Book review: THE OUTSTANDING ACTOR - SEVEN KEYS TO SUCCESS, Ken Rea

The Outstanding Actor: Seven Keys to Success is the second edition of the book written by Ken Rea. Since the first edition was released five years ago, a lot has changed within the industry, including the #MeToo Movement, Black Lives Matter, and the huge part that social media has played, plus the impact on working conditions and careers. This prompted Rea to release an updated version of the book, including more interviews from stars of stage and screen, as well as brand-new video resources that bring the exercises Rea describes to life.

Ken Rea has been teaching for 40years, and is a theatre director, acting teacher, writer, and one of Europe’s leading presentation skills trainers. He is also currently Professor of Theatre at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. Over his years of teaching, Rea has identified the seven key qualities that all the most successful actors have, and he has written this book to help other aspiring actors on their journeys to finding success. 

The book is extremely well-written and clear to follow, but is also an engaging and interesting read.

Rea has broken down his formula for success into seven sections and within each section, he breaks it down even further, including guidance, clear explanations, and exercises to follow or try. Writing the book in this way makes it super easy and clear for everyone to follow. It also means that you can quickly dip in and out of the book to reread certain sections, depending on what you need to focus on.

The book is one of the few that also recognises that actors need to focus on more than just acting exercises and techniques to become an outstanding actor, so it contains advice on life, career, and goal setting, making it a well-rounded volume that gives us the full formula to acting and success. 

Throughout the book are contributions from some of the most admired and sought-after actors, including two forewords by Damian Lewis and Lily James, both of whom studied with Rea. Through these contributions, we are treated to anecdotes of performances and workshops with Rea, as well as a view to how these seven keys manifest and work within the actors and performers we most admire.

The book includes several clearly explained exercises in each section for performers to either work on alone, or for teachers to adapt and bring into their own sessions. I decided to try some of these exercises for myself and found they worked brilliantly and added another level to the performances of both myself and the performers I was working with. The addition of video and audio resources available to the reader of this book provides an invaluable resource to the reader, allowing you to feel as if you are sitting in on some of Rea’s workshops, only with the advantage of being able to watch them over and over again.

In short, The Outstanding Actor: Seven Keys to Success is a must have for any actor’s bookshelf, and one that needs to be frequently revisited.

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Amy Louise

The Outstanding Actor: Seven Keys to Success is available to purchase at all major book retailers.