Backstage

London's brilliance, and the enormous effect he had on his students, is captured in Special Thanks to Roy London.

 Roy London's brilliance, and the enormous effect he had on his students, is captured in the documentary Special Thanks to Roy London. The work features interviews with more than 50 well-known actors who studied with London and who credit him in large part for their success.

Among them: Geena Davis, who thanked London in her acceptance speech after winning an Oscar for The Accidental Tourist; Sharon Stone, who did the same after winning a Golden Globe for Casino; and Garry Shandling, who insisted that the final credit on every episode of The Larry Sanders Show read "Special Thanks to Roy London." That's where the documentary got its title.

While there is some biographical information, including several touching stories about his illness and death, the film's primary focus is the master teacher's innovative ideas about acting.

Tim Healey, London's life partner during his final decade, notes in the film that London would regularly ask actors a difficult question: Are you willing to learn something about yourself, through the story, while the camera is rolling?

"What he meant was, all of your life is available to your work," Healey says. "If you're willing to bring all that you know to bear on what you're doing, then your work will have all of the interest and color and texture that a full life has."

London taught his students that to give a great performance, you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable, admit you don't have all the answers, and be open and responsive to what is happening in the moment.

"There's a wonderful moment in one of the interviews where London says, 'I just know about acting. Life? Who knows?' But if you look at the trajectory of his life," Monger notes, "here is a guy who was doing what he was teaching people. He was this extraordinary life force."

Tom Jacobs

BACKSTAGE

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