The Rules of Acting

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<p><b>Luvvies. Tyrannical directors. Useless agents. Less job security than an England football manager. Whod be an actor?</b></p><p>Michael Simkins isnt sure, even though hes been one himself for over thirty years. Join him backstage as he examines that business called showbusiness, from am dram to Hollywood, and from Shakespeare to ads for flatulence pills.</p><p>In a career that started as a plump teenager in ballet tights at RADA, Michael has appeared in countless West End plays and musicals, presented safety training workshops for sewage workers, and when resting, worked as a crate smasher at a car factory. Hes done movies, soaps, ads, and voice-overs, and worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Kelly Osbourne. As the ultimate jobbing actor hes flirted with triumph and oblivion without ever quite managing either.</p><p>In<i>The Rules of Acting</i>he shares his hard-won wisdom. Covering everything from learning your lines to tilting for Oscar success in Hollywood, surviving a flop, to why its advisable to read the whole script if you wish to avoid improper relations with a pig, its the ultimate survival guide for anyone contemplating a life in showbiz.</p><p>'Throw out<i>An Actor Prepares</i>! Michael Simkins' book tells actors all they need to know about the realities of the acting profession; the passion, the struggle, the noble idealism and the heartache.' HELEN MIRREN</p><p>'It is thrilling that Micahel Simkins is having such success as a writer - anything to keep him off the stage' IAN MCKELLEN</p>

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Michael Simkins trained at RADA and has since appeared in more than 100 plays and musicals, from the National Theatre and the RSC to the fringe and the West End, as well as in the musicals<i>Chicago</i>and<i>Mamma Mia</i>. Hes made countless TV appearances, usually as policemen or unsuspecting husbands as well as turns on the silver screen in such films as Mike Leigh's<i>Topsy-Turvy</i>and<i>The Iron Lady.</i>His first book, his memoir of breaking into the acting profession, has become required reading for drama students everywhere. He is also the author of<i>Fatty Batter</i>,<i>Detour de France</i>and<i>The Last Flannelled Fool.</i>He lives with his actress wife, Julia Deakin, in London.

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