The Actor, Image and Action is a 'new generation' approach to the craft of acting; the first full-length study of actor training using the insights of cognitive neuroscience. In a brilliant reassessment of both the practice and theory of acting, Rhonda Blair examines the physiological relationship between bodily action and emotional experience. In doing so she provides the latest step in Stanislavsky's attempts to help the actor 'reach the unconscious by conscious means'. Recent developments in scientific thinking about the connections between biology and cognition require new ways of understanding many elements of human activity, including: imagination - emotion - memory - physicality - reason. The Actor, Image and Action looks at how these are in fact inseparable in the brain's structure and function, and their crucial importance to an actor’s engagement with a role. The book vastly improves our understanding of the actor's process and is a must for any actor or student of acting. 'A valuable and provocative insight in an area of thinking that is still relatively new to the field of theatre ... Rhonda Blair's work has the potential to lead toward new techniques in actor training.' – Sharon Carnicke, University of Southern California, USA 'Actors of the 21st Century should read and ponder the implications of this book.' – Sharon Carnicke, University of Southern California Rhonda Blair