Acting Face to Face: The Actor's Guide to Understanding how Your Face Communicates Emotion for TV and Film (Language of the Face)

This is the first edition of Acting Face to Face: The Actor’s Guide to Understanding How Your Face Communicates Emotion for TV and Film. A Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition of this book is now available. There should be a link somewhere on the page.

The first edition was powerful, and some said groundbreaking and I wanted to make sure I kept all of what made it such a success. It’s all still there:

• The science behind why only a small percentage of on-camera actors get the majority of the work, what those actors do differently than the rest, and what you can do to level the playing field.
• Why acting is an art of deception and why deception is the key to truthful acting.
• Why your facial messages may not be expressed the way you intend and how it may be costing you more than the job.

What’s been added in the 2nd Edition?

• Updated “Myths and Misconceptions” chapter.
• What we've learned from mask-wearing and what it means to the on-camera actor.
• Deeper dive into EYE COMMUNICATION - what the eyes can and can’t say.
• 35 new photos to illustrate specificity and subtlety of emotional expression.

But the biggest change has been the addition of 3 brand NEW chapters that include a mini version of my proprietary Emotion Screen Test (EST). There are over 75 pages of new material.

If you don’t already know, the EST is a guided, in-depth self-evaluation of your own facial expressions. It will help you evaluate your emotion creating and revealing strengths and weaknesses. And having that understanding can make you more self-aware, more confident, and ultimately- a better actor.

After working with thousands of actors and studying the work of leading researchers in the field of emotions for over 10 years, John Sudol – a veteran actor, director, casting director, Hollywood acting teacher and audition coach – has developed this book series, which stands to change the face of acting. Though developed specifically for actors, this book is also helpful to anyone in the communications business who would benefit from knowing how their face nonverbally speaks to others.

* The second book of the Language of the Face series, Acting Face to Face 2, How to Create Genuine Emotion for the Camera is now available. Whereas the first Acting Face to Face defined the challenges of On-Camera Acting, Acting Face to Face 2, reveals a step-by-step process to overcome those challenges.