Dec 23 2008
Method Acting - Stanislavsky
Lee Strasberg (1899-1982) was a tutor and theorist of acting and a leader of the Actors Studio. He made the suggestion that the most successful film actors were those who did not act. “They try not to act but to be themselves, to respond or react,” he said. Whilst on the stage they would react to stimulus in the same way that they always acted when they were not on the stage. The acting out would be a natural part of the actor’s personality. This would be difficult considering the factors influencing the actor such as studio publicity and genre roles. However it is this belief that forms a central part of the Stanislavsky Method.
Actors were encouraged to communicate in the way that they would to their friends or loved ones in their private life. Konstantin Stanislavsky, was the director at the Moscow Art Theatre, he wrote many of the books on acting, the first of which, An Actor Prepares, was published in English translation in 1936. Before this time a student of his, Richard Boleslawsky (1889-1937), opened an acting school in New York and started teaching Stanislavskian principles (Boleslavsky went on to Hollywood and directed a number of films in the 1930s)”
Method acting has also been called, The Method. It is a specialised technique that many actor’s use. Method acting is part of the reason that the acting world has developed to such an extent as it has today. It brings an actor to life and makes that woodenness disappear. Actors who use method acting are used to tapping into their own emotions and memories in order to bring a quality to the character they would not have been able to without the technique.
When I played a 90 year old lady in a play I put myself back to the time where I worked with the elderly. I remembered the way they were physically and how slow their movements had become. I felt like an old lady and could bring those characteristics out physically. I remembered the times when I watched those elderly people reliving their lives and brought those feelings into my acting. It was difficult at first but, as I practised it, it became second nature. I believe I was born to act, it has always been natural to me and even though I don’t have a lot of confidence in other areas of my life I have always had confidence in my acting. There are not many 21 year old s who would be able to characterise an old lady so well. I even frightened my friends dad in the audience because I was so realistic. I have to thank for all he has taught and brought into today’s world of acting. Without him Method Acting would not have developed in the way it has today.
