This two-volume set presents detailed interpretations of singular performances by several of the most compelling actors in cinema history, asking in many different and complementary ways what makes performance meaningful, how it reflects a director's style, as well as how it contributes to the development of national cinemas and cultures. Whether noting the precise ways actors shape film narrative, achieve emotional effect, or move toward political subversion, the essays in these books innovate new approaches to studying screen performance as an art form and cultural force.

This volume focuses on American cinema, including case studies of key performances from actors like Bette Davis, Irene Dunne, Whoopi Goldberg, Cary Grant, Oscar Isaac, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sellers, Kristen Stewart, and Ethel Waters, amongst many others.

Contributors: Brenda Austin-Smith (University of Manitoba), Rebecca Bell-Metereau (Texas State University), Charles Ramírez Berg (University of Texas at Austin), Janet Bergstrom (UCLA), John Bruns (College of Charleston), Alex Clayton (University of Bristol), Shonni Enelow (Fordham University), Anna Everett (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lucy Fischer (University of Pittsburgh), Lester D. Friedman (Hobart and William Smith Colleges), Frances Gateward (California State University Northridge), David Greven (University of South Carolina), Jason Jacobs (University of Queensland), Elliott Logan (University of Queensland, Brisbane), Douglas McFarland (Flagler College, Saint Augustine), Adrienne L. McLean (University of Texas at Dallas), R. Barton Palmer (Clemson University), Homer B. Pettey (University of Arizona), Murray Pomerance (Ryerson University), William Rothman (University of Miami), Steven Rybin (Minnesota State University, Mankato), Kyle Stevens (Appalachian State University), George Toles (University of Manitoba), Daniel Varndell (University of Winchester), Timotheus Vermeulen (University of Oslo), Rick Warner (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)