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Life in a Mid-Shot: A premier acting coach's tools for auditions and self-tapes

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Demystify the audition process and land your dream role with this revolutionary book on acting!

Actor, Director, and world-renowned acting coach Les Chantery lays out an approach for the auditioning actor that has been heralded as “a revelation and unlike anything I’ve ever read on the topic of acting.” (Matt Skrobalak, Former Senior Vice President of Casting CBS PARAMOUNT). A sure asset for any actor looking to land the part of their dreams.

Life…In A Mid-Shot is the first book of its kind to blend acting with Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioural Economics. Les Chantery’s approach has helped actors book work on platforms including NETFLIX, HBO MAX, HULU, DISNEY+, MARVEL, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, PARAMOUNT + and more !

Foreword is written by one of Les Chantery’s students, Jacob Elordi, described by GQ Magazine as “Gen Z’s Leading Man” one of Hollywood’s newest and brightest young stars after his performance on HBO’s hit show EUPHORIA.

A Professor of Acting at the prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art, and former actor featured alongside multiple high-profile actors, including Vin Diesel, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. Les Chantery’s “Life…In A Mid-Shot” is a principle manual for mastering the screen audition :

Practical Hacks to Crack the Audition RoomHow to Own the RoomThe Science of Acting to CameraTools to Fill Your Acting ToolboxBrain Hacks to Step Up Your Game
Anecdotes and Insights from Two Decades of Working with Hollywood A-List Actors!

Actors can now source privileged content tried & tested by the Top 2% of Actors in Hollywood. Landing that Film or TV role is only one book away.

342 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2022

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51 people want to read

About the author

Les Chantery

3 books

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Grace Nean.
42 reviews
June 25, 2025
I cringe at my old ways before this book.

It’s a must read ‼️ Profound yet simple word switches that completely has changed the way I’ll look at scenes and characters moving forward.

The academic scientific and art mixture really tickled and itched both parts of my brain in a most satisfying way.

This book made me realise how much words and labels influence how we think & feel and therefore how the actor will behave going into auditions.
Profile Image for Klatann Thomas.
8 reviews4 followers
August 27, 2025
Very smart. Well written, easy read. Directed toward self-tape/auditioning but applies to performance as well. Falls more into the "actor's homework/approach to the work" area of discussion. Nice touches in the "updates to terminology" many acting coaches provide their own "modernizations" of terms but it's great to see someone push the envelope on the "holy grail of terms" and actually publish it. Overall strong work and advised for every level of actor.
2 reviews
January 7, 2023
Fantastic!!

I would recommend this book to all actors. So many great techniques to choose from to help the actor embody the character and the story.
Profile Image for Robin Gott.
85 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2025
Great practical advice on the technicalities of self-taping and how to make your audition stand out. Highly recommended.
2 reviews
July 3, 2024
This is such an incredible book with many tools to help you connect with your character, make strong choices, and create a dynamic performance. I've spent well over 800 hours in acting class, and the two days I spent reading this helped everything finally make sense. It has already changed the way that I look at my sides. I could not recommend it enough!
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