Have you observed in certain Hollywood actors signs of depression, anxiety, and addiction, reckless or even bipolar behavior? If you are a performer, have you ever felt depleted after a role? Have you ever gone though a small depression bout or post-partum syndrome after a play or a film? Do you sometimes feel that a character you’re playing is not leaving you alone, even long after the performances are over? Do you, at other times, feel such an intense resonance with a part that you have a hard time cracking that role? These could all be the symptoms and characteristics of an ignored – but very real – condition: Post-Performance Stress.

Emmanuelle Chaulet is an international film actress and theatre director, Fulbright scholar, adjunct faculty/artist in residence at the University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre, and included in Who’s Who in America. In her new book – A Balancing Act, the development of Energize! A holistic approach to acting – she makes the passionate plea that actors are exposed to such an intense roller coaster of emotions in their job, that they are subject to post-performance stress. Acting schools, she argues, are not effectively teaching them how to deal with this issue. For that reason, she spent ten years researching a brand new holistic approach to solve it.

Emmanuelle Chaulet started as a young actress in Paris and was soon discovered by renowned filmmaker Eric Rohmer, who gave her the lead role in Boyfriends and Girlfriends. Later she moved to New York City to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and starred in Jon Jost’s All The Vermeers in New York, named best independent film of its year. Her career was taking off, but while she was a very sensitive and talented actress, acclaimed by critics such as Vincent Canby of The NY times, she started to emotionally burn out. Demanding roles took their toll on her wellbeing and balance. Finding no answers in acting schools, she decided to leave the profession to avoid the intensity of the stage and became a director.

But soon she noticed that other actors had the same issues. She then set herself on a mission to discover successful methods of relief. Enthused by her studies in Energy Healing modalities, she became a certified energy healing practitioner. Finally, she started developing her own technique, teaching classes and workshops, giving coaching sessions and eventually writing a book to share her knowledge.

Far from the popular “acting boot camps” Emmanuelle Chaulet advocates a gentle approach, recommending self-care, self-love and using meditation and holistic techniques to manage the ever-flying emotions in an actor’s life. She calls her technique Energize! a holistic approach to acting.

She says: “actors must not only train their bodies, their minds and their voices, but also their energetic systems and consider their instruments as an integrated whole, with mind, body and spirit connections. Ignoring the energetic system is like ignoring the part of the iceberg that lies below the waterline. The energetic system is a terrific tool that enables actors to feel and express at a whole other level, increasing their creativity, while safely rebalancing their emotions after performance.”

In A Balancing Act, she teaches actors about the human bio-energetic field, explains how it functions and how intensely related to the emotions it is. Using case studies, and information from polarity therapy, RYSE® (realizing your sublime energies), Reiki, Voice Dialogue, heart and brain research, sacred geometry and quantum physics, she clearly demonstrates the incredible importance of the energetic system for performers. The book gives a complete detailed method for pre-show preparation and post-show closure, also explaining how to clear the various blocks in the way of best performance, how to use sub-personalities for better character portrayal, and how to connect with and reclaim your Highest Creative Self and the energetic essence of your character.

A Balancing Act offers a truly refreshing view on acting, honoring Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov and Lee Strasberg techniques, while pushing the reader far beyond these traditional methods, and into the invisible energetic realm.

Here are some reactions from professionals on A Balancing Act:

“Truly some of the freshest and most innovative 21st century contributions to the art of acting,” says Mel Shrawder, NYC AEA/SAG actor, former Head of Performance at the University of Miami and currently faculty at Michael Chekhov Acting Studio in New York.

Lisa Dalton, Co-founder, International Michael Chekhov Association, Award-Winning Actor/Producer/Director and Co-founder and Certifying Board, National Michael Chekhov Association wrote the Foreword. She says:

“It is rare to find a subject that urgently needs to be discussed and about which too little is written. The need to train the entire being of the performing artist is just such a subject. Emmanuelle Chaulet’s A Balancing Act is a godsend to performing artists of any sort. Knowing how to Energize allows us to endure and even thrive during the rise and fall, the constant state of transformation, the juggling of feelings, styles, jobs, and colleagues while maintaining an even keel.”

Sean O'Connor, NY actor, award-winning playwright (Circle Rep, La Mama) and winner of Hollywood’s prestigious American Accolades Award comments:

"A groundbreaking book written by a groundbreaking artist. Ms. Chaulet uses her vast experience as an actor and director to offer both a brilliant book on the craft of acting, and a comprehensive guide to the very difficult act of rebalancing the artist's energies once the performance is over. A MUST for any serious, contemporary performer."