Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Moviemaking (The Applause Acting Series)

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I bought it for my 15 year old and expected him to say it it was dated - and, sure, it is - but the little tips and tricks that Caine delivers to his young student actors (including a young and posh Celia Imrie) are exquisite. In this book actor Michael Caine describes being a leading actor in films, he says that his job is the carry the entire film and give life to the filmmaker’s vision. I would say that is an astute observation for some films; dramas, adventures, thrillers, and comedy can be a form of escapism.

Sir Michael Caine, CBE was born Maurice Joseph Micklewaite near Elephant and Castle in South London. Caine describes the vast differences between theatre acting and film acting, and the importance of the close-up camera.He is a major Hollywood film star and two-time Academy Award winner with a career spanning over sixty years.

It's a slim volume so expensive for what it is, but if you're looking for help you'll find some nuggets of wisdom. So many things kept in the dark brought to light I never thought about in film acting and Caine’s stories, analogies, etc.Caine talks about being given the part for Zulu stating that the director's wanted a posh actor, someone that spoke very upper class for the role. I burst with excitement when I got the role and was sweaty and nervous; convinced I was going to blow it - and this book helped me through it. This book also shows you how acting worked in the 1960's,1970's and beyond, the differences in the way that staff behind the scenes worked, even gender differences and technical advances which changed the way actors worked in the film world.

It's a very handy practical guide to day-to-day-life for anyone in the film industry, and Michael Caine narrates us beautifully through his own experiences in the industry.

It’s a strange situation, but in film a person is a person, not an actor; and yet you need an actor to play the person. I bought this book a few years ago when I was cast in my first film role, to prepare me for working on set, to understand how movie making works and what my role would be, what working with other actors and film crew would be like. He discusses how as an actor you have to steal personality traits and behaviours from other people around you, or even characters from films you have seen, to create a more three-dimensional construction of the character you are playing.

I also have to add that one of the main treats i took from reading this short gem was how Caine, as big a movie actor as he is, imparts his knowledge with such warmth. Caine uses humor and personal experiences from the start to the height of his career to impart knowledge about the do’s and dont’s of the acting business.The advice given had even more resonance as it was written by his all-time favourite, Michael Caine. He also discusses the fact that people pigeon holed him as a 'cockney working class actor' and the problems this caused in his career.