Introduction xi

1. How Do You Present Yourself? 1
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 2
   Your Goal 18
   Victim 21
   Inauthenticity 26
   Isolation 30
   General Interview Exercise #1 33
2. Losing the Victim 34
   Who’s Interviewing Whom? Part One 35
   Who’s Interviewing Whom? Part Two 38
   Tell a Truth 42
   General Interview Exercise #2 42
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 44
   The Truth-Versus-Compliments-or-Questions Exercise 63
3. Building an Experience 66
   “Avoid I” Exercise 66
   Yes! And . . . 70
   Basic Reflection 72
   Reflection Listening
   General Interview Exercise #3 80
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 82
   Career Applications 95
4. Heightening the Experience 99
   Rules and Tools 99
   40-Breath Process 101
   Extend, Intensify, and Enlarge 103
   General Interview Exercise #4 106
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 107
   A Successful Experience 128
5. Tracking and Changing Behavior 134
   Tracking Behavior 134
   Keeping Your Score 136
   Attitudes 142
   Attitude Lines 146
   Attitude Line—“I Am” 157
   General Interview Exercise #5 159
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 160
   Fine-Tuning 175
6. Creating Your Program 182 
   Gaining Finesse with Score 182
   Your Journal and Your Program 194
7. Boundaries 198 
   Extension Bumps 199
   Boundary Walls 202
8. The Witness 205
   Introductory Witness Walk 205
   The Schmoozing Witness 212
   General Interview Exercise #6 217
   Workshop Actors’ Interviews 218
   The Waiting-Room Witness 238
   The “I Am” Witness 241
9. It’s Your Career 242
   Three-Phone-Calls-a-Day Exercise 242
   Photo Sessions 244
   The Professional Actor Is a Business Person 245
   The Casting Director/Agent As a Victim or an Intimidator 247
   Finesse for Success! 249
   Conclusion 261
   Notes 262
   Acknowledgements 265