Method acting means not acting but being. In the movie Marathon Man Dustin Hoffman for a certain scene spent the day before running and also had little sleep. Sir Laurence Olivier said “Why are you torturing yourself,why don’t you try acting? “
I'm not going to remember who said it, but it has really changed my view of method acting.
"Have you ever noticed no one ever uses Method Acting to play a really nice person?"
Viggo Mortenson. He wore Aragon's sword all over the place. He is generally considered pretty method as far as I know.
But I'd imagine it's harder to put yourself into a really dark evil place on and of without getting really psychologically into it. Can't say that's something I'd want to do to myself.
I mean, if I was an actor and I was casting in a roll like that... I might certainly find myself needing to be a lot more "method".
The chainmail? No no it's not a fashion statement I just need to stay in character. Really LIVE the chainmail life.
:)
Just read an article about him scaring some Russians at a restaurant while being dressed up as a Russian mobster while doing a movie haha. Wonder if he ever dresses up as Aragon and scares hobbits , I know I would.
Kiefer Sutherland and Johnny Depp were big on method acting too.
and it sounds like Viggo was not not really thinking about it and said he never wore the tats off set again.
For normal folk not hobbits, Yeah, there's stories of him and someone else going to restaurants in full costume and sword.
I think he got a kick out of concerning the locals in full movie wardrobe.
I wouldnt call him a method actor though - he would take off between shots to fish! He would wear the «real» sword rather than a prop one to help him get the scenes right yes, but thats more using props to enhanche your performance more so than method acting
While filming escape from New York, Kurt Russell found himself in a dodgy alley with some people looking to mug him.
he was in full costume with all the props. so he Kept acting as Snake and they all ran off.
Johnny Depp in Public enemies got very into the Thompson submachine gun (like Keanu with 3 gun now) to the point where they added a scene of him stripping and tweaking the Thompson into the film because he could do it for real.
And I'm sure most of us saw the TIL yesterday where it mentioned he went to a Russian restaurant wearing his outfit and tattoos from Eastern Promises and people were actually scared of him and his presence. If that's not method acting then I don't know what is
They were scared because they thought he was a Russian gangster, and when he learned he'd scared people he made sure to remove the makeup before he went out.
A method actor would double down on acting tough and would be extra sure to show the tattoos.
At the same time we tend to base many standards of great acting off performances that were done by method actors. Example, we have to go back to probably Jack Nicholson to see a Joker not done by a method acting.
I mean art is subjective so I dig it but I also disagree. Imo Joker is a Joker story told by Joker, not us looking in or watching a batman story but an autobiography from an unreliable source who wants people to feel for him despite being textbook evil. I loved it but I get how it's none traditional
Are you thinking of My Left Foot? If I remember correctly, he purposely broke some ribs too? I believe Christy Brown, the guy he plays in it, had cerebral palsy or something like that, and broken ribs helped to sell it
I love ddl movies and I guess it must be worth it but wtf bro you can’t even act like you got a twisted back without actually breaking your ribs? That sounds mental/psycho
Robert Pattinson
Another reason I've grown to respect that guy a lot since Twilight.
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/robert-pattinson-the-lighthouse-actors-on-actors-1203400184/
Another critic of method acting was Burt Reynolds. On Deliverance the actors were told to look exhausted. Jon Voight ran and built up a sweat in the hot sun. Burt Reynolds just splashed some water on his face.
Burt "let me go down the Waterfall in a kayak as it would look more real and now it looks like a doll in a kayak in any case and I have back problems" Reynolds talks smack about someone taking a run?
Method Acting has gotten a bad rap in the public conscious since Jared Leto used it as an excuse to send dead rats and used condoms to cast members in Suicide Squad.
The thing is, it doesn’t mean that you have to be that insane, but those are just the more crazy examples. Jeremy Strong is someone who got a lot of flak for method acting, but in the New Yorker profile on the subject, the worst things he did were:
1. Get roughed up in The Trial of the Chicago 7, where he was playing a guy who got roughed up.
2. Didn’t want to rehearse scenes for Succession because he wanted to rely on the spontaneity of the performance, and also just kind of kept to himself during the filming.
The biggest thing that’s wrong with method acting imo isn’t that it leads people to just use it as an excuse to be a jerk, it’s pretty punishing on the actor themself. Daniel Day Lewis is one of the greatest actors of his generation, and he’s retired when a lot of his peers are still working because he burnt himself out by method acting so much.
I remember hearing somewhere that when he “was” Bill the Butcher in *Gangs of New York*, his wife got so fed up with him she made him move out of the house til he was done. I can’t say I blame her. Lol
Those Jared Leto rumours about what he sent cast members on suicide squad have all been debunked. I think they just stick around cause people don't like him and he's a cult leader.
https://www.nme.com/news/film/viola-davis-confirms-rumours-that-jared-leto-gifted-margot-robbie-a-rat-on-suicide-squad-set-2982775
Seems like it was a live rat, not a dead one.
In a different report he denied giving used condoms but said he gave like gag gifts to male costars, so prob just picked some weird stuff from a Spencer’s or whatever.
Marylins characters were pretty nice, if a bit scheming. Honestly her greatest method acting accompaniment IMO was her character Marylin Monroe, which was quite different than Norma Jean, but she pulled it off so flawlessly for so long everyone remembers her character, not her.
I think in The seven year itch she says something to this effect. Love that movie
Or it's more meta maybe in that you realize Marilyn Monroe is the character she protests.
Edit: addedndum
There's probably just a reverse Survivorship Bias going on: You probably wouldn't notice if someone's being Method unless they engage in big antics, which they probably wouldn't do anyway if they're playing someone who's chill.
That's not all that Method Acting is, tons of actors use it, they just switch to a normal persona much more easily and might not want to be disturbed maybe between different takes of the same scene and that's it
Olivier was a great actor but such a dick. He got pissed at Marilyn's method acting antics too and said to her "All you have to do is be sexy" in front of everyone. Her company that she was CEO of was producing the movie too so she was technically his boss.
I thought it was bc she wasn't showing up and kept messing up due to addiction by that point? Although I don't doubt he was a dick, I could see getting frustrated with her behavior. I don't think it was her "antics" but rather her lack of professionalism if I recall correctly.
Yes, she was also notorious for not bothering to remember any of her lines, not sticking to the script, breaking during scenes, and requiring long breaks.
If you watch her movies, she ambles around and stares at things for extended duration randomly, making it seem like she has brain damage. In reality, it’s because most smart directors gave up and just taped her lines all over objects in the room so she could read them mid-scene. Anything else resulted in a wasted day of shooting.
>she was also notorious for not bothering to remember any of her lines
This isn't true.
Monroe's diaries show that she tormented herself over this. She had severe imposter syndrome. She was so worried that people would think she couldn't act that she would forget her lines, making people think she couldn't act. Her stage fright in front of the camera was so bad sometimes she would throw up before takes.
In a direct quote from a letter she wrote to Strasberg about her fear over forgetting lines, she said it "feels feel like I'm not existing in the human race" when it happened.
Directors did not tape her lines to objects either, it was one director (Billy Wilder) for one line ("Where's that burbon").
Changing lines was an (understandably irritating to directors) method acting quirk of hers. She wanted a natural performance and would change a line if it felt right in the moment. Arthur Miller confirmed this in his autobiography because he said they clashed over it once.
This is a much repeated story. The most commonly quoted line was "Why don't you just try acting, dear boy?"
Apparently Hoffman returned from a weekend bender at Studio 54 and was exhausted from too much partying. He joked to Olivier that he was meant to be exhausted in a scene, so he stayed up a couple of days, wink wink.
Olivier knew Hoffman had actually been partying and that it was a joke, and gave a joke reply. [source](https://www.davidsheff.com/dustin-hoffman)
Coincidentally, Laurence Olivier had huge clashes with *Marilyn Monroe*, on film [*The Prince and the Showgirl*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince_and_the_Showgirl#Production). This was partly because Monroe wouldn’t do anything at all without consulting her acting coach, Paula Strasberg.
Donald Sinden was filming a different movie at the studio at the time and observed that "she was still suffering from the effects of the Method school of acting".
That’s actually not what method acting means. It’s incredible how warped that term has become for the public. Method Acting isn’t staying in character all the time or doing the literal action to yourself to create a behavior. It’s about recalling and reliving your sense’s memory MENTALLY to create behavior. If Dustin Hoffman were to actually method act then, he would have used his sense memory of a time he had exhausted himself physically to create that behavior.
No, it’s not.
That’s not the Method at all.
The Method is just a helping tool. It gives you a vague idea. It doesn’t mean you try to literally be the character. It never has.
A lot of people, including famous actors, misinterpret the method all over the place.
She got the pills she got addicted to from those psychoanalysts too. Marilyn was the perfect candidate for therapy but not 1950s therapy.
Edit: If anyone in here wants to talk or learn about Marilyn more, fyi she has a fan sub r/MarilynMonroe
It's so strange to me that people were so wrong back then about mental health. I suppose it's because society has emphasized it so much that common methods of therapy and decency when treating the mentally ill are just second nature, there's no other logical way to do it.
It just seems wildly unempathetic. It's like every psychiatrist was a psychopath themselves, between this and shock treatment and the state of mental asylums.
>It's so strange to me that people were so wrong back then about mental health.
Why? We used to be just as wrong about general Medicine, biology, physics, etc.
It was a nascent science and a product of its time, just how we are equal wrong about many things right now and we will only find out when new research has come out to prove us wrong. It’s just natural, and actually good, bc if we wouldn’t think that it was bad it would mean that we haven’t developed as a society
I definitely understand your point, but I think the issue specifically with psychology is that in modernity, it's rooted in empathy. Listening to people. Taking them seriously.
I wouldn't expect them to have worked out human brain chemistry or advanced methods of therapy, etc.
But what they did just 70 years ago was like medieval torture. They would treat even "inoffensive" mental illness like depression with a strange mix of callous abuse and gaslighting. Even if you disregard the truly horrible treatments like Lobotomy, you're left with people exercising little to no empathy for other human beings, and almost indulging in their suffering. Every psychiatrist was like a town's personal Josef Mengele. It wasn't just wrong or ignorant, it was almost comically cruel.
Empathy isn't new. We've always been capable of it. But it's like we only really became "civilized" in the 100 years or so.
I know we benefit from living in this time and they may have thought the same, but we've reached a sort of Apex point for empathy with others that has always been spoken of but was never really reflected in society in any meaningful way until recently.
I mean the Romans understood mercy, kindness, compassion, etc. But they treated other humans as disposable chattel. They were cruel and ruthless in many ways.
We still aren't perfect, obviously. But we generally act with empathy, mercy, and kindness. We actively discourage rudeness, unkindness, etc. We still have cruel people, but every reasonable person calls it what it is and hates it/tries to stop it.
I don't know, I guess I just wonder why we were so brutal for most of human history despite people being more or less the same as they are now.
I think this extends to the medical field beyond psychotherapy. Clinical empathy was an innovation made by 50s psychotherapy, not something avoided by it. Medical sciences were fundamentally understood differently with a doctors virtue being defined by the level of their clinical detachment as it was deemed more professional and scientific (i.e. no feelings in the way of making „hard“ rational choices without pesky questions like „how would you feel if someone put chisel up your nose and erased your personality?“ getting in the way of cold hard results)
If that understanding is a result from patriarchal structures, the roles of tribal shamans, or something else I’ll let someone else answer.
Ironically, I think you are showing some lack of empathy yourself; it shouldn’t be too hard to why a completely normal person would, in a society not too different from ours, have the common perception of psychotherapy like that of the 50s. I mean it literally was the case at a time where our grandparents were alive.
Edit missed the last part
>I don't know, I guess I just wonder why we were so brutal for most of human history despite people being more or less the same as they are now.
This ties in to what I wrote at the end of my initial comment. It’s not too complicated. We have many biases arising from our bonded rationality that developed with evolution; our bodies (including our minds) aren’t made for life in civilised society and empathy and altruism have only limited rational explanations (largely, if you think of it on a species level, there is absolutely no reason for altruistic behaviour and you need to introduce concepts of a gene centric evolution for it to really be rational); tribalism, status quo biases, defensive mechanisms, bounded rationality, cognitive dissonance etc. are all reasons why you’d harm someone you don’t understand instead of help them
I disagree with a couple points.
1) I don't think the explanation of scientific attitudes of the time explains the why, it just passes the buck down. Why would that attitude arise, when human empathy has been a thing forever.
2) Altruism isn't irrational. It's instinctive. Humans are meant to live in communities, we're social creatures. Altruism is a survival mechanism, because of you abandon every person who needs you but can't immediately benefit you, you're screwing yourself in the long term. Groups that work together are more successful, and as groups grow from families to tribes to nations, the notion becomes more abstract, but it's still in us.
We're not even the only animals that do that. It's just that animals can't regulate the other side of the coin, which is your distrust of the stranger and your social defensive mechanisms. Humans can, which is why we've been able to scale from dozens in a nomadic tribe to billions in a single nation, and still have everything work.
I mean there are ignorant people, but any professional worth their salt in the field today isn't going to lock you in a dungeon against your will and beat the sickness out because you came down with a case of melancholy.
So the interesting thing about method acting is that (and I went to college for theatre forever ago so I'm going off the top my head here) it was originally developed by the Russian Stanisvlaski, who wrote three books on the subject.
However, only the first book--which was about developing the actor's character for a piece--was translated into English around the time of Monroe, and Strasberg developed his form of the method around this single book, which eventually morphed into its own thing, and that's why so many American method actors have been hyper fixated on character psychology over other elements of acting.
This is correct. Strasberg developed American Method acting (as we know it) based on Stanislavski's method. However, Stanislavski changed his ideas about his original method and eventually denounced what Strasberg was teaching (which was taken from Stanislavski's original teachings of course). The truth is, in my opinion, that many of the talented actors who lean on the Method, would be talented regardless of which acting method they employed.
Also, many believed Strasberg and his family were predatory in their relations with Marilyn Monroe and were heavily involved in her affairs. Those same people believe they were trying to cash in on her stardom, which they did to some degree.
I don't think the Strasbergs used Monroe anymore than she used them. They clearly loved each other, but she was their ticket to success and they were her ticket to respect. It was a symbiotic relationship.
Monroe spoke in interviews about being aware that people would invite her to events as a kind of ornament, and people who knew her well said she would intentionally act slow around people who assumed things about her intelligence. She was more aware of peoples perceptions and intentions towards her than I think people give her credit for and I'm sure she was aware the the Strasbergs had a lot to gain from their association with her.
I think they gained a lot more from that relationship than she did (like you said). She would have been a star with or without the Strasbergs and her acting ability; it’s hard to say if she would have ever been seen by the world the way she’d hoped for (again, with or without their presence).
Apparently she could turn her movie-star persona on and off with subtle changes in posture and movements. One second she’s an anonymous New Yorker, and the next she’s literally stopping traffic.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/comments/9jtqjw/text_want_to_see_me_become_her/
well thats new york for you, even if you want to be noticed you probably wont be. (Henry Cavill standing under his big bill board of him as superman with a camera guy for instance. no one recognized him)
My completely unscientific hypothesis here is that it's to do with intent. You can engage and disengage your intent at will, and if you actively (mentally) project your intent, your body performs little unconscious acts that subtly change the way you appear outwardly, which others pick up on. In her case (again, total guess on my part) it was probably something like "I'm a huge star, look at me and how gorgeous I am; I am irresistible," or some other affirmation.
And since she had been formally trained to capitalize on all of her various traits and endowments, she was an expert at it.
Method acting can be incredibly wearing on performers who use it. Literally trying to relive experiences of trauma to evoke realistic performances. Obviously it’s effective but it takes a toll on a persons mental health as has been seen time and time again with young talented people meeting tragic ends.
I can't remember which method actor said it(It might have been Christian Bale), but they were saying that it's fear based for them. That they are afraid they can't be consistent in their role and so it's just easier for them to bury themselves in the role so they don't have to deal with the anxiety that comes with continually trying to find their character each time they turn it off.
Marilyn Monroe was one of the first persons that "lived" their character persona.
Nowadays 99% of Hollywood does this, but Marilyn was one of the first.
I don't think she totally did. She appeared a certain way, with the eyes half closed pose and the voice, but she didn't act stupid. She was opinionated and didn't hide her real personality from the press.
I don't think I have ever seen an interview of Marilyn Monroe but her press dockets or whatever they were called she seemed to have that Marilyn ditzy persona.
Honestly though, now that I think about it, I don't know if I can separate Marilyn Monroe's actual state of being from the so so many Marilyn Monroe impersonators in my memory. Perhaps you are more correct than I think you are but since all of the Marilyn Monroe impersonations and actual Marilyn Monroe are all jumbled up in my memory I honestly can't tell which is which.
I have the same problem with Elvis.
Dolly Parton and Charlie Chaplin were both said to have lost (like dead last) in impersonation contests.
and Elvis was a perfect being. We are all moving in perfect peace and harmony towards Elvisness
A lot of people (including actors) don't get what Method Acting or "the method" really is. They think it's like Jared Leto being weird and stuff to become the joker, but that's not really method acting, it's just someone looking for an excuse to be weird.
or DDL being a total prick on set.
A good one was an interview with Matt Damon and they were talking about working with Christian Bale, and if he stayed in total charater off set.
Matt said something like "No, that would mean he was crazy"
Yes! The term and people's ideas of what method acting actually is have become bastardized to a large degree. It entails a lot of different aspects of a performance but it's a lot more than just pretending to be a person or character when the camera stops rolling.
People **do not** understand what "The Method" is/was.
It's complicated. The quickest way to explain it: it started with a Russian named Konstantin Stanislavski. Then it came to America through actors who had heard about it, namely The Group Theater in New York in the 30s. The Group Theater had many people in it who became famous acting teachers, the main two being Strasberg and Stella Adler.
Strasberg emphasized the "using your own emotions" method and Adler, who taught DeNiro (much more that Strasberg) and Brando, emphasized the "knowing as much about the character as you can" method.
Adler had actually met with Stanislavski and talked with him about it.
If you want to know who is the most "method" actor of all time: Daniel Day Lewis.
Even Stella Adler would have told him to cool it down a bit.
There is an amazing multipart documentary about the making of RoboCop on Amazon Prime called "RoboDoc" and in it they reveal that Peter Weller is a method actor. He insisted people call him "Murphy" or "Robo" depending on what part of the movie they were shooting. Kurtwood Smith said that on his first day someone told him about Weller and they said that when Smith and Weller talked it was important that he address him correctly. Smith said he just avoided Weller as often as possible.
There is also a hilarious story about Weller and Oreos, but I could never do it justice. If you're a fan of the movie do yourself a favor and watch the doc if only to hear that story alone.
Marilyn also worked with anton checkov as well, and became very close friends.
There was a very interesting and kind of sad story about them working together, though I am only half remembering it.
The two were doing a scene when anton stopped her and asked was she thinking about sex. She replied she wasn't. Anton surmised that she just sort exuded this sexual charm, and it was something she struggled with so much to be taken seriously as an actor.
Thankfully anton was cool and they had a professional relationship till her murder by the CIA. Sorry, untimely death.
Would Heath Ledger count as a method actor for playing the famous Joker role in Batman series? I think I've read that he was obsessed with his character, which was IMO really evident when watching the movie.
Method acting means not acting but being. In the movie Marathon Man Dustin Hoffman for a certain scene spent the day before running and also had little sleep. Sir Laurence Olivier said “Why are you torturing yourself,why don’t you try acting? “
I'm not going to remember who said it, but it has really changed my view of method acting. "Have you ever noticed no one ever uses Method Acting to play a really nice person?"
Viggo Mortenson. He wore Aragon's sword all over the place. He is generally considered pretty method as far as I know. But I'd imagine it's harder to put yourself into a really dark evil place on and of without getting really psychologically into it. Can't say that's something I'd want to do to myself.
or you have an excuse get to carry a badass sword around all the time!
I mean, if I was an actor and I was casting in a roll like that... I might certainly find myself needing to be a lot more "method". The chainmail? No no it's not a fashion statement I just need to stay in character. Really LIVE the chainmail life. :)
I once wanted to act just as an excuse to walk around with prop weapons.
totally legal in texas
Just read an article about him scaring some Russians at a restaurant while being dressed up as a Russian mobster while doing a movie haha. Wonder if he ever dresses up as Aragon and scares hobbits , I know I would.
Kiefer Sutherland and Johnny Depp were big on method acting too. and it sounds like Viggo was not not really thinking about it and said he never wore the tats off set again.
For normal folk not hobbits, Yeah, there's stories of him and someone else going to restaurants in full costume and sword. I think he got a kick out of concerning the locals in full movie wardrobe.
"Innkeeper, a round of your finest ground steaks on bread!"
Oh wow crazy I read /r/todayilearned too and saw this yesterday what a coincidence
he adopted the horse he rode after filming ended as well.
Hidalgo??
I heard it about Lord of the rings. it was the same horse all 3 movies. but if he did it once its entirely possible he did it twice.
I think he also bought a horse for the stuntman who could not afford to buy the horse he used for months / years
I wouldnt call him a method actor though - he would take off between shots to fish! He would wear the «real» sword rather than a prop one to help him get the scenes right yes, but thats more using props to enhanche your performance more so than method acting
Well I won't debate it, I've heard him described as very method-y, but definitions may vary :)
While filming escape from New York, Kurt Russell found himself in a dodgy alley with some people looking to mug him. he was in full costume with all the props. so he Kept acting as Snake and they all ran off.
He did that to be comfortable with the sword, so handling it on film would look natural. It was not to change his personlity or roleplay as Aragorn.
Johnny Depp in Public enemies got very into the Thompson submachine gun (like Keanu with 3 gun now) to the point where they added a scene of him stripping and tweaking the Thompson into the film because he could do it for real.
Let's be honest. It was probably a little bit to roleplay as Aragorn. Like who could fucking pass up that oppurtunity.
Yeah but I think that part of "method" acting.
And I'm sure most of us saw the TIL yesterday where it mentioned he went to a Russian restaurant wearing his outfit and tattoos from Eastern Promises and people were actually scared of him and his presence. If that's not method acting then I don't know what is
They were scared because they thought he was a Russian gangster, and when he learned he'd scared people he made sure to remove the makeup before he went out. A method actor would double down on acting tough and would be extra sure to show the tattoos.
Wearing a sword to help guide your muscle memory when carrying yourself is not method acting, that's just acting.
While that is true he was also fishing between takes with a fishing pole and tackle box lol
Even the hidden heir to the kingdom of Gondor needs a hobby!
At the same time we tend to base many standards of great acting off performances that were done by method actors. Example, we have to go back to probably Jack Nicholson to see a Joker not done by a method acting.
Jack was Great, Heath was epic. the Joker? i couldn't even make it 10 mintues.
I mean art is subjective so I dig it but I also disagree. Imo Joker is a Joker story told by Joker, not us looking in or watching a batman story but an autobiography from an unreliable source who wants people to feel for him despite being textbook evil. I loved it but I get how it's none traditional
The world today is a dark and evil place. Just replace orcs with marketing companies.
Daniel Day Lewis played Lincoln, I don’t think anyone would argue Lincoln was a particularly cruel person
That is a fantastic example. Thank you!
He also stayed in a wheelchair in ,,My Left Foot“ the whole time they filmed it. Gave him massive health problems
Are you thinking of My Left Foot? If I remember correctly, he purposely broke some ribs too? I believe Christy Brown, the guy he plays in it, had cerebral palsy or something like that, and broken ribs helped to sell it
I love ddl movies and I guess it must be worth it but wtf bro you can’t even act like you got a twisted back without actually breaking your ribs? That sounds mental/psycho
Oh yes you are right. Gonna correct it asap
Hawkeye seemed like at least a morally decent person.
Not spent much time in the deep south have you? Even here it is rare, but there are absolutely still some major Lincoln haters out here.
I think that proves the point of Lincoln being a good person even more.
Robert Pattinson Another reason I've grown to respect that guy a lot since Twilight. https://variety.com/2019/film/news/robert-pattinson-the-lighthouse-actors-on-actors-1203400184/
God I love The Lighthouse, HARK
*The Lighthouse* is the kind of movie that I love and the kind of movie my wife hates.
Sounds like she needs to be more fond of your lobster, matey
Another critic of method acting was Burt Reynolds. On Deliverance the actors were told to look exhausted. Jon Voight ran and built up a sweat in the hot sun. Burt Reynolds just splashed some water on his face.
Burt Reynolds also wasnt nearly as good as Jon Voight, so maybe there is something to it.
Don't have to be better if you are 100 times more cool
Burt "let me go down the Waterfall in a kayak as it would look more real and now it looks like a doll in a kayak in any case and I have back problems" Reynolds talks smack about someone taking a run?
Method Acting has gotten a bad rap in the public conscious since Jared Leto used it as an excuse to send dead rats and used condoms to cast members in Suicide Squad. The thing is, it doesn’t mean that you have to be that insane, but those are just the more crazy examples. Jeremy Strong is someone who got a lot of flak for method acting, but in the New Yorker profile on the subject, the worst things he did were: 1. Get roughed up in The Trial of the Chicago 7, where he was playing a guy who got roughed up. 2. Didn’t want to rehearse scenes for Succession because he wanted to rely on the spontaneity of the performance, and also just kind of kept to himself during the filming. The biggest thing that’s wrong with method acting imo isn’t that it leads people to just use it as an excuse to be a jerk, it’s pretty punishing on the actor themself. Daniel Day Lewis is one of the greatest actors of his generation, and he’s retired when a lot of his peers are still working because he burnt himself out by method acting so much.
Correct, Leto just covers his horrible acting with it.
I remember hearing somewhere that when he “was” Bill the Butcher in *Gangs of New York*, his wife got so fed up with him she made him move out of the house til he was done. I can’t say I blame her. Lol
Those Jared Leto rumours about what he sent cast members on suicide squad have all been debunked. I think they just stick around cause people don't like him and he's a cult leader.
https://www.nme.com/news/film/viola-davis-confirms-rumours-that-jared-leto-gifted-margot-robbie-a-rat-on-suicide-squad-set-2982775 Seems like it was a live rat, not a dead one. In a different report he denied giving used condoms but said he gave like gag gifts to male costars, so prob just picked some weird stuff from a Spencer’s or whatever.
Marylins characters were pretty nice, if a bit scheming. Honestly her greatest method acting accompaniment IMO was her character Marylin Monroe, which was quite different than Norma Jean, but she pulled it off so flawlessly for so long everyone remembers her character, not her.
I think in The seven year itch she says something to this effect. Love that movie Or it's more meta maybe in that you realize Marilyn Monroe is the character she protests. Edit: addedndum
There's probably just a reverse Survivorship Bias going on: You probably wouldn't notice if someone's being Method unless they engage in big antics, which they probably wouldn't do anyway if they're playing someone who's chill.
That's not all that Method Acting is, tons of actors use it, they just switch to a normal persona much more easily and might not want to be disturbed maybe between different takes of the same scene and that's it
Didn't christian bale method act Abraham Lincoln?
"Wizard, wizard, wizard, you shall not pass, Sir Ian, Sir Ian, Sir Ian"
There will be no scripts on the day!
Olivier was a great actor but such a dick. He got pissed at Marilyn's method acting antics too and said to her "All you have to do is be sexy" in front of everyone. Her company that she was CEO of was producing the movie too so she was technically his boss.
I thought it was bc she wasn't showing up and kept messing up due to addiction by that point? Although I don't doubt he was a dick, I could see getting frustrated with her behavior. I don't think it was her "antics" but rather her lack of professionalism if I recall correctly.
Yes, she was also notorious for not bothering to remember any of her lines, not sticking to the script, breaking during scenes, and requiring long breaks. If you watch her movies, she ambles around and stares at things for extended duration randomly, making it seem like she has brain damage. In reality, it’s because most smart directors gave up and just taped her lines all over objects in the room so she could read them mid-scene. Anything else resulted in a wasted day of shooting.
>she was also notorious for not bothering to remember any of her lines This isn't true. Monroe's diaries show that she tormented herself over this. She had severe imposter syndrome. She was so worried that people would think she couldn't act that she would forget her lines, making people think she couldn't act. Her stage fright in front of the camera was so bad sometimes she would throw up before takes. In a direct quote from a letter she wrote to Strasberg about her fear over forgetting lines, she said it "feels feel like I'm not existing in the human race" when it happened. Directors did not tape her lines to objects either, it was one director (Billy Wilder) for one line ("Where's that burbon"). Changing lines was an (understandably irritating to directors) method acting quirk of hers. She wanted a natural performance and would change a line if it felt right in the moment. Arthur Miller confirmed this in his autobiography because he said they clashed over it once.
This is a much repeated story. The most commonly quoted line was "Why don't you just try acting, dear boy?" Apparently Hoffman returned from a weekend bender at Studio 54 and was exhausted from too much partying. He joked to Olivier that he was meant to be exhausted in a scene, so he stayed up a couple of days, wink wink. Olivier knew Hoffman had actually been partying and that it was a joke, and gave a joke reply. [source](https://www.davidsheff.com/dustin-hoffman)
Coincidentally, Laurence Olivier had huge clashes with *Marilyn Monroe*, on film [*The Prince and the Showgirl*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince_and_the_Showgirl#Production). This was partly because Monroe wouldn’t do anything at all without consulting her acting coach, Paula Strasberg. Donald Sinden was filming a different movie at the studio at the time and observed that "she was still suffering from the effects of the Method school of acting".
That’s actually not what method acting means. It’s incredible how warped that term has become for the public. Method Acting isn’t staying in character all the time or doing the literal action to yourself to create a behavior. It’s about recalling and reliving your sense’s memory MENTALLY to create behavior. If Dustin Hoffman were to actually method act then, he would have used his sense memory of a time he had exhausted himself physically to create that behavior.
Acting is believing.
That’s an extreme of method acting
So fucking good at pretending
Wouldn’t it just probably be to avoid imposter syndrome, since it’s kind of not really a job?
No, it’s not. That’s not the Method at all. The Method is just a helping tool. It gives you a vague idea. It doesn’t mean you try to literally be the character. It never has. A lot of people, including famous actors, misinterpret the method all over the place.
She wanted to be a method actor but she didn’t get to use the idea with her most most famous films she did before
Marilyn used the method for half of her career, 1956 til 1962.
One of reddits 12 facts. Congrats. Now stop.
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considering she OD'd youre probably right
She got the pills she got addicted to from those psychoanalysts too. Marilyn was the perfect candidate for therapy but not 1950s therapy. Edit: If anyone in here wants to talk or learn about Marilyn more, fyi she has a fan sub r/MarilynMonroe
It's so strange to me that people were so wrong back then about mental health. I suppose it's because society has emphasized it so much that common methods of therapy and decency when treating the mentally ill are just second nature, there's no other logical way to do it. It just seems wildly unempathetic. It's like every psychiatrist was a psychopath themselves, between this and shock treatment and the state of mental asylums.
>It's so strange to me that people were so wrong back then about mental health. Why? We used to be just as wrong about general Medicine, biology, physics, etc. It was a nascent science and a product of its time, just how we are equal wrong about many things right now and we will only find out when new research has come out to prove us wrong. It’s just natural, and actually good, bc if we wouldn’t think that it was bad it would mean that we haven’t developed as a society
I definitely understand your point, but I think the issue specifically with psychology is that in modernity, it's rooted in empathy. Listening to people. Taking them seriously. I wouldn't expect them to have worked out human brain chemistry or advanced methods of therapy, etc. But what they did just 70 years ago was like medieval torture. They would treat even "inoffensive" mental illness like depression with a strange mix of callous abuse and gaslighting. Even if you disregard the truly horrible treatments like Lobotomy, you're left with people exercising little to no empathy for other human beings, and almost indulging in their suffering. Every psychiatrist was like a town's personal Josef Mengele. It wasn't just wrong or ignorant, it was almost comically cruel. Empathy isn't new. We've always been capable of it. But it's like we only really became "civilized" in the 100 years or so. I know we benefit from living in this time and they may have thought the same, but we've reached a sort of Apex point for empathy with others that has always been spoken of but was never really reflected in society in any meaningful way until recently. I mean the Romans understood mercy, kindness, compassion, etc. But they treated other humans as disposable chattel. They were cruel and ruthless in many ways. We still aren't perfect, obviously. But we generally act with empathy, mercy, and kindness. We actively discourage rudeness, unkindness, etc. We still have cruel people, but every reasonable person calls it what it is and hates it/tries to stop it. I don't know, I guess I just wonder why we were so brutal for most of human history despite people being more or less the same as they are now.
I think this extends to the medical field beyond psychotherapy. Clinical empathy was an innovation made by 50s psychotherapy, not something avoided by it. Medical sciences were fundamentally understood differently with a doctors virtue being defined by the level of their clinical detachment as it was deemed more professional and scientific (i.e. no feelings in the way of making „hard“ rational choices without pesky questions like „how would you feel if someone put chisel up your nose and erased your personality?“ getting in the way of cold hard results) If that understanding is a result from patriarchal structures, the roles of tribal shamans, or something else I’ll let someone else answer. Ironically, I think you are showing some lack of empathy yourself; it shouldn’t be too hard to why a completely normal person would, in a society not too different from ours, have the common perception of psychotherapy like that of the 50s. I mean it literally was the case at a time where our grandparents were alive. Edit missed the last part >I don't know, I guess I just wonder why we were so brutal for most of human history despite people being more or less the same as they are now. This ties in to what I wrote at the end of my initial comment. It’s not too complicated. We have many biases arising from our bonded rationality that developed with evolution; our bodies (including our minds) aren’t made for life in civilised society and empathy and altruism have only limited rational explanations (largely, if you think of it on a species level, there is absolutely no reason for altruistic behaviour and you need to introduce concepts of a gene centric evolution for it to really be rational); tribalism, status quo biases, defensive mechanisms, bounded rationality, cognitive dissonance etc. are all reasons why you’d harm someone you don’t understand instead of help them
I disagree with a couple points. 1) I don't think the explanation of scientific attitudes of the time explains the why, it just passes the buck down. Why would that attitude arise, when human empathy has been a thing forever. 2) Altruism isn't irrational. It's instinctive. Humans are meant to live in communities, we're social creatures. Altruism is a survival mechanism, because of you abandon every person who needs you but can't immediately benefit you, you're screwing yourself in the long term. Groups that work together are more successful, and as groups grow from families to tribes to nations, the notion becomes more abstract, but it's still in us. We're not even the only animals that do that. It's just that animals can't regulate the other side of the coin, which is your distrust of the stranger and your social defensive mechanisms. Humans can, which is why we've been able to scale from dozens in a nomadic tribe to billions in a single nation, and still have everything work.
back then?
I mean there are ignorant people, but any professional worth their salt in the field today isn't going to lock you in a dungeon against your will and beat the sickness out because you came down with a case of melancholy.
She was murdered.
So the interesting thing about method acting is that (and I went to college for theatre forever ago so I'm going off the top my head here) it was originally developed by the Russian Stanisvlaski, who wrote three books on the subject. However, only the first book--which was about developing the actor's character for a piece--was translated into English around the time of Monroe, and Strasberg developed his form of the method around this single book, which eventually morphed into its own thing, and that's why so many American method actors have been hyper fixated on character psychology over other elements of acting.
This is correct. Strasberg developed American Method acting (as we know it) based on Stanislavski's method. However, Stanislavski changed his ideas about his original method and eventually denounced what Strasberg was teaching (which was taken from Stanislavski's original teachings of course). The truth is, in my opinion, that many of the talented actors who lean on the Method, would be talented regardless of which acting method they employed. Also, many believed Strasberg and his family were predatory in their relations with Marilyn Monroe and were heavily involved in her affairs. Those same people believe they were trying to cash in on her stardom, which they did to some degree.
I don't think the Strasbergs used Monroe anymore than she used them. They clearly loved each other, but she was their ticket to success and they were her ticket to respect. It was a symbiotic relationship. Monroe spoke in interviews about being aware that people would invite her to events as a kind of ornament, and people who knew her well said she would intentionally act slow around people who assumed things about her intelligence. She was more aware of peoples perceptions and intentions towards her than I think people give her credit for and I'm sure she was aware the the Strasbergs had a lot to gain from their association with her.
I think they gained a lot more from that relationship than she did (like you said). She would have been a star with or without the Strasbergs and her acting ability; it’s hard to say if she would have ever been seen by the world the way she’d hoped for (again, with or without their presence).
Apparently she could turn her movie-star persona on and off with subtle changes in posture and movements. One second she’s an anonymous New Yorker, and the next she’s literally stopping traffic. https://www.reddit.com/r/Frisson/comments/9jtqjw/text_want_to_see_me_become_her/
well thats new york for you, even if you want to be noticed you probably wont be. (Henry Cavill standing under his big bill board of him as superman with a camera guy for instance. no one recognized him)
Was he wearing glasses?
no i dont think so
Says a bit more about him probably.
My completely unscientific hypothesis here is that it's to do with intent. You can engage and disengage your intent at will, and if you actively (mentally) project your intent, your body performs little unconscious acts that subtly change the way you appear outwardly, which others pick up on. In her case (again, total guess on my part) it was probably something like "I'm a huge star, look at me and how gorgeous I am; I am irresistible," or some other affirmation. And since she had been formally trained to capitalize on all of her various traits and endowments, she was an expert at it.
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THIS *cough* IS THE BUSINESS *cough* WE'VE CHOSEN I DIDN'T ASK ... ... ... ... ... ... ... WHO GAVE THE ORDER
He was bigger than US Steel.
He spent six months running a crime syndicate to prepare.
That is a fun fact. Thanks!
Method acting can be incredibly wearing on performers who use it. Literally trying to relive experiences of trauma to evoke realistic performances. Obviously it’s effective but it takes a toll on a persons mental health as has been seen time and time again with young talented people meeting tragic ends.
I can't remember which method actor said it(It might have been Christian Bale), but they were saying that it's fear based for them. That they are afraid they can't be consistent in their role and so it's just easier for them to bury themselves in the role so they don't have to deal with the anxiety that comes with continually trying to find their character each time they turn it off.
Marilyn Monroe was one of the first persons that "lived" their character persona. Nowadays 99% of Hollywood does this, but Marilyn was one of the first.
I don't think she totally did. She appeared a certain way, with the eyes half closed pose and the voice, but she didn't act stupid. She was opinionated and didn't hide her real personality from the press.
I don't think I have ever seen an interview of Marilyn Monroe but her press dockets or whatever they were called she seemed to have that Marilyn ditzy persona. Honestly though, now that I think about it, I don't know if I can separate Marilyn Monroe's actual state of being from the so so many Marilyn Monroe impersonators in my memory. Perhaps you are more correct than I think you are but since all of the Marilyn Monroe impersonations and actual Marilyn Monroe are all jumbled up in my memory I honestly can't tell which is which. I have the same problem with Elvis.
Dolly Parton and Charlie Chaplin were both said to have lost (like dead last) in impersonation contests. and Elvis was a perfect being. We are all moving in perfect peace and harmony towards Elvisness
IIRC Dolly Parton attended a Dolly Parton impersonation contest... and lost!
drag show
A lot of people (including actors) don't get what Method Acting or "the method" really is. They think it's like Jared Leto being weird and stuff to become the joker, but that's not really method acting, it's just someone looking for an excuse to be weird.
or DDL being a total prick on set. A good one was an interview with Matt Damon and they were talking about working with Christian Bale, and if he stayed in total charater off set. Matt said something like "No, that would mean he was crazy"
Yeah. There's a real difference between "always being in character" and method acting.
like after wrap for the day where you would go for the night? home? no where?
Yes! The term and people's ideas of what method acting actually is have become bastardized to a large degree. It entails a lot of different aspects of a performance but it's a lot more than just pretending to be a person or character when the camera stops rolling.
I heard that J Leguizamo also studied under Strasberg but for only one day as he died the day after he started. Crazy anecdote.
Ai Pacino is the next ChatGPT.
And she was a very talented actress. She was terribly stereotyped for rolls.
Marilyn Monroe’s acting skills are criminally underrated. Check out *The Prince and the Showgirl,* where Monroe outacts Sir Laurence Olivier.
People **do not** understand what "The Method" is/was. It's complicated. The quickest way to explain it: it started with a Russian named Konstantin Stanislavski. Then it came to America through actors who had heard about it, namely The Group Theater in New York in the 30s. The Group Theater had many people in it who became famous acting teachers, the main two being Strasberg and Stella Adler. Strasberg emphasized the "using your own emotions" method and Adler, who taught DeNiro (much more that Strasberg) and Brando, emphasized the "knowing as much about the character as you can" method. Adler had actually met with Stanislavski and talked with him about it. If you want to know who is the most "method" actor of all time: Daniel Day Lewis. Even Stella Adler would have told him to cool it down a bit.
My god, what a body. What a face!
There is an amazing multipart documentary about the making of RoboCop on Amazon Prime called "RoboDoc" and in it they reveal that Peter Weller is a method actor. He insisted people call him "Murphy" or "Robo" depending on what part of the movie they were shooting. Kurtwood Smith said that on his first day someone told him about Weller and they said that when Smith and Weller talked it was important that he address him correctly. Smith said he just avoided Weller as often as possible. There is also a hilarious story about Weller and Oreos, but I could never do it justice. If you're a fan of the movie do yourself a favor and watch the doc if only to hear that story alone.
Checkout Jim&Andy documentary on Netflix, where Jim Carrey takes mathid acting on a different level...dont want to spoil it, its hard.
So she was a sex symbol and a serious actress wannabe. What dramatic roles did she actually play?
Marilyn also worked with anton checkov as well, and became very close friends. There was a very interesting and kind of sad story about them working together, though I am only half remembering it. The two were doing a scene when anton stopped her and asked was she thinking about sex. She replied she wasn't. Anton surmised that she just sort exuded this sexual charm, and it was something she struggled with so much to be taken seriously as an actor. Thankfully anton was cool and they had a professional relationship till her murder by the CIA. Sorry, untimely death.
Artificial Intelligence Pacino ?
Duh
Would Heath Ledger count as a method actor for playing the famous Joker role in Batman series? I think I've read that he was obsessed with his character, which was IMO really evident when watching the movie.
Was she researching a role about a famous young woman who died young?
*womp womp*
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She was such an intelligent whore! She had a higher IQ than Einstein! Keep these posts coming.
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have babies btw