Method Acting and its Influence

Bernadett Blázsi

Prescott-Pickup Francis Julian

BAN 4007

13. December 2016.

Method Acting and Its Influence

In the seventies, Dustin Hoffman was preparing for a scene for the film, Marathon Man. The character did not sleep for three days, therefore Hoffman decided to avoid sleeping as well, for three days in order to produce real emotions. When he arrived to the set, Laurence Olivier, his co-star was sitting comfortably in his chair, looked at the tired Dustin and asked what had happened to him. He explained the situation and Olivier replied with the often quoted sentence: “Why not try acting? It’s much easier.” However, Dustin Hoffman later explained that the conversation was absolutely misunderstood, the story became a legend and is a perfect example to highlight the differences between classical and method acting. Some say that method acting today has reached its peak and there is a great deal of controversy about it among critics whether the method acting is about marketing and awards or about creating a good performance. In this essay I am going to write about the history of method acting and how it influenced actors from the 20^th century to the 21^st.

The History of Method Acting

The history of method acting dates back to the first half of the 20^th century, when actor and director Lee Strasberg popularized it in the United States. However, the origins of method acting arrived from Russia by Constantin Stanislavski, he was not interested in filmmaking. Therefore, the idea had to be carried on by Lee Strasberg and other actors and teachers, for example Stella Adler. The technique itself is basically to not only play, but to be the character. Before method acting “stage acting was mostly declaiming, superficial gestures, exaggerated expression, loud voices, theatrical elocution and unfelt emotion.” (Brando). Marlon Brando was one of the first and most famous examples of method acting. His teacher was Stella Adler, who collected her knowledge from Stanislavski himself. Therefore, Brando learnt from the greatest artists and with his talent they were able to change the history of acting.  

Examples of method acting

In Brando’s biographical book he had his own opinion about Adler’s teachings: “What Stella taught for her students was how to discover the nature of their own emotional mechanics and therefore those of others. She taught me to be real and not to try act out an emotion I didn’t personally experience during a performance.” (Brando). Brando, even preparing for his first film role used the basics of method acting: in 1950 film, The Men he had to play a young veteran who lost the use of his legs and in order to play the role convincingly he stayed in a military hospital in a wheelchair where most of the patients and members of the hospital had no idea he is actually completely healthy. In this way he had an inner view of the lives of men in wheelchairs and this helped him to play the role authentically. Brando often refused perfect speaking while shooting for a simple reason: everyday people do not speak in a perfect way, as well. For instance in the film The Streetcar Named Desire, his character was a strong, brute, working-class man, called Stanley Kowalski, so Brando was chewing gum while speaking and mumbling, which made him more real to the audience. Brando was constantly trying to be as natural while acting as possible. In Young Lions and in The Godfather he saved some time for himself by not learning his lines and placed small notes around him from where he could read. It is might be the sign of laziness, but also with this technique, without the knowledge of his next line he was able to act in a more natural way. He was definitely one of the greatest actors who approached to his roles in a psychological way.

As the 21^st century has arrived method acting has been going towards extremes. The latest example is Jared Leto, whose extreme method acting technique divides the critics, whether he is truly elhivatott for acting or it is simply a great advertising for his films. He often gained and lost weight for the sake of his roles, for example, in Chapter 27 he gained approximately 60 pounds, when he played Mark Chapman, the assassin of John Lennon. Some years later he played the role of Rayon, a drug addict, transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club and again, he lost about 30 pounds. For this transformation and authentic acting he won an Oscar with which his hard work was appreciated. Despite his success, there is a great deal of controversy about his latest role, Joker in the Suicide Squad. His commitment is for playing the character is understandable, since his predecessors as Joker were respected actors, such as Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. Jared decided to transform into the character of Joker in a way no one else did before him. He sent unpleasant gifts for his colleagues, for example rats, dead pigs and bullets. Even before the film hit the cinemas almost everyone knew about his behaviourand created a huge interest among people towards Suicide Squad. Therefore, it is not a surprise that some competents' opinion is that Jared made a campaign for the film and made method acting too far.

Conclusion

In conclusion, method acting is an exciting way of playing a character, however, in my opinion, the classic acting of the 1930’s and 1940’s is definitely not wrong, it is only different. Moreover, the classic actors, such as Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable are still important names in the history of cinema with their evergreen films and prominent quotes.

Works Cited

 Marlon Brando, Robert Lindsey. Songs My Mother Taught Me. New York: Random House, 1994.

Wikipedia contributors. "Method acting." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Oct. 2016.

Eugene. New York Film Academy. 15. August 2015. https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/answer-what-is-method-acting/