I have directed television drama for nearly forty years, and I have watched a great many actors arrive on set for a single day's work. Most of them arrived able to act, but unprepared for everything else. This booklet is what they needed.
Reese is blunt about the thing nobody tells actors: you will not be remembered for your performance, you will be remembered for your behaviour. He then sets out the two rules that govern the day, which contradict each other, and yet both must be obeyed. Do not get in the way. Always be available.
The chapter on making your work editor-friendly is the one I would recommend to any actor. Very few performers understand that a reaction they were proud of can simply cease to exist because they came in on the cue without leaving a pause. Reese explains why, using the J cut, the L cut, and a short scene in a greenhouse, more clearly than anything else I have read that was written for actors.
This is fifty years of doing the job, set down in order. Read it to prepare for your first day on set.
