The first collection of its kind to bring together scholarly and practitioner perspectives, this book analyses the experiences, skills and techniques of actors when working on television. Featuring eleven chapters by internationally distinguished researchers and actor trainers, this collection examines the acting processes and resulting performances of some of the most acclaimed television actors.
Topics include: studio and location realism; actor training for television; actor well-being in the television industry; performance in reality television and British and Irish actors in contemporary US television and film. The book also contains case studies examining the work of Emmy-award-winning actor Viola Davis and the iconic character of Gene Hunt in Life on Mars (BBC, 2006-2007).
Exploring Television Acting: An Introduction
Tom Cantrell and Christopher Hogg
Television Acting: Histories and Inheritances
1 Performing Sherlock: A Study in Studio and Location Realism
Richard Hewett
2 'Visible' and 'Invisible' Performance: Framing Performance in 1970s Television
Douglas McNaughton
3 'No-nonsense Rozzer': Philip Glenister/Gene Hunt, Life on Mars and the Particularity of Television Acting
Stephen Lacey
Television Acting: Approaches and Perspectives
4 'The Organic and the Technical': a Psychophysical Approach to Television Acting
Tom Cantrell
5 Viola Davis: A Context for Her Craft and Success in Series Television
Cynthia Baron
6 'I'm going in there GC style': Performance and Performative Contracts within a Crossover of Reality Television Environments
Louise Cope
7 Truth and 'Truthiness' in Acting the Real
Derek Paget
Television Acting: Training and Industry
8 Exploring Actor Training for Television
Trevor Rawlins
9 Accent on Talent: The Valorization of British Actors on American Quality Television
Christine Becker
10 Exploring the Casting of British and Irish Actors in Contemporary US Television and Film
Simone Knox
11 Well-being and the Television Actor: Challenges and Coping Strategies
Christopher Hogg and Charlotte Lucy Smith
