, etc.). At the end of each chapter, he quotes additional comments culled from interviews with other working actors about their experience. The 60 actors interviewed are all of different physical types, ethnicity and ages. Each of them has something worthwhile to say. The hardest part of the profession is the constant rejection and the long periods of unemployment. These actors have all been through it and their experience and advice is worth reading about. The life of an actor is a difficult one. Only the strong can take it. Bofshever's book can perhaps make it a little less painful. Four stars.