If you think this book is just going to be about 'acting' you would be very wrong. Brian Astbury could easily have titled this excellent book 'Everything you will ever need to know about Acting' and even then not have come close to describing its worth - part memoir, part practical workbook - Astbury takes us on a journey of his understanding of how actors work, illustrating his insights with funny, affecting stories

of his thirty plus years as a drama teacher..

I cannot recommend it highly enough...

Stephen Moyer Actor

(True Blood, NY-LON, Prince Valiant, the RSC)

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Brian Astbury was, without a doubt, the biggest influence on me while I trained at LAMDA. 20 odd years and 70 movies later, I have realized that everyone develops their own hybrid of all the methods they have learnt. Brian’s teachings are still what I go to in trouble, and more importantly, way back in a church hall in Earls Court, he taught me to be proud of whatever talent I had, and confident. Without confidence no actor can risk, fail, brush themselves down and try again. It's in the taking of risks, and being brave,

that we can really excel.

Jason Flemyng Actor

(Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Quatermass Experiment, Drum, the RSC)

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Trusting the Actor is a conversational (almost chatty) love story, a tale of a theatre company's struggle against Apartheid, an irreverent look at life in an educational system which paradoxically helps breed some of society's cultural reformers while being opposed to reform itself. If the key to understanding the arts or the sciences lies in our understanding of the patterns life throws up, then reading these pages may help some of us unlock a few more. David Mitchell says, Knowledge exists only when it is given.

Brian Astbury is a giver.

Alexander Siddig Actor/director

(Deep Space Nine, Syriana, Un Homme Perdu, 24, Primeval, Hannibal)

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