In Caught in the Act, critically acclaimed photographer Howard Schatz explores what happens when an actor transforms ideas or words on a page to performance. Schatz set up one-on-one improvisations with 85 actors--including Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jeff Daniels, Sissy Spacek, Mariska Hargitay, Hugh Laurie, John Malkovich, Michael Douglas, Colin Firth and Jane Lynch--through an amazing group of scenarios, creating powerful portraits of each subject, along with comprehensive interviews about the creative process.
Schatz's job was to inspire the actors, guiding them with suggested one-line scenarios; they responded in a spirit of play, forgetting the camera or the script. An idea for John Goodman: "It's Hallowe'en and you're greeting a bunch of little trick-or-treaters at the door in a way you figure they'll never forget." The resulting picture shows they won't. --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.