Acknowledgements

This book wouldn’t exist without the stories and shared experiences of the actors and directors who have contributed to this journey, either in dialogue with me or through their published accounts. Personal thanks go to Mike Alfreds, Anthony Bianco, John Cariani, Donald Carrier, Winslow Corbett, Ben Diskant, Matthew Dunster, Giles Fagan, Amy Cole-Farrell, Sam Graham, David Hare, Georgia Hatzis, Jeff Horger, Caroline Hunt, Ron Hutchinson, Tanya Moodie, Rufus Norris, Maggie O’Brien, Tim Orr, Jonno Roberts, Richard Seer and Jay Whittaker. Their honesty and open-heartedness have been enormously generous. I am ever grateful to Max Stafford-Clark and Tina Packer, for giving me wonderful opportunities to play and teaching me so much. Thanks, too, to voice coach Margaret Jansen. To Adrian Noble, for letting me sit in on three seasons of rehearsals at the Old Globe San Diego and eavesdrop on his wisdom. To Anna Kritikos, for tirelessly transcribing hours of interviews while being an inspirational young actor in her own right. To my agents, Natasha, Jen, Lindsay and Perry, for being ever patient and loyal. To the terrific faculty, staff and students of the Theatre, Film and Digital Production Department at the University of California, Riverside. To Michael Nott, for his perspicacious comments, and to Margaret Nott, for her invaluable help with the biology. To Dr Dee Silver, for running through the neuroscience with a fine-tooth comb. To the brilliant team at Nick Hern Books (not least Matt Applewhite, Jon Barton and Jodi Gray). And finally to the two people without whom I simply couldn’t have written this book. It’s rare for any author to have the kind of personal mentorship that I have been privileged to receive from Nick Hern over the last fifteen years. I owe much to his absolute precision, impeccable vision, and wonderful sense of humour. And to Miles Anderson, a great actor, an inspirational director, a devoted reader of chapters (even when they weren’t in a fit state to be read by anybody), and a patient and nurturing husband. Without him, I really wouldn’t be able to face the fear.