This authoritative and ground-breaking text teaches the serious student of acting a proven, comprehensive and effective approach to the craft and to character development. Through revealing, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and practical exercises, the veteran character actor guides readers through his unique, direct approach to recognizing and understanding human behavior, leading actors to discover and demonstrate the specific, individual humanity in every character. The broad scope of Hoffman's experiences has given him a special perspective that simplifies, demystifies and illustrates, in specific and easily understandable terms, the acting experience, not in theory, but as it is practiced at the highest levels of the industry. Includes: 100 specific questions and answers from Hoffman's acting classes * Fifteen production photographs of Hoffman's work in scenes from select films and plays.