--- title: Acting description: Acting Basics covers the fundamental techniques of dramatic performance. You will understand how to analyze scripts, develop characters, use physical and vocal expression, and react authentically to partners on stage or in front of a camera. category: music-audio subcategory: theater-and-acting difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/acting-basics --- # Acting Acting Basics covers the fundamental techniques of dramatic performance. You will understand how to analyze scripts, develop characters, use physical and vocal expression, and react authentically to partners on stage or in front of a camera. ## Available Resources 2 Books • 2 Courses • 2 Websites ## Courses ### 1. Helen Mirren Teaches Acting **Author:** Helen Mirren A MasterClass video course in which Helen Mirren explains her approach to acting for stage and screen, covering script analysis, researching a role, voice, physicality, auditions, and the differences between theatre and film acting. Learners gain practical habits for preparing and sustaining a performance. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.masterclass.com/classes/helen-mirren-teaches-acting **Tags:** acting, script-analysis, screen-acting, stage-acting, voice-and-movement ### 2. Fundamentals of Acting Learn acting fundamentals from Samuel L. Jackson! Master acting basics and elevate your performance in this online course. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.masterclass.com/classes/samuel-l-jackson-teaches-acting **Tags:** acting, screen acting, character work, auditioning, masterclass ## Websites ### 1. r/acting Wiki Reddit's r/acting community maintains this index of answers to recurring beginner questions, covering training routes, headshots, agents, unions and scams, plus a recommended reading list. Readers finish knowing how the profession is entered and which pitfalls to avoid. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.reddit.com/r/acting/wiki/index **Tags:** acting, acting career, actor training, beginner guide, reddit ### 2. stagemilk.com StageMilk is an acting resource hub offering tutorials, tips, and articles on technique, audition preparation, monologues, and scene work. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://stagemilk.com **Tags:** websites, arts-design, creative-arts ## Podcasts ### 1. The Actor’s Mind **Author:** Hosted by Kateri McRae and Anne Penner The Actor’s Mind is a new podcast hosted by Kateri McRae and Anne Penner that explores acting from a psychological perspective. We describe and discuss popular acting tools that are commonly used in actor training, rehearsals, and performances. Then we identify the parallel psychological processes that are likely in play when actors use these techniques. We discuss the success of these techniques from our own experience, as well as why they work given the evidence from psychology and neuroscience. Our guests are experts from the theater and science worlds: actors, directors, teachers, and psychological scientists, who add their expertise an... **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://theactorsmind.com/ **Tags:** acting, actor training, psychology, neuroscience, podcast ### 2. The Working Actor **Author:** Nathan Agin In The Working Actor's Journey, hear from amazing teachers, role models, and mentors about their lifelong careers. Learn from those who have been acting professionally for decades—to see exactly how they approach the work, what decisions and resources have made the biggest impacts on their artistic lives, and to hear their struggles and successes in the business. How do great actors work? What do they actually do? Let's find out. These conversations are a virtual toolbox for actors, full of techniques, advice, and lessons learned. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://workingactorsjourney.com **Tags:** acting, acting career, interviews, professional actors, podcast ## Books ### 1. An Actor Prepares **Author:** Constantin Stanislavski Stanislavski's foundational text on his system, narrated as a fictional student's diary through classes in relaxation, concentration, imagination, emotion memory and given circumstances. Readers come away understanding the internal preparation that underpins most modern Western actor training. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0413461904?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, creative-arts ### 2. The Actor’s Life **Author:** Jenna Fischer Jenna Fischer's practical account of the nine years she spent auditioning before The Office, covering headshots, agents, day jobs, rejection and union rules. Readers get a realistic picture of how a screen-acting career actually begins. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944648224?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, arts-design, creative-arts --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/acting-basics