April 22, 2025 • 13 mins
If you're a professional actor just starting out, this episode of Take Fountain is a must-watch. Talent agent Anthony Boyer shares Six Books Actors Overlook—game-changing reads that go beyond acting technique to help you master the business side of your career.
From networking and discipline to mindset and resilience, these books offer practical tools to build lasting industry relationships, stay focused, and treat your acting like the small business it is.
Whether you're navigating auditions, building your brand, or pushing through rejection, these titles will give you a competitive edge in Hollywood and beyond.
Want to watch this episode? Check it out at our Take Fountain YouTube Channel
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
I've been a talent agent in Los Angeles
and New York for the last 15 years,
and this is Take Founder.
On this episode, I'm gonna talk about books
that I believe every actor should read.
There are a lot of books on acting technique, uh,
but today we're not gonna talk about those.
(00:20):
We're gonna talk about the books
that can actually help you build a career.
As we've talked about many times on this channel,
an acting career is not just acting, it's also a career.
And so, like building any small business, it helps
to have business skills.
And being a great actor isn't just about talent, right?
It's about networking, it's about discipline.
(00:41):
Uh, it's about navigating an unpredictable industry.
The first book I would like
to talk about is How To Win Friends
and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
I've talked about this book on the channel a lot,
and it is the classic book on communicating
and on relationship building.
Uh, why does it matter for actors?
Well, it helps with auditions, it helps
(01:03):
with industry relationships,
and it helps with making a strong impression on people.
As Dale Carnegie says in the book, people work
with people they like, right?
If I asked you, if I said, Hey, I'm, I'm making a movie,
you know, who do you think I should cast?
You're gonna think of your friends,
you're gonna think of people you like.
Well, this book helps you be one of those people.
People remember how you make them feel.
(01:25):
That's what Dale Carnegie says throughout this entire book.
Small things like smiling, remembering people's names,
listening, those things leave a lasting impression.
And this book drills those
and teaches techniques, uh, that you can use
to just win friends and influence people, right?
There's a story about David Letterman on, on the set of, uh,
(01:47):
of his late show where people would talk about
how he knew every cast, every crew member's name,
he would come onto set and he would say hello to everybody.
And what really strikes me about that is that it is so rare
that people mention it.
Jensen Ackles is another one on the set of supernatural.
Jensen Ackles made a point of knowing everybody's name.
(02:08):
Jamie Lee Curtis, uh, is famous
for having crew wear name tags so
that she knows their names.
And these are all just like really small ways
to make an impact, to just know who people are,
the people you work with every day.
And it's really shows the fact
that we even know these stories.
A how rare it is and how much it sets you apart,
(02:30):
but be how advantageous it can be just to take a minute
and get to know somebody
and make something about someone other than yourself.
This book encourages a collaborative mindset
acting as a team effort.
The best actors, uh, the best careers are built on strong
and positive relationships.
We talked about it again and again and again.
(02:50):
Uh, the people in your network are
what are gonna move you forward as an actor
and as a business person,
and this book, there's none better at
helping teach those skills.
The next book that I'd like to talk about is Never Eat Alone
by Keith Ferrazzi.
Now, this book is a deep dive into networking
and building meaningful business relationships.
(03:11):
It matters because we've talked about
building a network is first of all one
of the most important skills
that anyone in any business can have.
But second of all, it's a skillset
that doesn't come naturally to a lot of actors.
Actors are typically quite gregarious.
Uh, many actors are outgoing
and extroverted and make friends easily.
(03:31):
Not all actors, but many.
But that's a little bit different than actually building a
and maintaining a professional network.
So this is a book that talks about how to do
that without being fake or transactional.
And anytime people feel like you only reach out
to them when you want something that's going to read,
and it's not going to build a very good relationship.
(03:53):
So in this industry, relationships create opportunities,
and this book teaches you how to foster them.
Key takeaways from this book.
It's not about who you know, it's about who knows you.
I think that is an important takeaway.
It also talks about the value of following up.
You can reach out to any of a number of people,
you can meet any of a number of people.
(04:15):
You can say hello to someone at a film screening
or run into someone at a party.
But if you don't know how to follow up,
which this book will teach you, it's
of incredibly limited value.
So, you know, a simple email
or a coffee can keep you on someone's radar,
and this book teaches techniques to do that.
It also talks about giving before you ask,
(04:35):
or what I like to call leading
with value, leading with service.
How can you provide value to someone
and not just ask for something from them?
And so this talks about how to support others, how
to offer value first
and see the benefits of that come your way.
The next book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
(04:57):
This is an incredibly popular book these days
in all industries.
This book is a guide to making small,
consistent improvements over time, which is something
that we can all use no matter whatever industry.
And it helps with discipline, it helps with, uh,
auditioning, it helps with training,
with marketing yourself, with just getting better sort
(05:18):
of at life, building better systems,
learning better and adapting.
Success isn't about massive action.
Uh, it's about daily habits that move you forward.
And Atomic Habits is specifically about building, creating,
and improving those habits.
Now, key takeaways from this book are number one,
tiny changes lead to build big results, right?
(05:41):
Even setting aside 10 minutes a day to work on a monologue
or, uh, vocal warmups adds up over time.
Talks about habit stacking,
which is when you attach a new habit, like, uh,
checking actors access for instance,
or selfs submitting to an existing one,
like say your morning coffee.
Um, and it also has in, it's the two minute rule,
(06:01):
which means that something like takes less than two
minutes, do it immediately.
Things like that, that are just actionable.
Small things you can do to make small improvements
that over time lead to big changes.
The next books I would like to talk about is the War of Art
by Stephen Pressfield.
Now, you might think I'm talking about the Art
(06:21):
of War, but I'm not.
I'm talking about the War of Art.
This book tackles creative resistance and procrastination.
Stephen Pressfield is a screen play writer, uh,
screenwriter, if you will,
and he talks about his process of avoiding procrastination
and how procrastination is the enemy to art.
(06:43):
Now, I will admit this was a tough read for me personally,
maybe partially because I'm not an artist,
but I think everyone I've talked to who is an artist
who has read this, really resonates with it.
Why it matters for actors specifically is
because, you know, fear, uh, fear over auditions,
uh, self-doubt, creative blocks, fear over networking
(07:06):
or, you know, getting in a new class
or doing something to improve your life.
These are real, and this book helps you push through them.
It helps you get rid of all the excuses that you make,
all the, the things you tell yourself on a day-to-day basis
that you should be doing.
This book, I think inspires you
and pushes you towards showing up every day
because as he says in the book,
(07:27):
showing up every day is half the battle.
You have to put in consistent effort if you want
consistent results.
And this book talks about that, not just waiting
for inspiration to strike.
Key takeaways for this book.
Number one, uh, resistance is the enemy.
So if something feels hard, that is exactly why you need
to do it, because that resistance, that is the enemy,
(07:48):
that is what's going to keep you from moving
forward in your career.
Uh, number two is you gotta treat acting like a profession.
We talk about this all the time on this channel.
Acting is a profession.
You have to show up even when you don't feel like it, right?
If you're a brick layer, you've gotta show up
to the job site every day in lay bricks.
(08:08):
If you are an actor, you have to show up every single day
and work on your craft, work on your business.
And then also fear means that you're on the right path.
That is another big takeaway from this book.
Uh, if you're scared, it's usually a sign
that you're growing, uh, and pushing past that fear.
Getting through that, getting
through those blocks is the key to moving forward.
(08:31):
The next book I would love to talk about is The Lean Startup
by Eric Reese.
This is a book specifically about entrepreneurship, acting
as a business too, as we've talked about
many times on this channel.
And this book helps you treat your career like a business,
not just like an art form.
Again, there are a lot of books about acting technique,
but this is a book that will help you figure out
(08:54):
how you can take that technique,
that product you've built over time and move it forward
and make it something that can change the world.
It teaches adaptability, it teaches something, you know,
that is crucial in an ever changing industry.
Just staying on your toes, knowing what the trends are,
knowing what to avoid, what to adopt, being keyed in
(09:14):
and being flexible and adaptable.
This book covers all of that.
So key takeaways, you wanna test and adjust.
Uh, so just like startups tweak their product offering, um,
you need to experiment with different branding with, with,
uh, different classes, headshots, strategies, things
that you know may not come naturally to you.
(09:35):
You know, if something isn't working, you need
to move on and try something else.
Number two is you don't wanna wait
for the perfect opportunity.
How many times have you been sitting at home?
You're looking through the
breakdowns, like, ah, I don't know.
This one doesn't really speak to me.
Uh, this isn't the, the super.
It's so easy to make excuses to not do the work.
It's so easy to make excuses to not show up.
(09:56):
And this book really talks about don't wait for
that perfect opportunity, right?
You gotta get your work out there.
Um, you have to, you know, self produce if necessary,
whatever it takes to get your product onto
the proverbial market.
And then number three, your career is a long-term
game, right?
Success doesn't happen overnight.
It's about consistent action over time.
(10:18):
But the longer you wait to start
or the longer you wait to get serious about it,
the longer it's going to take.
There's a domino effect to action.
If you create action right now, it knocks over
that next domino and that next domino
and that next domino taking action,
early understanding it's a long-term game,
and that you need to start earlier than later.
(10:39):
Uh, that's a big thing that this book teaches.
The next book I would like to talk about is Grit
by Angela Duckworth.
This is a study on perseverance
and resilience, why it matters for actors.
Well, acting careers are built on persistence.
Talent is great, but grit is what keeps you going
after a hundred auditions.
(10:59):
Uh, it's a business about failure,
but every business is a business about failure, right?
Auditions that don't go anywhere.
Submissions that don't result in auditions.
Agents saying, no, managers saying no, producers saying no.
There's a lot of failure built into this.
And you need grit and determination
and resilience to push past that.
(11:20):
This book is fantastic for that. Some key takeaways.
Number one, passion plus perseverance equals success.
Now, that should really speak, I think, to most actors.
Not quitting is a superpower.
Pushing through resistance is a superpower.
Just stay on your feet.
Every rejection is a step towards the right role.
(11:42):
So if something didn't happen for you,
that wasn't the right role for you,
but you need to keep going
because you will find
that right role if you can just stay on your
feet, stay in the game.
The last takeaway is really just
that effort matters more than raw ability.
Hard work beats talent when the talent
doesn't work hard, right?
Make the effort, put in the time, have the grit,
(12:03):
the determination, the resilience.
This is a fantastic book.
So to recap, these books aren't about
acting at all actually.
They're about mindset.
They're about habits, and they're about relationships.
And those things make acting careers possible.
You still have to lock down the acting.
You still have to get great at acting, you have
to be in class, you have to be putting out work,
(12:24):
but there are so many other parts to it, right?
You have to be networking, you have to, you have
to be productive, you have to be able to brand your product.
Uh, you have to have resilience.
These are all important and all crucial for success.
If you got value outta this episode,
click that thumbs up button.
And hey, why don't you subscribe while you're at it?
Click that notification bill,
(12:45):
you get alerted every single time we have a new episode.
My name is Anthony Boyer. Thank you so much for joining us.
This has been Take Fountain.
Thanks so much for watching.
I sent video, but you get alerted
every time we have a new episode.
Uh, anyway, my name is Anthony Boyer. You've been watching.
(13:15):
I could smell the barn. Damn it. Okay.
Hello from Hollywood.
My name is Anthony Boyer.
I've been a talent agent in Los Angeles
and New York for the last 15 years,
and this is Take Founder.
On this episode, I'm gonna talk about books
that I believe every actor should read.
There are a lot of books on acting technique, uh,
but today we're not gonna talk about those.
(00:20):
We're gonna talk about the books
that can actually help you build a career.
As we've talked about many times on this channel,
an acting career is not just acting, it's also a career.
And so, like building any small business, it helps
to have business skills.
And being a great actor isn't just about talent, right?
It's about networking, it's about discipline.
(00:41):
Uh, it's about navigating an unpredictable industry.
The first book I would like
to talk about is How To Win Friends
and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
I've talked about this book on the channel a lot,
and it is the classic book on communicating
and on relationship building.
Uh, why does it matter for actors?
Well, it helps with auditions, it helps
(01:03):
with industry relationships,
and it helps with making a strong impression on people.
As Dale Carnegie says in the book, people work
with people they like, right?
If I asked you, if I said, Hey, I'm, I'm making a movie,
you know, who do you think I should cast?
You're gonna think of your friends,
you're gonna think of people you like.
Well, this book helps you be one of those people.
People remember how you make them feel.
(01:25):
That's what Dale Carnegie says throughout this entire book.
Small things like smiling, remembering people's names,
listening, those things leave a lasting impression.
And this book drills those
and teaches techniques, uh, that you can use
to just win friends and influence people, right?
There's a story about David Letterman on, on the set of, uh,
(01:47):
of his late show where people would talk about
how he knew every cast, every crew member's name,
he would come onto set and he would say hello to everybody.
And what really strikes me about that is that it is so rare
that people mention it.
Jensen Ackles is another one on the set of supernatural.
Jensen Ackles made a point of knowing everybody's name.
(02:08):
Jamie Lee Curtis, uh, is famous
for having crew wear name tags so
that she knows their names.
And these are all just like really small ways
to make an impact, to just know who people are,
the people you work with every day.
And it's really shows the fact
that we even know these stories.
A how rare it is and how much it sets you apart,
(02:30):
but be how advantageous it can be just to take a minute
and get to know somebody
and make something about someone other than yourself.
This book encourages a collaborative mindset
acting as a team effort.
The best actors, uh, the best careers are built on strong
and positive relationships.
We talked about it again and again and again.
(02:50):
Uh, the people in your network are
what are gonna move you forward as an actor
and as a business person,
and this book, there's none better at
helping teach those skills.
The next book that I'd like to talk about is Never Eat Alone
by Keith Ferrazzi.
Now, this book is a deep dive into networking
and building meaningful business relationships.
(03:11):
It matters because we've talked about
building a network is first of all one
of the most important skills
that anyone in any business can have.
But second of all, it's a skillset
that doesn't come naturally to a lot of actors.
Actors are typically quite gregarious.
Uh, many actors are outgoing
and extroverted and make friends easily.
(03:31):
Not all actors, but many.
But that's a little bit different than actually building a
and maintaining a professional network.
So this is a book that talks about how to do
that without being fake or transactional.
And anytime people feel like you only reach out
to them when you want something that's going to read,
and it's not going to build a very good relationship.
(03:53):
So in this industry, relationships create opportunities,
and this book teaches you how to foster them.
Key takeaways from this book.
It's not about who you know, it's about who knows you.
I think that is an important takeaway.
It also talks about the value of following up.
You can reach out to any of a number of people,
you can meet any of a number of people.
(04:15):
You can say hello to someone at a film screening
or run into someone at a party.
But if you don't know how to follow up,
which this book will teach you, it's
of incredibly limited value.
So, you know, a simple email
or a coffee can keep you on someone's radar,
and this book teaches techniques to do that.
It also talks about giving before you ask,
(04:35):
or what I like to call leading
with value, leading with service.
How can you provide value to someone
and not just ask for something from them?
And so this talks about how to support others, how
to offer value first
and see the benefits of that come your way.
The next book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
(04:57):
This is an incredibly popular book these days
in all industries.
This book is a guide to making small,
consistent improvements over time, which is something
that we can all use no matter whatever industry.
And it helps with discipline, it helps with, uh,
auditioning, it helps with training,
with marketing yourself, with just getting better sort
(05:18):
of at life, building better systems,
learning better and adapting.
Success isn't about massive action.
Uh, it's about daily habits that move you forward.
And Atomic Habits is specifically about building, creating,
and improving those habits.
Now, key takeaways from this book are number one,
tiny changes lead to build big results, right?
(05:41):
Even setting aside 10 minutes a day to work on a monologue
or, uh, vocal warmups adds up over time.
Talks about habit stacking,
which is when you attach a new habit, like, uh,
checking actors access for instance,
or selfs submitting to an existing one,
like say your morning coffee.
Um, and it also has in, it's the two minute rule,
(06:01):
which means that something like takes less than two
minutes, do it immediately.
Things like that, that are just actionable.
Small things you can do to make small improvements
that over time lead to big changes.
The next books I would like to talk about is the War of Art
by Stephen Pressfield.
Now, you might think I'm talking about the Art
(06:21):
of War, but I'm not.
I'm talking about the War of Art.
This book tackles creative resistance and procrastination.
Stephen Pressfield is a screen play writer, uh,
screenwriter, if you will,
and he talks about his process of avoiding procrastination
and how procrastination is the enemy to art.
(06:43):
Now, I will admit this was a tough read for me personally,
maybe partially because I'm not an artist,
but I think everyone I've talked to who is an artist
who has read this, really resonates with it.
Why it matters for actors specifically is
because, you know, fear, uh, fear over auditions,
uh, self-doubt, creative blocks, fear over networking
(07:06):
or, you know, getting in a new class
or doing something to improve your life.
These are real, and this book helps you push through them.
It helps you get rid of all the excuses that you make,
all the, the things you tell yourself on a day-to-day basis
that you should be doing.
This book, I think inspires you
and pushes you towards showing up every day
because as he says in the book,
(07:27):
showing up every day is half the battle.
You have to put in consistent effort if you want
consistent results.
And this book talks about that, not just waiting
for inspiration to strike.
Key takeaways for this book.
Number one, uh, resistance is the enemy.
So if something feels hard, that is exactly why you need
to do it, because that resistance, that is the enemy,
(07:48):
that is what's going to keep you from moving
forward in your career.
Uh, number two is you gotta treat acting like a profession.
We talk about this all the time on this channel.
Acting is a profession.
You have to show up even when you don't feel like it, right?
If you're a brick layer, you've gotta show up
to the job site every day in lay bricks.
(08:08):
If you are an actor, you have to show up every single day
and work on your craft, work on your business.
And then also fear means that you're on the right path.
That is another big takeaway from this book.
Uh, if you're scared, it's usually a sign
that you're growing, uh, and pushing past that fear.
Getting through that, getting
through those blocks is the key to moving forward.
(08:31):
The next book I would love to talk about is The Lean Startup
by Eric Reese.
This is a book specifically about entrepreneurship, acting
as a business too, as we've talked about
many times on this channel.
And this book helps you treat your career like a business,
not just like an art form.
Again, there are a lot of books about acting technique,
but this is a book that will help you figure out
(08:54):
how you can take that technique,
that product you've built over time and move it forward
and make it something that can change the world.
It teaches adaptability, it teaches something, you know,
that is crucial in an ever changing industry.
Just staying on your toes, knowing what the trends are,
knowing what to avoid, what to adopt, being keyed in
(09:14):
and being flexible and adaptable.
This book covers all of that.
So key takeaways, you wanna test and adjust.
Uh, so just like startups tweak their product offering, um,
you need to experiment with different branding with, with,
uh, different classes, headshots, strategies, things
that you know may not come naturally to you.
(09:35):
You know, if something isn't working, you need
to move on and try something else.
Number two is you don't wanna wait
for the perfect opportunity.
How many times have you been sitting at home?
You're looking through the
breakdowns, like, ah, I don't know.
This one doesn't really speak to me.
Uh, this isn't the, the super.
It's so easy to make excuses to not do the work.
It's so easy to make excuses to not show up.
(09:56):
And this book really talks about don't wait for
that perfect opportunity, right?
You gotta get your work out there.
Um, you have to, you know, self produce if necessary,
whatever it takes to get your product onto
the proverbial market.
And then number three, your career is a long-term
game, right?
Success doesn't happen overnight.
It's about consistent action over time.
(10:18):
But the longer you wait to start
or the longer you wait to get serious about it,
the longer it's going to take.
There's a domino effect to action.
If you create action right now, it knocks over
that next domino and that next domino
and that next domino taking action,
early understanding it's a long-term game,
and that you need to start earlier than later.
(10:39):
Uh, that's a big thing that this book teaches.
The next book I would like to talk about is Grit
by Angela Duckworth.
This is a study on perseverance
and resilience, why it matters for actors.
Well, acting careers are built on persistence.
Talent is great, but grit is what keeps you going
after a hundred auditions.
(10:59):
Uh, it's a business about failure,
but every business is a business about failure, right?
Auditions that don't go anywhere.
Submissions that don't result in auditions.
Agents saying, no, managers saying no, producers saying no.
There's a lot of failure built into this.
And you need grit and determination
and resilience to push past that.
(11:20):
This book is fantastic for that. Some key takeaways.
Number one, passion plus perseverance equals success.
Now, that should really speak, I think, to most actors.
Not quitting is a superpower.
Pushing through resistance is a superpower.
Just stay on your feet.
Every rejection is a step towards the right role.
(11:42):
So if something didn't happen for you,
that wasn't the right role for you,
but you need to keep going
because you will find
that right role if you can just stay on your
feet, stay in the game.
The last takeaway is really just
that effort matters more than raw ability.
Hard work beats talent when the talent
doesn't work hard, right?
Make the effort, put in the time, have the grit,
(12:03):
the determination, the resilience.
This is a fantastic book.
So to recap, these books aren't about
acting at all actually.
They're about mindset.
They're about habits, and they're about relationships.
And those things make acting careers possible.
You still have to lock down the acting.
You still have to get great at acting, you have
to be in class, you have to be putting out work,
(12:24):
but there are so many other parts to it, right?
You have to be networking, you have to, you have
to be productive, you have to be able to brand your product.
Uh, you have to have resilience.
These are all important and all crucial for success.
If you got value outta this episode,
click that thumbs up button.
And hey, why don't you subscribe while you're at it?
Click that notification bill,
(12:45):
you get alerted every single time we have a new episode.
My name is Anthony Boyer. Thank you so much for joining us.
This has been Take Fountain.
Thanks so much for watching.
I sent video, but you get alerted
every time we have a new episode.
Uh, anyway, my name is Anthony Boyer. You've been watching.
(13:15):
I could smell the barn. Damn it. Okay.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.