COMING SOON
Leave Yourself Alone:
Zen and the Art of Acting
by Chris Fields
Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting is an examination of acting that focuses on the spiritual aspects of the actor's journey. Chris Fields combines his extensive experience as director, actor and teacher with insights gained from years of Zen practice, sharing the discoveries he's made about the uncanny and profound similarities between acting and Buddhism. Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acing reveals that what actors are engaged in is beyond the craft, that acting is, in fact, a spiritual pursuit.
What People Are Saying About the Book
Chris Fields has written a magical and profound book that is as much about living as it is about acting. It deserves a place on the bookshelf between Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird and Uta Hagen’s Respect For Acting. As Fields himself has done in his work as an actor, a teacher and a human, Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting uses the wisdom of Zen practice as a guide to becoming totally present on stage and in life. Readers of this book don’t have to be actors or even creative people to be inspired by the wisdom of this simple guide to learning how to live fully in every moment.
-Kate Robin
Six Feet Under, The Affair (Emmy Award), Parenthood
This delightful little book interweaves the lessons Chris Fields learned as an actor and Zen Buddhist practitioner. With humor, insight, and tenderness, he captures how our foibles can bring us crashing down in the here and now, and, consequently, how the diminishing of the ego-centered self creates a fuller human being and actor. A wonderful read, full of inspiration and encouragement.
-Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao
Abbott Emeritus, Zen Center of Los Angeles
Chris Fields is a veteran Meisner teacher, acclaimed director, and dedicated Zen student. In Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting, he has creatively infused Zen principles into a fresh imaginative approach for actors. The Zen way of “Not Knowing,” no-goal orientation, dropped self, deep listening, “Beginner’s Mind,” and full commitment to being in the moment are a perfect fit for the actor who wants to be free and go to a deeper level. Attention is a key element in both Zen and acting. Attention should also be paid to the insights shared in Leave Yourself Alone.
-Sensei Katherine Senshin Griffith
Head Teacher, Zen Center of Los Angeles, Juilliard Drama Division, Group 11, Former O’Neill Playwrights Fellow
Chris Fields is a wonderful artistic director, whose enthusiasm for new plays is absolutely contagious. He has built a force-field of joy and safety around Echo Theater, which is why playwrights like me trust him and call his office home.
-Molly Smith Metzler
Maid, Cry It Out (Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle and Ovation awards), Shameless
Chris Fields knows something about acting. At its root is a mystery, and Chris is one of those rare people who knows how to guide you into, and out of the mystery into your role. Herein are some great insights about that most sublime thing: acting. Read on!
-Michael O'Keefe
Great Santini (Oscar nomination), Mass Appeal (Theatre World Award), Caddy Shack, Michael Clayton
Chris Fields has great integrity. He is an artist. He believes in the actor, the theater, and the human spirit. He is father, actor, director, teacher, and artistic director; all done with care and such compassion, you can actually see him bleed. Chris has directed me twice, and on both occasions has guided me with tender and empowering hands, communicating his vision clearly without hitting me over the head with lofty directions and we created something simple and true. As a teacher, he'll not only give you the tools to apply in all your professional work, he'll remind you of how special you are for what you do and the great responsibility you have as an actor.
-Enrico Colantoni
Veronica Mars/Galaxy Quest/Person of Interest/Just Shoot Me
Artistic directors of theaters of all sizes would be wise to follow the [lead] of the Echo’s Chris Fields, who [is] building audience communities eager for the challenge of path-breaking plays.
-Charles McNulty
Los Angeles Times
Chris Fields is an incredible director whose experience in the acting trenches gives him unique insight into the process of creating a character. He knows how to help an actor craft a courageous, truthful performance, and he has crystalized his knowledge into this illuminating and entertaining book that will help any actor get to the next level. It made me want to be in the rehearsal room!
-Erik Patterson
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award winner, Best Playwright
There is a certain still point we can find in every human endeavor. Spiritual traditions speak directly about it, those in the arts usually indirectly. Others may not mention it at all, but even they leave traces of the experience of that timeless connection with … what?
What do we call it, what can we say about it, this timeless point where we can find the universe in a single atom? This place that resists being named the way the Pacific Ocean can’t be labeled by writing on its waves with a felt-tipped pen? Zen and Buddhist scriptures fill volumes, all trying to convey the still point and ways to encounter it. The words cannot contain it, but if we read just the right words at just the right time, we’ll get a glimpse.
Chris Fields has filled this book with words, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll catch glimpses of this universal still point just behind them. As a performing musician, I can appreciate his advice for merging with the material and bringing it alive for the audience. And as a Zen practitioner, I can relate to how he makes the still point the foundation of his art and his life. Because Zen is a way of life – it’s how we do what we do. That still point, that foundation, is like the stage of a theater that supports everything on it – acting, music, poetry reading, the weekend art show. Everything we do in our life is action taken on that stage, supported by that stage, nourished by that stage.
Not only actors, but artists in all media will find Chris’ words valuable. Even if you’re not an artist, you’ll find insights into our shared human condition here. Because whether you’re interested in explicitly finding that still point, or just have an inkling that it is there, connecting with it will enliven your work with an unexpected immediacy.
-Roshi Kipp Ryodo Hawley
President White Plum Asanga
-Kate Robin
Six Feet Under, The Affair (Emmy Award), Parenthood
This delightful little book interweaves the lessons Chris Fields learned as an actor and Zen Buddhist practitioner. With humor, insight, and tenderness, he captures how our foibles can bring us crashing down in the here and now, and, consequently, how the diminishing of the ego-centered self creates a fuller human being and actor. A wonderful read, full of inspiration and encouragement.
-Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao
Abbott Emeritus, Zen Center of Los Angeles
Chris Fields is a veteran Meisner teacher, acclaimed director, and dedicated Zen student. In Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting, he has creatively infused Zen principles into a fresh imaginative approach for actors. The Zen way of “Not Knowing,” no-goal orientation, dropped self, deep listening, “Beginner’s Mind,” and full commitment to being in the moment are a perfect fit for the actor who wants to be free and go to a deeper level. Attention is a key element in both Zen and acting. Attention should also be paid to the insights shared in Leave Yourself Alone.
-Sensei Katherine Senshin Griffith
Head Teacher, Zen Center of Los Angeles, Juilliard Drama Division, Group 11, Former O’Neill Playwrights Fellow
Chris Fields is a wonderful artistic director, whose enthusiasm for new plays is absolutely contagious. He has built a force-field of joy and safety around Echo Theater, which is why playwrights like me trust him and call his office home.
-Molly Smith Metzler
Maid, Cry It Out (Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle and Ovation awards), Shameless
Chris Fields knows something about acting. At its root is a mystery, and Chris is one of those rare people who knows how to guide you into, and out of the mystery into your role. Herein are some great insights about that most sublime thing: acting. Read on!
-Michael O'Keefe
Great Santini (Oscar nomination), Mass Appeal (Theatre World Award), Caddy Shack, Michael Clayton
Chris Fields has great integrity. He is an artist. He believes in the actor, the theater, and the human spirit. He is father, actor, director, teacher, and artistic director; all done with care and such compassion, you can actually see him bleed. Chris has directed me twice, and on both occasions has guided me with tender and empowering hands, communicating his vision clearly without hitting me over the head with lofty directions and we created something simple and true. As a teacher, he'll not only give you the tools to apply in all your professional work, he'll remind you of how special you are for what you do and the great responsibility you have as an actor.
-Enrico Colantoni
Veronica Mars/Galaxy Quest/Person of Interest/Just Shoot Me
Artistic directors of theaters of all sizes would be wise to follow the [lead] of the Echo’s Chris Fields, who [is] building audience communities eager for the challenge of path-breaking plays.
-Charles McNulty
Los Angeles Times
Chris Fields is an incredible director whose experience in the acting trenches gives him unique insight into the process of creating a character. He knows how to help an actor craft a courageous, truthful performance, and he has crystalized his knowledge into this illuminating and entertaining book that will help any actor get to the next level. It made me want to be in the rehearsal room!
-Erik Patterson
Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award winner, Best Playwright
There is a certain still point we can find in every human endeavor. Spiritual traditions speak directly about it, those in the arts usually indirectly. Others may not mention it at all, but even they leave traces of the experience of that timeless connection with … what?
What do we call it, what can we say about it, this timeless point where we can find the universe in a single atom? This place that resists being named the way the Pacific Ocean can’t be labeled by writing on its waves with a felt-tipped pen? Zen and Buddhist scriptures fill volumes, all trying to convey the still point and ways to encounter it. The words cannot contain it, but if we read just the right words at just the right time, we’ll get a glimpse.
Chris Fields has filled this book with words, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll catch glimpses of this universal still point just behind them. As a performing musician, I can appreciate his advice for merging with the material and bringing it alive for the audience. And as a Zen practitioner, I can relate to how he makes the still point the foundation of his art and his life. Because Zen is a way of life – it’s how we do what we do. That still point, that foundation, is like the stage of a theater that supports everything on it – acting, music, poetry reading, the weekend art show. Everything we do in our life is action taken on that stage, supported by that stage, nourished by that stage.
Not only actors, but artists in all media will find Chris’ words valuable. Even if you’re not an artist, you’ll find insights into our shared human condition here. Because whether you’re interested in explicitly finding that still point, or just have an inkling that it is there, connecting with it will enliven your work with an unexpected immediacy.
-Roshi Kipp Ryodo Hawley
President White Plum Asanga