What the Actions the Actors Thesaurus Actually Is
It is a reference book for actors and directors that lists action verbs organized by the type of behavior they describe. Not every actor needs one, but if you are in a rehearsal room running scenes with people who have different vocabularies, having a shared list of concrete action words cuts the time spent circling around "what are we doing here" down to a fraction of what it normally takes. The one I use most often comes from Taylor & Francis, edited by various contributors across editions. It is not a single-author vanity project with a few pages of filler. Each section covers a category — physical action, emotional action, social action, mental action, and so on — and gives you dozens of verbs with brief definitions and example phrases. The entries are practical. They are written by people who have worked in rehearsal rooms, not by theorists who have only read about them. The ISBN is 978-0-415-94369-1 for the standard hardcover edition. You can order it from university bookshops, Amazon, or direct from the Routledge site. It is not cheap, which is why I tend to recommend checking it out from a drama department library first before buying. A second edition expanded the sections and added a few categories that the original omitted, so if you are choosing between editions go with the newer one.
Here is the thing most beginners miss about using an action thesaurus. You do not pick a word and then act it. You pick a word, run it through the scene, and see if it generates something useful. The verb is a tool for discovery, not a prescription. "To charm" might lead to nothing on its own, but "to charm with a joke that is not quite funny" can open up an entire choice. The thesaurus gives you the vocabulary. Your choices come from testing them in the moment. I ran into a specific problem last year on a short film where the director and I disagreed on the action of a particular scene. The script called for "she tries to get him to confess." Standard. Boring. I suggested we look it up in the thesaurus to see what else was possible. We ended up choosing "to extract" instead of "to get." It sounded small, but it changed the whole physical posture of the performer. She stopped leaning in with open hands and started sitting back, letting him come to her. The confession scene became about patience instead of pressure. That change came directly from finding a word that felt more specific than the script direction. Another thing that surprises people is how much overlap there is between the categories. A single action can live in multiple sections. "To betray" might appear under social actions and also under emotional actions, because it can mean something different depending on the context. The index is useful for this. Instead of browsing by category, look up the concept you are trying to express and see what other sections mention it.
There are limitations worth stating plainly. The book assumes you already know basic acting vocabulary. If you are completely new to scene study, the entries can feel abstract until you have some rehearsal experience. The definitions are brief by design, and some of the examples feel dated — the language in the earlier sections reflects older theatrical conventions. Also, the book does not cover film-specific action, like camera-aware blocking or technical cues. It is focused on the performer's internal and external choices, not the mechanics of a shoot. If you need something that bridges the gap between stage actions and camera work, pair it with a directing book like those by Peter Brook or Michael Chekhov. Neither will replace the thesaurus, but together they cover more of what you actually encounter in a production environment. How to use it in a rehearsal: print out the relevant pages instead of carrying the book around. Most sessions only need a handful of categories. Highlight the verbs that resonate, cross out the ones that feel forced, and take notes on what each option generates. The physical act of marking the page makes it easier to remember which choices you explored. Digital versions exist but they lack the quick-reference value of a dog-eared paperback.
Get the Full Details
Cost-wise, expect to pay between $40 and $60 for the hardcover. Used copies run lower, sometimes well under $20, but condition varies. The digital edition is available from most academic databases at a similar price point, and it is searchable, which is worth considering if you look things up frequently. I have both formats because the print version sits on my shelf during rehearsals and the digital copy lives on my laptop when I am scouting roles. A few categories tend to be more useful than others. Physical actions like "to soothe," "to provoke," and "to retreat" come up constantly. Emotional actions are trickier because they depend heavily on context — "to grieve" means something very different in a funeral scene versus a breakup scene. The thesaurus does not account for that variability, so you end up adapting the definition yourself. That is normal and expected. For students and workshop actors, this book is worth the investment. For professionals who already have a personal vocabulary built up from years of scene study, it functions more as a quick reference than a foundational text. Neither outcome is bad. It just means you should calibrate your expectations based on where you are in your career.
One edge case: some performers find that relying too heavily on an action thesaurus makes their work feel mechanical if they treat every moment as a verb to execute. The fix is simple — use it in preparation, then let it go during performance. The word stays in your head as a guiding intention, not as a checklist. I have seen actors flip back to the book mid-rehearsal and start acting out definitions instead of living the scene. That is not the intended use, and it shows. Overall, the Actions the Actors Thesaurus does what it claims to do without overreaching. It is not a comprehensive acting manual. It is a focused reference tool for one specific part of the process. When you know what that part is, it is genuinely useful.
