About the Book:

The Intent to Live is a "class in a book" that provides a solid foundation in the useful and exciting acting technique taught by the renowned private acting coach and teacher Larry Moss. Many A-list actors now prepare with a coach. "Hired to deliver," they get no rehearsal time on set. Larry Moss has coached several of them to Oscar wins, including Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, Helen Hunt in As Good as It Gets, and Leonardo DiCaprio to three nominations: for The Aviator, Blood Diamond and The Wolf of Wall Street. When Helen Hunt and Hilary Swank accepted their Academy Awards, each credited the guidance of Larry Moss as key to their career-making performances. He also does a small number of workshops a year. But now everyone – professionals and amateurs alike – can discover his passionate, in-depth teaching.

Inviting you to join him in the classroom and onstage, Larry Moss shares the techniques he has developed over thirty years to help actors set their emotions, imagination, and behaviour on fire, showing how the hard work of preparation pays off in performances that are spontaneous, fresh, and authentic. He encourages you to look within yourself in order to develop your character, overcome fear, perfect your technical skills and, most importantly, to live in the moment. He believes the difference between impersonating and acting – and between good acting and great acting – lies in the psychological research and reflection an actor does before going on stage or on camera, accessing personal memories and emotions to bring oneself into a role rather than just playing it.

From the foundations of script analysis to the nuances of physicalization and sensory work, this is a nuts and bolts guide to the basic techniques of acting. Whether it is emotion-on-demand when you've been doing a stage show for months, or you're filming your big final out-of-sequence scene on the first day of shooting, Larry Moss offers specific case studies, performance exercises, and great insights that enable you to connect personally with a script, develop your character from the inside out, overcome fear and inhibition, and master the technical skills required for success in the theatre, television, and movies.

Far more than a handbook, The Intent to Live is the personal credo of a master teacher. His respect for actors and love of the actor's craft enliven every page, together with examples from a wealth of plays and films, both current and classic, and vivid appreciations of great performances. Whether you act for a living or simply want a deeper understanding of acting greatness, The Intent to Live will move, instruct, and inspire you.

What people say:

"I call this book The Intent to Live because great actors don't seem to be acting, they seem to be actually living." — Larry Moss, from the Introduction

"The Intent to Live does what any great acting book must do. It refuses to choose between craft and spontaneity. It introduces and thoroughly explores the craft of acting – the nuts and bolts, the roll-up-your-sleeves, practical, tactical, doable how-to – while never losing sight of the fact that great actors learn those things to create emotion, intimacy, chaos, mayhem, revolution in themselves and in the audience. Buy this book." — Helen Hunt, Actor

"I studied with Larry Moss for fourteen years. I have been his friend even longer. I thought I knew everything he had to offer. I was wrong. I have dog-eared and highlighted page after page and line after line of his brilliant book. The Intent to Live is a textbook, an exercise book, and a holy bible. Epiphanies are on every page." — Jason Alexander, Actor

"Larry continues to inspire me to search fearlessly for the truth in the character I am playing and in myself as a human being. I am in awe of this profoundly gifted, articulate teacher. He is a godsend, as is evident in his book, The Intent to Live." — Hilary Swank, Actor

"The Intent to Live is insightful, funny and very informative. It's an important book for actors and anyone who is interested not only in the craft of acting but also in that elusive and magical contact with their creative self. Larry Moss is not only a great teacher but a wonderful writer with an immensely generous spirit." — Sally Field, Actor

"Larry Moss manages to capture the inspirational, challenging, wise and unsettling voice of his teaching style on the printed page. No small feat. He is a magician of sorts, with the ability to see the unique instrument in every actor. He makes alchemy commonplace. He leads with respect and ferocity. He wants you to love acting and actors as much as he does. Like all great teachers, he engenders awe and fierce loyalty. And the book is a lot cheaper than a private audience." — David Duchovny, Actor

About the Author:

Larry Moss is an American actor, director, and teacher who works internationally as a private acting coach. He studied his craft with such luminaries as Stella Adler, Group Theatre giant Sanford Meisner, and Warren Robertson. He began his career at New York's famed cabaret Upstairs at the Downstairs and went on to appear on Broadway in numerous productions. After teaching at Juilliard and Circle in the Square, he moved to Los Angeles and works internationally as a private acting coach. His directing credits include the off-Broadway hit The Syringa Tree, which won the Obie for Best Play of the Year.