Book Review: "The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide" by Jenna Fischer

I recently finished the audiobook version of The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide by the iconic star of The Office (U.S. version), Jenna Fischer. As a fan of the show and an emerging young actor, I had been eager to give this book a read for a while and it did not disappoint. 

The audiobook opens with a humorous, but slightly cheesy, foreword written by Steve Carell and performed by Rainn Wilson, Fischer's co-stars from The Office. The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide is part memoir, part handbook for emerging actors in theatre and film. The book is divided into chapters, each of which centers around a different crucial step of becoming a working actor. Fischer cleverly integrates her own stories of successes and mistakes as an artist into each chapter, using her anecdotes as springboards for her advice for actors that are new to the industry.  Jenna Fischer does an excellent job of providing helpful tips and tricks to get acting jobs. She tells readers the things they likely won't learn in their conservatory or BFA acting programs and even shares interviews with some of her entertainment industry colleagues in the final chapter of the book. 

Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute and Jenna Fischer as Pam Beesly in "The Whale" (Episode 7, Season 9). 
Photo from NBC.

Fischer also shares stories that illustrate the importance of protecting yourself in the entertainment industry, as it can be an especially dangerous place for developing performers who are desperate for work. My personal favorite anecdote from the book is when Fischer discusses her role as Darlene Madison Cox in Walk Hard (2007). The role required her to stay extremely fit. Fischer says that she exercised multiple times a week with a personal trainer and dieted for months. She writes that though she was in the best shape of her life, she was also miserable and missed eating a lot of the foods she had to cut out for her diet. The night before filming a scene which featured Fischer in a tight, tailored costume, she broke her diet and was so bloated the next day that she didn't fit into the costume. She explains that she was humiliated, but she also uses this experience to emphasize that no acting job in which an actor has to radically change their body is worth the frustration and stress that can come from that job. Look for roles that fit you and your body type, she stresses.

For fans of Jenna Fischer and actors trying to break into the entertainment industry, I highly recommend Fischer's book. It kept me entertained and left me with so much crucial information about being a working actor. 

The cover of The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide.
Photo from Amazon.