Respect for Acting
Uta Hagen's passionate and practical guide to the actor's craft
Overview
Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen is a landmark acting text that presents a clear, passionate approach to the craft rooted in truth, specificity, and rigorous preparation. Hagen outlines her method through exercises and principles drawn from decades of stage work.
The book introduces Hagen's famous object exercises and her approach to substitution, where actors draw on personal experiences to create truthful behavior. Her writing is direct, opinionated, and deeply committed to the art.
How It Works
A must-read for actors who value specificity and truthfulness in their work. Hagen's exercises are still widely used in acting programs across the country and remain remarkably effective.
Available in paperback and digital formats, typically priced between $15-18. The updated edition includes additional material and remains a staple of acting school reading lists.
Who Uses It
One of the most influential acting books of the 20th century. Hagen's passion for the craft is infectious, and her practical exercises provide actors with tools they will use for a lifetime. Uta Hagen was one of the most celebrated stage actresses of her generation — her Broadway performances in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and other landmark productions established her as an actor of extraordinary power and truthfulness — and she brought that same intensity and commitment to her decades of teaching at the HB Studio in New York. The book reflects both her artistic brilliance and her demanding teaching philosophy, which insisted that actors approach their craft with the same rigor and dedication that musicians, dancers, and visual artists bring to their disciplines. For actors who want to be challenged and pushed toward greater specificity, honesty, and artistic integrity, Respect for Acting remains one of the most powerful and passionate arguments for taking the craft of acting seriously.
Pricing & Plans
Respect for Acting is available in paperback and digital formats from most major booksellers, typically priced between $15-18. The book has been updated with a 50th anniversary edition that includes additional material and a foreword by David Hyde Pierce. E-book editions are available on Kindle and other digital platforms, and audiobook versions are available through Audible. The book is a standard text in acting programs across the United States and is widely available in university bookstores, theater bookshops, and public libraries. Used copies are readily available through secondhand sellers for actors on tight budgets, though the anniversary edition with its additional content is worth the modest investment.
Pros & Cons
What's Great
Respect for Acting's greatest strength is the specificity and practicality of Hagen's exercises, which provide actors with concrete tools for achieving truthful behavior onstage. The six object exercises — which progress from simple sense memory to complex emotional and relational work — are among the most effective acting exercises ever devised and are still taught in acting programs worldwide. Hagen's concept of substitution, where actors use personal experiences and sense memories to create genuine emotional responses within the framework of a character's situation, provides a direct, practical pathway to emotional truthfulness that avoids the psychological risks of some other approaches. Her insistence on specificity — knowing exactly what you are doing, where you are, what you want, and what is in your way at every moment of a scene — creates a level of detail in performance that distinguishes excellent acting from adequate acting. The book's passionate, sometimes confrontational tone communicates Hagen's deep belief that acting is an art worthy of total dedication, inspiring readers to raise their own standards and commitment.
What Could Be Better
Hagen's writing style is opinionated and sometimes absolutist, which can feel prescriptive or intimidating to actors who prefer a more exploratory, open-ended approach to craft development. The substitution technique, while effective, has been criticized by some practitioners who argue that it can encourage actors to play their own emotional experiences rather than fully imagining the character's reality — a concern Hagen herself addressed in her later book. The exercises require a teacher or experienced practitioner to guide and evaluate, as some aspects of the work are difficult to develop effectively through self-study alone. The book's focus on theater performance means that actors working primarily in film and television may need to adapt Hagen's principles for the different demands of on-camera work. Some of Hagen's references and examples reflect the theatrical landscape of her era rather than contemporary practice, though the underlying principles remain universally applicable.
Our Recommendation
Every actor committed to developing truthful, specific, compelling performance should read Respect for Acting and work through its exercises, ideally under the guidance of a teacher trained in Hagen's approach. The book is most effective when studied as a working text rather than read passively — the exercises demand active engagement and repeated practice to yield their full benefits. Actors who have studied other approaches will find that Hagen's work complements and enriches their existing technique, as her emphasis on specificity and truthfulness is compatible with virtually every serious acting methodology. Consider reading A Challenge for the Actor after Respect for Acting to understand how Hagen's thinking evolved and refined over the subsequent decades of her teaching career.
Pro Tips
Work through Hagen's six object exercises systematically, spending significant time with each one before progressing to the next — these exercises are designed to build progressively, and rushing through them diminishes their effectiveness. Practice the substitution technique on scenes and monologues you are currently working on, identifying specific personal experiences and sense memories that connect you to the character's emotional reality and using them to create genuine, truthful behavior. Apply Hagen's demand for specificity to every moment of your performance work — when she asks what you are doing, where you are, and what you want, answer with the most specific, concrete details possible, as vagueness is the enemy of truthful acting. Re-read specific chapters of Respect for Acting when you encounter particular challenges in your work — the chapter on objects when you struggle with physical specificity, the chapter on sense memory when your emotional work feels forced — using the book as a practical reference rather than a one-time read. Let Hagen's passionate commitment to the art of acting inspire your own dedication — her demand that actors respect their craft enough to work with total seriousness and preparation is a standard that, when embraced, elevates every aspect of your professional life.