What a beautiful and insightful book on acting as an art, a way of life, and a profession! I loved the conversational format of the book and found Dustin Morrow's contributions to be enlightening.

I love Kathleen Turner and this was an interesting read. This is my first time reading a book in the format of a conversation. The skill to format and make the conversations flow in print is very apparent., can't wait to read more.

Kathleen Turner is one of the most iconic actors working in the business, and this book seeks to pin down her insights into her acting process. This is not necessarily something that should fill an entire book considering her mantra on acting is, “Shut up and do it.” However, Kathleen Turner is also incredibly smart, funny, and insightful, and she quickly shifts the conversation to cover her thoughts on the entire entertainment industry.

In that regard, it works. Turner is a true conversationalist and is willing to face questions head-on. The book is made up of interviews edited down to one long discussion. Sometimes this results in light anecdotes from the filming process of Romancing the Stone, and other times it results in a deep discussion of performing eight shows a week with rheumatoid arthritis. All sides of her career, from theatre and film to political activism, are on display and all are equally enthralling.

The interview is the perfect conceit to examine someone’s acting process. It’s a deeply personal way of approaching performance (as evidenced by many of Kathleen Turner’s own answers), and the back-and-forth leads to some forced introspection.

Here, the questioning is conducted by Dustin Morrow, a film professor. For the most part, his questions are both apt and interesting. He deserves credit for covering most facets of her career as well as whittling the tome down to something manageable to both theatre practitioners and general readers. Occasionally, his opinions do seem intrusive to the questioning and it derails the overall flow from question to question. As well, some of the questions on theatre don’t appear to be at the same level as the film ones. Then again, when discussing Albee or High or working in the West End, Kathleen Turner seems even more animated and takes control of the discussion.

Overall, this is a great examination of acting method from a remarkable actor.

Kathleen Turner on Acting is basically an interview, albeit a long one that covers a long, varied career very thoroughly. I loved all the insights and insider jokes and especially Ms. Turner's take on her movies, her co-workers, and her methods of preparing and executing her interpretation of the great roles she has brought us over the years. I feel a binge watch coming on. She has played so many interesting characters, and seeing how she has chosen her work, how she has interacted with directors and actors to bring to the screen her version of the strong, independent women she has portrayed and is still portraying is gratifying. We all like to have our heroes presented in a good light. This book certainly does that - and in her own words.

I received free electronic copy of this biography from Netgalley, Kathleen Turner and Dustin Morrow, and Skyhorse Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Kathleen Turner is a BAMF. She's been working, on the big screen, on the small screen, on the stage, for three decades, and she's played some truly iconic characters. Her voice is recognizable from 20 paces, and her sparkling eyes and perfect timing have led to some of the best works Hollywood has ever put out.

This book is all about how she learned the skills that have kept her working for so long in an industry that wants to throw away women after 30. It's what she's learned, how she's learned it, and what she teaches other actors in the classes she teaches at NYU and Studio One on One. She only teaches a select amount of students, and they have to have proven how serious they are about the craft, but damn, would I love to sit in one of these classes.

To read about how she decides what choices to make, and how she ensures she's captured a theater audience's attention to the fullest, is absolutely fascinating. Again, I'm not an actor. I will never use the skills she references here. But I was completely captivated, and I could clearly hear the iconic voice that makes me sound like Minnie Mouse.

I have one very real complaint about this book, though. Because this isn't a memoir, or a biography, this is really and truly a conversation between Kathleen Turner and Dustin Morrow.

Who is Dustin Morrow, you may ask?

No clue.

He's involved in the actor process in some way, teaching, editing, casting, watching. He has a lot of opinions.

I didn't need the Q half of this Q&A to be a famous person. I just needed them to feed the conversation, as opposed to taking it over. By the midpoint of this book, I'd taken to completely ignoring the paragraphs that started with D.M. and only focusing on Kathleen's sections. And interestingly, I missed nothing from this.

Kathleen is incredibly smart, and witty, and damn funny. She's the epitome of the term firecracker, a strong, no-holds-barred woman who knows what she wants and what she doesn't want. As she says, "I'm not famous for suffering fools gladly."

Based on this, I'm going to assume Mr. Morrow has many redeeming qualities. But his inclusion of loads of thoughts and opinions were not appreciated on this end.

I do recommend picking this book up, especially for anyone interested in an acting career of any kind, be it stage or screen, big or little, Broadway or off. She has brilliant insights and methods (not Method) that I feel would be useful to anyone. And if you're a fan of even one of her movies, you will absolutely find something to enjoy in this book.

This book is unique in that the Author didn't take any creative liberties. He went straight to the source, Kathleen Turner. It's not a biography, she's already written her own story. This is a question and answer format. Ms. Turner's personality and little quirks come through which is interesting, because you are actually hearing her voice in how she thinks and how she does certain things. Very enjoyable read. Recommended.

A Master Class in Acting from Kathleen Turner

Kathleen Turner is an Oscar nominee, Golden Globe winner, one of the talented film actresses in the world, a forced to be reckoned with on stage, and a professor at New York University.

Her class is called "Practical Acting: Shut Up and Do It."

Now prospective performers don't have to travel all the way to New York and enroll in NYU to benefit from Ms. Turner's professional experience and wisdom - "Kathleen Turner on Acting" is a master class seminar on the craft.

Dustin Morrow conducts a book-length interview that delves deeply into Turner's many roles, her experiences in Hollywood and on Broadway, her advice for living an actor's life, and even her tips on technique. She dives into nooks and crannies - mouth and breathing exercises, for example - that the average viewer would never think about. She also opens up about her personal struggles with Rheumatoid Arthritis and the alcoholism that developed as a coping mechanism for the painful disease.

If you aren't an actor but simply a fan of Turner's work, like I am, there is still much to recommend here as she dives into her most famous roles and discusses working with William Hurt, Jack Nicholson, Nicolas Cage, Michael Douglas, Danny DeVito, John Waters, and many others.

A good chunk of the book does focus on her stage work, which might deter readers only familiar with her film career, but it shouldn't. Several of her plays are among the most famous in the world, but even her work with new playwrights and unfamiliar or experimental material is interesting and well worth reading about.

If I had to level one criticism at the book, it would be that Morrow shies away from asking Turner about some of her more controversial or questionable roles - such as her participation in "Baby Geniuses" or her strange cameo in "Marley & Me." They may not be "Romancing the Stone" or "Serial Mom," but I still think plenty of interesting insight could have been mined from discussing what led her to accept those roles and what she thought of those experiences overall.

Ultimately, I don't know if there's another book out there that provides such a thorough first-person perspective of an actor's performances and profession, methods and techniques, experiences and insights, the way this one does.

This is a detailed deep-dive into Kathleen Turner's career and craft. If you're a fan of hers, my advice would be "Shut Up and Read It."

I enjoyed reading this book, Turner is one of my favorite actresses from the 1980s. She offers safe advice on most apsoects of the difficult career of show business, from auditions to proper elocution. Along the way she shares snippets of her background and experiences in film and theater. I really enjoyed reading about three of her movies that I love the best: Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, and Peggy Sue Got Married. I watched those continuously on VHS in the 80s.

Dustin Morrow’s book takes an interesting approach. Through personal interviews and sidebar comments by Morrow, Kathleen Turner teaches her craft based on her extensive movie and theatre work. While there are some interesting stories that encompass her long career, it is helpful to be familiar with the films and plays that are described in great detail.

Students of drama and film will find this an excellent tool. Others, unless they are die-hard fans of Turner, may find it a bit dry.

I love Kathleen Turner and this was an interesting read. This is my first time reading a book in the format of a conversation. Kudos to Dustin Morrow. The skill to format and make the conversations flow in print is very apparent. Here’s to more conversations in the future! Thanks to NetGalley.com and Skyhorse Publishing.

Encompassing a wide array of subjects spanning her career, her methods, and advice to today's aspiring actors in the current showbiz climate, Morrow has buttoned together an incredibly coherent and organized talk with a living legend.

Morrow primes the reader with a few quick notes, and then you're treated to the bulk of the material, which is presented in interview form. Turner gets to speak on moments across the spectrum of her life---not just what she's accomplished in the theater and on screen (although that gets plenty of discussion time). Yes, she talks about her voice. It's an awesome section.

As you'd anticipate, she's no-holds-barred; her unique personality reaches out of the pages and makes for the read that Morrow was aiming for. She relays anecdotes absolutely sure to further enrich your view of her, and the advice she's distributing, some of which that came at great cost to her, is supremely interesting in the least, and utterly gripping at best. You don't have to be clamoring to get into the film industry to discover worthwhile bits here.

The respect and admiration that Morrow has for Kathleen Turner is infectious in his work. He's quick to state that this book isn't a substitute for her biography (promptly suggesting it for further reading), and you're given ample cases in her career (specific scenes, for example) put under the microscope to display her talent for further appreciation.

I admit that I was not really privy to her theater background, and this read is worth it just for that simple discovery. I never had any doubt that Kathleen Turner was an accomplished and esteemed individual, but, presented lovingly through this medium, I finish this read with a much greater appreciation of her, actors, and, the sad cloud of knowing that she wanted to work with a certain great actor that passed in early 2016 but never got the chance to (it would've been a great pairing).

#KathleenTurnerOnActing #NetGalley

Using an original way to introduce Kathleen career, Dustin is able to provide a more close and even personal look of this great and famous star.