nadia

I'm doing a research project on method acting, and I'd like to get the opinions of actors and actresses, directors, critics, etc, worldwide. If you'd like to help me, please answer the following questions in a post or send them to me in a message to nadia_luijten@yahoo.com. I would be sooooo grateful for any replies, as the more answers i get, the more thorough my findings and conclusion can be!

1) Occupation?

2) What is your definition of method acting?

3) Have you ever practiced method acting before? If so, what techniques?

4) Many theatre practitioners don't believe in method acting, and think it is impossible. What do you think?

5) In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of method acting?


Thanx so much for your time!!

Russjns

1) Actor
2) From what I understand, at it's basic level it is when you BECOME the character you are playing. You believe that you are the person you are playing.

3)I've never practiced the method. I use Meisner, and have studied Adler and Stanislavski

4) I also think it's impossible. You will ALWAYS be "you" at your core, there is no way to 100% believe that you are someone else. If that were the case, then who brings you back to being you? If you ARE this other person, then who tells that other person that you are now going to be yourself again? It seems that if you were truly successful at the method, then you would be legitimately crazy.

5) The pros of it are that it opens a person up to getting rid of their nerves. By tricking themselves into thinking they are the character, they rid themselves of personal self-doubt. Because they aren't thinking about themselves...they are thinking like their character would. The cons of this method are that it is a false reality created by the actor that can lead to extreme frustration. What happens when the actor cannot trick themselves during a role? What happens if they get onstage and they CAN'T BECOME the other character? What acting tools will they fall back on? It's pretty much a do or die technique....it seems.

This is my opinion based on the limitted knowledge that I have of this technique. HOpe it helps.

__________________
Russ
My website
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mark27

I don't know, but if you to go to try out for a really good part in hollywood and you tell the casting agent or whoever does the casting that you are a method actor . I wouldn't. Its derogatory. I think a good thing to keep in mind is acting is getting through the embarrassment.

Billy1970

1) Director

2) Method Acting is based loosely on Stanislavsky's method, but utilizes 'Sense Memory' for emotional preparation. Stanislavsky himself experimented with 'sense memory' for the better part of his career and abandoned it for being unreliable.

'Sense Memory' in a nut-shell being the use of personal memories to affect and achieve appropriate emotional preparedness before engaging in a scene. Stanislavsky (as well as Adler and Meisner) eventually realized that personal memories and experiences alter greatly with the passage of time, as in, what mattered to you a great deal when you were four may present very little 'emotional' impact at the age of 45.

As it is based on personal experience, the preponderance of modern adherants tend to subject themselves to all manner of potentially dangerous situations to achieve a truly realistic experience to draw from. This has manifested in such things as experimental drug use (which actually lead to addiction and death in the case of River Phoenix) and placing themselves into actual, immediate physical stresses or harm.

A famous story regarding Dustin Hoffman (a purported 'method' actor) during the filming of 'The Marathon Man' tells of Mr. Hoffman running all around Manhatten during filming to force himself into a true state of exhaustion (which would be true for the character as well.) Sir Laurence Olivier on seeing this behaviour is quoted as saying "Good Lord man, just act."

3) I have not used 'The Method' to act.

4) I think it can be a valuable tool, and many excellent actors are staunch supporters. Me personally, I find it too dangerous and limiting to achieve a safe and more importantly, sane acting career.

5) The pros are very realistic performances based on actual, lived experiences. The cons are potential mental and physical harm from engaging in dangerous behaviour and unreliable performances.

Hope this helps and good luck on the research project!

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Hyburn

my two cents again

I find method acting(by stanislavsky) to be usefull for the actor in general, but my skin is way to thick and I find for instance. that crying is extremely hard to pull off. it states that you should think of something that makes you sad. what do you do if nothing makes you sad....heres what I do. I stay up later than usual the night before im supposed to cry on set...that makes me extra tired, and really really ready to cry. then just before I'm supposed to cry I think about how I could loose this job if I dont cry right now. every time...water works. and its always easier to ease up on your crying....heres what i mean. if the director says more tears, its harder to produce more tears than it is to hold back.

thats just my way of doing it.

strasbergs method works for some, but I guess it all depends on your teacher. if its not taught properly you really dont get the understanding needed to use it properly.

I hope this has been helpful to at least 1 person.

best of luck to you all. and remember


put your heart and soul into acting and I guarantee you will succeed

Sincerely,

J. Andrew Roussakis

Thranduil

To me, personally it works and ... i like it. Its the Technique i learned and its the Technique i believe in. You know, as for "being" the Role and believing you are not yourself, but the Character you play. Every time i start to build a new Role i ask myself one simple Question: What would I (the physical Thranduil) be like, if i grew up with the same people and an the same eniviroment the Character did, what would i be like if i had the same Experiences the Character had .. and so on .. one simple question, and the range of possibilities is boundless from this very first moment on - The Rest is up your Talent, your Imagination - and the Methods Technique help you to put all your Ideas into the whole Package. The Ideas, the Imagination and the Talent you have is the Material you work with and the Techniques are the Tools to convert the Material, the way you want it to be. And it works that way. But, i developed the Techniques with a Teacher - i dont think its dangerous for anyone to learn it alone (by books) but it's useless - If you wanna go into Method Acting, you need a Techer to develop properly, someone who watches and gives you the advices you need to improve.