Rare Stamps, by Terence Stamp--selected excerpts

Rare Stamps offers a revealing insight into the life of an actor and the making of a man. Beginning with an Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd in 1962, Terence Stamp was called "the most beautiful man alive," only to be discarded at the end of the decade with the words, "we're looking for a younger Terence Stamp." Soul searching, he traveled alone through India, staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel while studying above a public lavatory with a chain smoking guru, only to wind up back in London and broke by 1984.

Stamp's has been a journey rich with characters and adventure, and nothing has gone to waste. From dining in Paris with Orson Welles to working with Marlon Brando; being directed by Steven Soderbergh or acting beside Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise and Matt Damon, Stamp has become an unbiased observer of his own life and the lessons gleaned from it.

He writes about an actor's intuition, confronting fear, developing the voice, learning the words and surrendering to the moment in order to achieve the nearly mystical 'first take' in a style that is both personal and captivating, but perhaps the real beauty of Rare Stamps is that, time after time, he returns to a theme that has become his mantra for life,

"Everything you need is in this moment."

Escargot Books, the publisher, is delighted to offer excerpts from this book for the enjoyment of readers who may have yet to discover this world-renown actor's wonderful books on the acting life.