The Actor
- Author Chris MacDonald
- Narrator Chris MacDonald
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date 18 January 2024
- Run Time 9 hours and 34 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Acting techniques, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Sense of place, The Arts, Thriller / suspense fiction.
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS, HE MUST SACRIFICE EVERYTHING . . .
An original thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession
Actor Adam Sealey owes his Oscar nomination to mentor Jonathan Dors. It was Jonathan who trained him in the Method: digging deep into personal trauma in pursuit of the greatest performance.
It gets results.
But there’s a price.
For Adam, it cost him the love of his life.
And then there’s what happened twenty years ago.
An awful secret he’s buried deep inside.
Yet as Oscar night beckons, someone is threatening to dig up the truth.
Adam is finally in the spotlight that he craved for so long.
But it might just mean the world is watching as everything falls apart . . .
‘This compelling psychological thriller set in the acting world is both uncompromising and unsettling, with deeply layered characters and a narrative voice that grabs you from the opening line and won’t let you go’ Alex Michaelides, author of The Silent Patient
‘A compulsive thriller . . . very, very moving, I adored it’ Abigail Dean
‘Twisty, compulsive fun’ i
‘A barnstorming performance' The Times
‘A brilliantly twisted (and twisting) tale . . . I loved it’ Mat Osman
‘Brilliantly evoked, totally compelling. A first-class thriller’ Daily Mail
‘Brilliant, dark, immersive, and ultimately hugely satisfying’ Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
©2024 Chris MacDonald (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Critics Review
Brilliantly evoked, totally compelling. A first-class thriller
This compelling psychological thriller set in the acting world is both uncompromising and unsettling, with deeply layered characters and a narrative voice that grabs you from the opening line and won’t let you go. Fascinating.
A barnstorming performance
Twisty, compulsive fun
The Actor is both a compulsive thriller and a fascinating insight into the world of method acting. Chris MacDonald’s writing captures it all, and beautifully: from the glamour of Hollywood to the grunge of 90s Camden. It’s also very, very moving, packed with characters both lovable and entirely detestable. I adored it.
Ego and ambition, guilt and redemption collide in this masterfully plotted and beautifully written psychological thriller. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the page.
A darkly dazzling and glamorously wicked thriller. Take a bow, Chris MacDonald.
Brilliant, dark, immersive, and ultimately hugely satisfying
What an incredibly tense, immersive debut. I was completely absorbed by this window into the world of method acting and the dark, twisted consequences of such intense commitment. A bravura performance from MacDonald – I didn’t want it to end.
An intense, absorbing read about the danger of sacrificing everything for your art, with echoes – in its fascinating depiction of the relationship between student and mentor – of The Secret History and Black Swan.
| Author | Chris MacDonald |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Chris MacDonald |
| Duration | 9 hours and 34 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9781405960625 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Genre | Acting techniques, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Sense of place, The Arts, Thriller / suspense fiction |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE |
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