Uta Hagen Acting Methods for Auditions and Performances
Don't confuse acting teacher Uta Hagen with singer Nina Hagen as I used to do. Uta Hagen was an influential New York City acting coach who taught at the HB studio. Hagen's two key books on how to act are Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor.
Hagen wrote that the actor should identify the character they play with feelings and circumstances from their (the actor's) own life.
There is also a DVD Uta Hagen's Acting Class that shows her in person teaching. Or there are many Uta Hagen clips on Youtube.
As an actor herself she originated the Martha role in the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee. We also have a LP recording of the original stage production at the Library. Or you can listen to a clip of her perform this on Youtube. Later on Elizabeth Taylor also did a famous version of this role for the movies.
Uta Hagen taught Liza Minnelli, Jack Lemmon, Debbie Allen and Al Pacino among others. She's associated with Method Acting and Stanislavsky (more on this in a future post!).
Learning to act is a key component before the auditioning process enjoy reading and listening to her work and "break a leg".
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