On Acting ... and Life: A New Look at an Old Craft

by William B Davis

Overview

Dozens of books on acting exist, but none of them are quite like this. On Acting and Life provides both insightful acting advice and the memoir of an acclaimed actor of both stage and screen. Modelled after Stephen King's bestseller, On Writing, the book is divided into two parts.

Part one takes readers on a seventy-year journey that begins with William B. Davis, at age twelve, riding his bicycle through the streets of Toronto to his first acting classes, and eventually leads to him starring in the long-running television series, The X-Files. From a summer theatre in Ontario to the National Theatre of Great Britain to the National Theatre School of Canada to the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in Vancouver, few have achieved such a colourful journey. Along the way, Davis met all sorts of familiar faces, including Donald Sutherland, Brian Cox, Albert Finney, Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, David Duchovny, and Gillian Anderson, among others.

Although there is a lot about acting in part one, the heart of the book for an aspiring or working actor is in part two. What has Davis learned in seventy years of working both in the theatre and in film and television? A lot, as you will see. Davis' grasp of the art of acting is vast and practical. And in some ways, original.

In his final chapter, Davis explores the underlying philosophy of acting and actor training and argues for bringing the work in to the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781039124264
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	04/22/2022
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	580,641
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

After decades of working as a theatre director and actor in Canada, the UK, and the US, William B. Davis rose to prominence as the Cigarette Smoking Man on TV's The X-Files. Besides appearing in numerous other TV shows and movies, most recently, Upload and Midnight Club, Davis also founded his own acting school, the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study.

Davis has written one other book, a memoir entitled Where There's Smoke... The Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man. He lives in Vancouver, B.C., with his wife, Emmanuelle Davis.

Editorial Reviews

2022-01-24
Davis’ second memoir focuses less on the actor’s time on The X-Files and more on the theory and practice that make good actors great.

This charismatic follow-up to Where There’s Smoke…The Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man (2011) is half personal recollections and half acting handbook, though acting theory weaves through the former and memory colors the latter to great effect. Davis starred in radio programs as a child and later studied at LAMDA theater school in London; his signature role came years later, when he appeared as a shady villain on The X-Files, but he’s had a long and busy career in TV and films. He writes with directorial verve and delivers his wisdom with the confidence of a seasoned professional who’s had a lifetime to figure out what works and what falls flat. In the section “Tricks, Traps, and Techniques,” he asserts that “an actor must be selfish. You must do it to please yourself.” One imagines that, with this book, he’s following his own advice, yet there’s no navel-gazing here; he writes with his audience in mind, never dwelling too much on the past or falling prey to nostalgia or sentimentalism, although he does allow himself occasional moments of well-earned “back in my day” derision. From tips on learning lines and what to do with one’s hands on stage (“find a truthful activity”) to how to engage with directors, Davis combines lessons he’s learned during a 60-year career with advice from teachers and colleagues who influenced him. Curious readers with a casual interest in theater will find this to be a charming, unpretentious, and pithy work from a cleareyed practitioner. Students of acting will find it an entertaining and useful reference that focuses on the concrete over the abstract and the practical over the rhapsodic to create convincing performances. Davis, it turns out, has the chops to be successful onscreen, in the director’s chair, and on the page.

An entertaining, down-to-earth remembrance and a fine guide for actors seeking to master their craft.

Kirkus Reviews