Born in 1901 to Jewish parents in what is now the Ukraine, Lee Strasberg’s family could not have guessed he would one day become the father of method acting in America.

He and the still-renowned schools he taught at are famous for coaching the “rebel heroes” of cinema to their greatest heights: James Dean, Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert De Niro, Marilyn Monroe – the list goes on. These actors seethe with life – each character they inhabit is vulnerable, raw, and also powerful.

Tennessee Williams, who wrote A Streetcar Named Desire, said of the actors who came out of Strasberg’s intense tutelage:

 

“They act from the inside out… They give you a sense of life.”

 

One of Strasberg’s favourite students, director Elia Kazan, described the classes as similarly emotive:

 

“Actors often appeared to be in a state of self-hypnosis”.

 

 

Born to Teach

Strasberg discovered early on that training actors was his calling. He knew that he wasn’t cut out to be an actor himself: he was small, and not traditionally handsome by any measure (acting has been a vain profession for a long, long time!).

It was in 1929, while involved with community theatre, that he first saw the power an actor could wield. Our favourite, Konstantin Stanislavski, had brought his Moscow Art Theatre to the United States. The young Strasberg was blown away by their performance:

 

“…an ensemble like this with actors completely surrendering their ego to the work…. Some sort of unspoken, yet palpable, inner life”.

 

It was seeing Stanislavski’s System in action that inspired him to refine it and eventually develop the American Method; or, one of the best ways to win an Academy Award.

 

The American Method

Strasberg’s famous students demonstrated for the first time in film the psychology of their characters. Usually, this was the place of academics of theatre performers; Strasberg believed there was no reason theatre and film should be any different, at least not when it came to acting.

Acting, he said, “is the art that is closest to reality”. By this, he meant that the best way to create the art was to emulate reality; to be realistic. That’s why his Method’s techniques focus so heavily on genuine emotional and physical recreation of characters’ lives.

 

“If you don’t know what it is you’re trying to create, you will never in your life create it.”

 

Although the Method can come across as scientific and specific, it is actually more like a set of processes that an actor can apply creatively and dynamically to enhance their portrayal of a character.

 

Techniques

At its core, the Method is meant to produce “psychological truthfulness”. To truly become a great actor, one must be simultaneously immersed in one’s own prehistory as well as that of one’s character. Simply knowing lines, Strasberg insists, is not acting.

 

“The only thing you will know is to remember your lines. That is not acting… Acting has nothing to do with memory. It has to do with how we do, how we behave.”

 

How you do and behave are, however, guided by memory; although not the same one that remembers lines.

Affective and Sense Memories are two key Method techniques. An actor uses them to better empathise with their character, by using memories of their own past. Although Stanislavski proposed these as part of the actor’s toolbox, it was Strasberg who developed them: he believed an actor must unlock their own emotion in order to understand their characters’.

Strasberg’s classes, Kazan has said, were based initially on arousing anger in the actor. The student, he explained, had to be aware of their own emotional resources before they could draw from them.

This resource awareness became a catchphrase in the classes: “take a minute!” Strasberg would yell this at the beginning of each scene, reminding his students to take time to concentrate inwardly, on the details of their characters’ and their own emotional experiences.

These techniques are often referred to as ways to “relive,” rather than “recall” – it’s more important to be in the moment and vulnerable than dwelling on your own issues. Your memory is a tool to be used as needed, not a one-way ticket to acting greatness.

 

Are You Ready?

Brian Timoney Acting can set you on the path to acting greatness. As the only drama school in the UK that’s built on the Lee Strasberg Method, we’re breaking new ground and hoping you will, too.

If you’re ready to be the next Brando or Fonda, consider our Ultimate Acting Programme.

 

From time to time I’m approached by old students or colleagues who gave up acting for a “normal” life. They will say to me:

 

I shouldn’t have given up. I often think about what would have happened if I had stuck with acting. I miss it.

 

That’s exactly it. To succeed an actor must love acting, and not celebrity; most people in the profession will never make Hollywood’s A-List. That’s probably one of the most important pieces of acting career advice anyone can give an aspiring actor. At the beginning of your career – or even in the middle of it – moments of self-doubt or months without work can drive even the most passionate actor to the brink of giving up.

You are not alone in feeling this way. Even those that made it all the way to the top of the industry have been there.

 

The Undiscovered

The two leads in Twilight, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, both nearly gave up a career in acting soon before landing a role in the box office-smashing franchise.

Stewart, having been “discovered” by an agent during a school play, spent years going to audition after audition without any panels seeing her potential. Of that low point, she says:

 

I decided a year after not getting any commercials, ‘F*ck it. I won’t make my mom drive around Los Angeles anymore

 

The lack of jobs wasn’t just making her feel bad for her mother. Huge seeds of self-doubt were ruining the acting process for her:

 

I also got so nervous for every single audition. I was just dying. I had one appointment left and my mom said, ‘Have a little integrity and go to your last one.’ And it was The Safety of Objects. If I hadn’t gotten that, I would have been done.

 

Her co-star, Brit Robert Pattinson, felt similar doubts about his status as an actor before Twilight:

 

If you say you’re an actor and you’re going to auditions and not getting parts, then you’re not an actor. I guess that’s what my predicament was

The Perfectionists

Some actors want to give up not because they can’t get a job, but because they won’t settle for anything other than the best. You might feel this way; that if you’re not perfect to you, or to others, then there is no point in being an actor.

Scottish superstar Ewan McGregor has admitted to feeling this way. In 1993 he nearly gave up his career after seeing Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance in Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father.

Day-Lewis was so good in the film that McGregor felt there was nothing else he could contribute to the industry, and set fire to his Equity card. In fact, he still struggles with this feeling when he sees a Day-Lewis film.

 

Whenever I watch him, I think, ‘what’s the point? There’s no point in carrying on. That’s it.

 

Gemma Arterton, scene-stealing star of Byzantium and St Trinian’s, was unfortunate enough to nearly be bullied out of acting. At the beginning of her film career she struggled with her “commoner” accent, despite having the looks and skills of a star.

Directors and agents wore her down to the point where she had to choose between walking away from a career as an actor or taking voice lessons to master her natural working class accent. It was close, but she’s still acting today.

 

Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a type of self-doubt that is found in nearly every walk of life, but especially so in acting. Widely celebrated actors from Don Cheadle through to Michelle Pfeiffer have admitted to feelings of being a “fraud,” or a “sham”. They feel like at any moment a director might realise they have no talent, and fire them.

If such obviously talented people feel that way, there is no shame in feeling imposter syndrome yourself.

When you feel like you don’t belong, ask yourself just one question:

– Do you trust the judgment of your director or your peers?

If the answer is yes, then you must believe them when they choose to work with you. They had options, and they chose you.

If the answer is no, then your doubt should really be pointed at their skills, not yours!

 

Nervousness:

Like Kristen Stewart, you might have problems with nervousness that are affecting your auditions. Although there are many guides to calming exercises out there, one of the most simple ways to conquer nerves is to use method acting.

Alison Pill describes how she instinctively taps into the method to cope with her nervousness:

 

I know that I am not a part of the scene since the character isn’t nervous. It’s a matter of aligning your own feelings with what the scene is about… if the character isn’t uncomfortable then I can’t be.

Lack of Motivation

At some point, you may want to give up acting because you feel you lack the motivation. It can be hard to tell whether this is a phase – maybe you’re bored with the same old audition circuit – or if you’ve really reached the end of your acting career.

One way to find out is to shake up your lifestyle without giving up acting. Maybe try auditioning in a new city, or take a class in an acting style that’s new to you. Many people find being surrounded by new styles and new people to be exactly what they need to feel motivated to act again.

As Mark Twain once said:

 

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

 

Throw caution to the winds before you give up – and if your passion bounces back then keep on trying.

If you’re ready to revitalise your acting career, why not look at the Ultimate Acting Programme? 

Born in Moscow in 1863, Constantin Stanislavski was to become perhaps the most famous figure in theatre. He not only devised the still-used ‘System’ of acting; he also sparked inspiration in every other teacher he met, launching a wave of System-inspired techniques across Europe and the U.S.; including the Method we use here at Brian Timoney Actors’ Studio.

 

Early Life

Stanislavski’s surname at birth was Alekseyev, and he was a member of one of the wealthiest families in Russia.

His maternal grandmother had been an acclaimed French actress, so his family didn’t frown on young Constantin’s passion for acting as other bourgeois families might have. In fact, they built a theatre of one of the Alexseyev estates especially for him. However, it was still considered a taboo career choice for someone of his standing, and so he went into the family business officially whilst pursuing a vibrant thespian lifestyle in his spare time.

Thankfully, the winds of revolutionary change would blow all those taboos away, and he would go on to win three major honours under USSR leadership as well as international acclaim.

In 1888, at the tender age of 25, he co-founded the Society of Art and Literature. The Society’s aim was to unite amateur and professional actors and artists to the benefit of all involved. Stanislavski – having permanently adopted his chosen stage name – funded the Society fully with his massive inheritance.

The 1917 revolution meant that bourgeois families like the Alekseyevs faced severe criticism and restrictions. Stanislavski, however, had been developing and encouraging Realism in his work for years prior, and his company was jointly owned. He continued in the theatre unhindered by Soviet leadership.

 

The Moscow Art Theatre

 

We are striving to create the first rational, moral, and public-accessible theatre.

 

In 1897 Stanislavski opened the Moscow Art Theatre. It all began with an 18-hour meeting with Vladimir Nemirovich-Dancheko, which has since been compared to theatre history‘s equivalent of the Treaty of Versailles! The Moscow Art Theatre (MAT) was to take actors from Nemirovich’s Philharmonic and Stanislavski’s Society as well as the public.

The MAT was revolutionary in many ways, and contributed more than just the System to the masses; it also reignited the career of the brilliant writer Anton Chekhov.

His early years at the MAT were spent working on a structure for actors; something that would produce meaningful performances that were also disciplined and consistent. Hence, the System was born.

The System was a series of exercises designed to encourage emotional intelligence. Actors, Stanislavski reasoned, must understand the motivations and reactions of their characters; they must be able to truly understand their innermost selves if they’re to act with depth and naturalism.

1922-24 were the years of the MAT’s world tour, which saw Stanislavski and his company travel to Europe and the United States. In the U.S. some members of the party stayed behind to instruct students such as Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and Sanford Meisner, who would go on to co-found the Actor’s Studio and develop the American Method. This Method is still in widespread use today, including in our acting programmes.

 

Emotional and Sense Memory

Acting at its best is a form of emotional intelligence. All the best actors and the legendary acting teachers are highly emotionally aware – of both themselves and their characters. Emotional intelligence is refined and enchanced by the use of Stanislavski’s famous System, which uses techniques like emotional and sense memory.

Eleonora Duse – an incredible actor, perhaps one of the best of all time, describes using emotional memory in an interview. She suggests that the reason her art continues to improve with age is that with each passing year she gains life experience, and has therefore amassed a fortune of experiences to draw on when she inhabits a new character. Personal issues, she says, are not distractions; they’re inspiration.

Many acting classes avoid this psychological aspect of acting, but not ours – and certainly not Stanislavskis. An actor’s job is to accurately portray a character, and a large part of that must be to understand its psyche.

Early in his career, Stanislavski could be found wandering the streets of Russia in character – as a tramp, a fortune-teller, a drunk – as an acting “experiment”. He would truly walk in the shoes of characters he wished to play, gaining relevant life experience. He would make elaborate notes on these exercises, and later refine them into the System.

 

Naturalism and Realism

As we’ve previously covered, Realism is the way things are and Naturalism is the why; they are, respectively, an artistic movement and a technique.

Naturalism emerged in the 19th Century, and was popularised by the French literati – Emile Zola’s three principles were considered the best techniques for a long time. Then Naturalism came to the stage.

In the 20th Century, Soviet Russia adopted Realism as its artistic movement of choice. The purpose was to portray things as they really were – realistically – without pomp or fantastic qualities. Naturalism as a technique was, therefore, ideal; and Stanislavski had been adapting it for the theatre for a long time.

 

Given Circumstances

In the second half of his career, he expanded his System in a different direction; he developed Given Circumstances. This technique was a natural progression from understanding the importance of emotional awareness, but a step away from the aggressive psychological nature of the early System.

“Given Circumstances” refers to the environmental conditions and personal situations of a character. For example, a given circumstance might be that the play is set in Elizabethan England, or that Hamlet’s father died prior to the play’s actions.

Stanislavski argued that although characters make choices unconsciously, actors do not. Given circumstances influence a character’s actions, and no level of emotional memory will give you all the same circumstances as the character. Therefore, an awareness of the circumstances given to the character will enhance the actor’s understanding of their motivations and make the portrayal of action more natural.

 

The Given Circumstances, just like ‘if,’ are suppositions, products of the imagination.

 

This was a big turnaround for the System and its offspring, the Method: Stanislavski was beginning to believe that the imagination could be just as powerful as real-life experiences. One of his most famous students, Sanford Meisner, couldn’t have agreed more.

Meisner used Stanislavski’s new Given Circumstances to encourage the adoption of his Meisner Technique, which advocates for the power of imagination over emotional memory. Meisner believed that an actor can understand circumstances without having lived them by producing a rich imaginary world.

Another founder of the Actor’s Studio, Stella Adler, agreed with Meisner and Stanislavski whole-heartedly:

 

Drawing on the emotions I experienced – for example, when my mother died – to create a role is sick and schizophrenic. If that is acting, I don’t want to do it.

Brian’s Take

Those with a less intense imagination are better off with Strasberg’s interpretation of the System, and of course the techniques Stanislavski devised early in his career still work. However, he noticed that those of his students who abused emotional memory often became hysterical.

This is why, when we teach the Method, we teach safe use of it; although a psychological connection to the role will always improve its portrayal, abuse of emotional memory for art isn’t worth the resulting trauma.

In every era of his jam-packed life, Stanislavski uncovered something else for us to learn from and expand on. He not only was inspired; he inspired others, and continues to do so decades after his death. To find out what we can offer, consider our unique acting programmes – for inspired actors only!

 

What is Method Acting, and Why is it Important?

When the media talk about method acting, they often like to focus on wild stories about actors pulling out their own teeth or losing large amounts of weight for a role, but this is not what method acting is. So, what is method acting? Well, fundamentally, method acting is a series of mental techniques the very best actors use to enhance their performances by allowing them to call up real emotions on cue.

Method acting is not, as some in the media would have us believe, an extreme technique used by only a tiny minority of actors. It is, in fact, a system for better understanding and utilising the practices great actors have always used in their performances. As the founder of modern method acting, Lee Strasberg once said:

 

“Method acting is what all actors have always done whenever they acted well.”

The history of method acting

The term ‘method acting’ was coined by the great actor, director and acting coach Lee Strasberg to describe his approach to producing a more realistic style of acting. The basic principle of Strasberg’s method was that actors should draw on their own experiences to inform the way they embody their characters, thus adding an increased sense of realism to their performances.

Strasberg’s students include many of the acting greats of the 20th century, including Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Mickey Rourke and more. It’s also worth noting that Strasberg didn’t just talk the talk – he was also a highly accomplished and respected actor, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his part in the Godfather Part II.

The legacy of Lee Strasberg’s method acting techniques is still being felt today, with over 80% of Oscar-winning actors in the 21st century being method actors.

 

How method acting works

There are a number of techniques involved in method acting, but at the most basic level it is about being able to find inspiration as an actor on cue. It’s no good turning up to the theatre, or on set and not knowing whether you will be able to deliver the goods or not. Leaving things up to chance like that would certainly not be tolerated in any other profession! Method acting allows you to generate real, honest and engaging performances every time by using reliable, repeatable processes to get into character and produce the emotional truth needed for a great performance.

Method acting requires us to create a realistic, believable inner life for our characters so that they will feel real to the audience. We do this by understanding our own psychology and how this relates to the characters we are being asked to inhabit. By tapping into our own emotional experiences, we can imbue our characters with those same emotions as required, producing performances that are far more authentic than if we were simply “pretending”.

According to psychologist Thalia Goldstein:

“I think that at their cores, psychology, cognitive science, and theater are all trying to do the same thing, which is understand why people do the things they do, our range of behavior, and where it comes from”.

Method acting allows us to understand the emotions underlying a character’s words and actions, then find those same emotions inside ourselves and bring them out on demand.

 

Method acting techniques

Creating a great performance is not as a simple as remembering how you felt in the past and then “pretending” to feel the same thing in front of an audience. There are a number of processes method actors go through in order to find the emotional truth required for a role.

Relaxation

Being able to relax as an actor means breaking down any barriers between you and your performance. Any tension you feel can block the true expression of your thoughts and emotions. This can easily cause you to overthink things and result in a performance that feels stiff and unreal. Method actors learn relaxation techniques that allow them to remove any blockages between them and their performance so they can offer something that feels truly spontaneous and real.

Three-time Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis once said of method acting:

“All you’re trying to do is lay the groundwork, which might allow the imagination to free itself.”

This is why relaxation is so key – it allows you to take all the preparation you have done for a role and use it instinctively and imaginatively to create a raw and fluid performance, rather than something that feels too calculated or mechanical.

Affective memory

Tapping into strong, emotionally charged memories from our own lives is vital for creating strong emotions when acting. Affective memory lets us safely and reliably bring up powerful memories and use them to inform our performances. This is the key to finding inspiration on cue and is what separates professional actors from amateurs who may offer a brilliant performance one day, then be unable to recreate it the next.

Sense memory

Our memories are intimately connected with our senses. Think of the way hearing a favourite song from your youth instantly brings back the feelings you experienced when you first heard the song. Or the way the smell of food makes your mouth water with the memory of a wonderful meal you once had. Method acting teaches us to understand how our senses trigger our memory. This allows us to use our senses to recreate past emotions by recalling the senses associated with certain feelings and essentially hot-wiring our brains into pulling up the required emotion.

Making the private public

One of the hardest things about acting, whether on set or on stage, is forgetting that people are watching you and really losing yourself in your performance. It is a fundamental part of our human nature that we act differently in private to how we do in public. Overcoming that is an absolutely vital part of method acting as it means you can stop “performing” and start delivering something much more honest. Method acting training gets you used to making the private public and gives you techniques to help you feel totally natural doing so.

Physical acting

Acting is about using your whole body and method acting does not overlook this. Learning how to really engage with your body and use movement to create characters is absolutely fundamental. Understanding how different kinds of people move and how this reflects their personality unlocks your ability to truly inhabit a character, both physically and mentally. Method acting training also looks at how our physical movements and the way we hold ourselves both reflect and influence our emotions, leading to performances that feel truly alive and three-dimensional.

Animal exercises

Creating a unique physical presence for your characters is one of the most challenging aspects of acting. Animal exercises encourage actors to look to the way animals move to inform their performances. This is a trick often used by many of the most elite actors. Famous examples include Robert De Niro basing his performance in Taxi Driver on a crab. He felt his character was indirect and so tended to shift from side to side, while Marlon Brando used the physicality of a gorilla for his role as the brutish Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.

 

Method acting research

One of the aspects of method acting the media often love to focus on is the amount of research or preparation various actors do for their roles. For example, Robert De Niro spent months training as a boxer for Raging Bull including taking part in three real boxing matches (of which he won two). However, it’s important to understand that this sort of preparation is not actually method acting.

What this kind of research does do, however, is give the actors involved real experiences to draw on for their method acting. Ultimately, it is understanding how to use the emotions experienced during that preparation to inform your performance – that is what we mean by method acting. Without this understanding, all the research in the world won’t help you because you won’t be able to apply it to your acting.

This is especially important for up-and-coming actors. Chances are you won’t have the time or financial resources to spend months doing the kind of in depth preparation an actor like Robert De Niro or Daniel Day-Lewis is able to do. This does not mean, however, that you can’t be an effective method actor. Learning the process of method acting means you can take your existing experiences and use them to inform your performance, even if you don’t have experiences that directly relate to what you are being asked to portray. This point is so important, because it reinforces the point that method acting is for everyone, not just a tiny minority of actors with the resources to spend months immersing themselves in a sport like boxing, or whatever else it might be.

 

How to become a method actor

If you are serious about becoming a method actor then you need to find a great mentor to help you do it. Sadly, Lee Strasberg is no longer with us, but our method acting classes continue his legacy of excellence by opening up the world of method acting to a new generation. We offer both a short one-weekend Method Acting Boot Camp and our year-long Ultimate Acting Programme which covers everything you need to become a successful, professional method actor, including a full understanding of the business of acting.

To find out more, please take a look around the rest of the website and, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

 

Jack Nicholson has been acting professionally for nearly 60 years, having made his professional debut in 1958’s The Cry Baby Killer. He is one of the industry’s most decorated actors, having won three Oscars, two for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor. With 12 Academy Award nominations to his name, Nicholson is second only to Meryl Streep for total number of nominations.

How has he achieved all this? Simple: method acting.

Jack Nicholson is a master of the Method who once claimed:

“There’s probably no one who understands method acting better academically than I do, or actually uses it more in this work.”

For aspiring actors there is much to learn from Nicholson’s career about how to use method acting to take your craft to the level of a truly elite actor.

 

Getting serious about research

One of the pillars of method acting is affective memory which is the art of using your own past experiences to add a foundation of truth to your current performance.

Speaking to Esquire Nicholson once said:

“You gotta make it come from the inside. It’s all about who you are. That’s all you can really contribute. I feel autobiographical about whatever I do.”

However, for top actors like Nicholson, it’s not enough just to use their existing experiences, they go the extra mile to gain an insight into the minds of their characters. This often involves doing extensive research, meeting people and undergoing experiences that can help inform their acting.

Nicholson won his first Oscar for his role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, where he played Randle McMurphy, a convicted criminal sent to a mental institution for evaluation. To get into character, Nicholson (and the rest of the cast) spent several months living in an asylum, including going to group therapy and spending time with real patients there.

This level of dedication paid off with one of the best known and most memorable performances of Nicholson’s career.

 

Knowing your instrument

One of the most important things for any actor is to know your instrument i.e. yourself. Understanding the theory of acting isn’t enough – you need to be able to apply that theory effectively. Many actors know all the right things but allow themselves to overthink, allowing their conscious brain to get in the way of their performance.

Nicholson uses classic method acting relaxation techniques devised by Lee Strasberg to remove any tension from himself that could “get in the way of getting into a role”.

He explains:

“The idea is to get the physical body, the emotional body and the mental body into neutral. Then you should be able to hear through the voice what’s actually happening inside.”

By getting yourself into “neutral” like this, Nicholson can then allow his instincts, honed by his method acting training, to take over. This produces performances that do not feel calculated but are utterly convincing, engaging and fundamentally truthful.

 

Always being able to deliver the goods

One of the things method actors are often complimented on is their sheer professionalism. Understanding the Method means an actor can produce reliable results again and again because they have a clear, repeatable process – they are not leaving anything to chance.

Tony Richardson, who directed Nicholson in The Border, said of the actor:

“He can come on the set and deliver, without any fuss, without taking a long time walking around getting into it.”

This is the epitome of the kind of actor you can become through method acting. Having the full range of method acting tools at your disposal means always being able to find your character and produce the necessary emotions on demand. This is what it means to be a professional actor, rather than an amateur with some degree of natural talent. Industry professionals do not want to take risks on an actor who may or may not be able to do the job on the day – they want actors like Jack Nicholson who can “come on the set and deliver, without any fuss”.

 

Learn to act like Jack Nicholson

To become a great actor like Jack Nicholson you need to learn the same acting technique used by Jack and the majority of elite actors – method acting! Method acting is used by 80% of Oscar-winning actors of this century and gives you the tools to create scene-stealing, instantly iconic performances just like those of Jack Nicholson and other greats in the field, such as Robert De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis.

At the Brian Timoney Actors’ Studio we offer the UK’s leading method acting tuition, including our one-weekend Method Acting Boot Camp and our year-long Ultimate Acting Programme. Our courses cover everything you need to truly master the Method as well as helping you to understand the business of acting so you have all the skills you need to become a full-time professional actor.

To find out more, please take a look around the rest of the website and, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Understanding ‘The Method’ – The History of Method Acting

Many modern-day movies that we watch boast outstanding performances by method actors. In fact, the technique of method acting has been utilised by 80% of Oscar-winners in the ‘Best Actor’ category since the turn of the century. However, it is far from a new trend; method acting has been around in one form or another for a very long time. We thought it would be good to take a look at the history of method acting so that we can better understand its origins.

 

Ancient Greece

The idea of acting and theatre began in Ancient Greece. It was customary at that time for generations to pass on mythical stories by word of mouth to their children. This tradition gradually became a communal sharing and retelling of those stories. Eventually during the 6th century BC, festivals which celebrated the god Dionysus began to include performances which resembled acting. Towards the end of this century, plays adopted more of a formal style and were written down but at the time only male actors were allowed to take part in them.

As the years went by, Greek productions began to fall into one of three categories – those that were satyr, comedies or tragedies. Due to the vast size and nature of the open-air theatres, actors were forced to use a largely exaggerated style of acting which held its emphasis in vocal projection and the overstated movements of the body.

 

Rome

When the Roman Empire took over from the Greeks, they also enjoyed the grand spectacle of the theatre. The Romans also added musical scores to plays but phased out the traditional Greek chorus. However, once Rome fell, acting ground to a halt for centuries during the Dark Ages. Performances were very much limited to religious morality plays.

 

Italian Renaissance

A revival in the interest of acting took place during the Italian Renaissance of the 16th Century when a form of theatre known as ‘Commedia dell’arte’ was born. This style of acting focussed on the wearing of theatrical masks and presented the art of improvisation. Typically, these improvised characters would fall into various groups: Zanni were the servants, Vecchi were the masters or elders and Innamorati were the lovers. Actresses were also welcomed to the profession.

Commedia dell’arte was hugely popular and had an enormous influence on European theatre. Each country would take different aspects of the art form and adapt it into a method of acting that pleased their own native audiences. For instance, France held passion for the improvised ‘harlequin’ character whilst the works of England’s most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, were hugely inspired by the Italian movement.

 

The Emergence Of Stanislavski

By the late 19th century, a noble gentlemen called Konstantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev was growing up in one of the richest families in Russia. He was drawn towards the profession of acting, as his family had built a large theatre on their home estate. Whilst it was absolutely acceptable to enjoy watching theatre performances, it was completely taboo for a man of his birth to be involved in acting itself. Actors across Europe, but particularly in Russia hailed from an incredibly low social class which was the equivalent to a serf. However, Konstantin Alexeyev displayed sheer determination towards wanting to become a part of the theatre. He adopted a stage name of Konstantin Stanislavski which kept his performances and activities secret from his family.

Throughout his childhood, Stanislavski had kept a series of notebooks within which he would make detailed notes about performance styles, critique and self-analysis. It was popular at the time for actors to adopt a certain predetermined set of poses in order to suggest certain emotions or events that were taking place on stage. Stanislavski was opposed to this rigid style of acting and preferred to ‘live the part’. He set himself experiments where he would be disguised as a gypsy or a tramp and walk around in character. This was the starting point of his interest in method acting. The emergence of Stanislavski was an important landmark in the history of method acting.

 

The Birth Of The System

In 1909 Stanislavski produced the first draft of his ‘System’ of method acting. It was based upon years of research of performances by actors who he had great admiration for, playwrights such as Anton Chekhov and his teachings at the Moscow Arts Theatre.

Stanislavski was particularly interested in the psychology behind acting and its influence on creating realistic characters on stage. He studied the work of a French psychologist named Theodule Ribot who had come up with a concept named ‘Affective Memory’. The notion behind this concept is that an actor should recall a relevant emotional experience from their own life and then use it to summon up feelings which are associated with the event. These intense emotions can then be brought into the character that the actor is portraying. The result is a realistic performance that allows the audience to connect with the character on a deep level.

Stanislavski was also interested in the behaviour of actors before they took to the stage. He discovered that those who had prepared emotionally by relaxing into the part were more likely to deliver an outstanding performance in comparison to those who frantically buried their heads in their scripts to learn lines at the last minute.

The works of Stanislavski inspired a countless number of students. Many used the ‘System’ as a foundation from which to develop their own acting techniques. Notable examples include the Stella Adler and Meisner philosophies as well as Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting approach.

 

Strasberg’s Method Acting

Lee Strasberg was an American actor who grew up in the Ukraine before moving to the US. He set up the Group Theatre before becoming the director of the Actor’s Studio in New York. Whilst many acting approaches touch upon the idea of method acting, it is Strasberg who is considered to be the godfather of this effective technique and he is critical to any discussion on the history of method acting. He taught some of the most famous actors of our time including the likes of Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, Marilyn Monroe and Dustin Hoffman. As the interest in film and TV productions has increased over the past few decades, method acting has allowed actors to command the screen under intense scrutiny from the cameras. As Al Pacino famously put it –

“The camera can film my face but until it captures my soul you don’t have a movie.”

Sadly Strasberg passed away in 1982 but his work and influence lives on and many actors have turned towards using method acting in their own careers. The technique allows them to use a proven process in order to create intricate characters and summon up emotion on demand.

 

If you’d like to join thousands of other successful actors in learning this technique, then why not consider applying to join our Ultimate Acting Programme. It is a one year, part-time course that will teach you challenging method acting, vocal and physical training. You will learn techniques for auditions and rehearsals as well as delivering excellent performances on stage or set. Students will be given access to top Hollywood and UK casting directors and will be coached on surviving the business of acting. If you’re serious about entering the top 5% of the acting profession, then apply for this exclusive course today.

 

 

One thing that’s fantastic about working with our students is that they are all unique. They come to me, complete with baggage and weaknesses, and not only learn but also teach. Everyone you’ll share a scene with, write with, or even talk to about a character will have a unique take.

While its easy to appreciate the “uniqueness” in others, it’s sometimes hard to do so for yourself. You might think that because you’re different from the actor next to you, you’re somehow lesser.

This is not true.

 

Understanding Your Uniqueness

Many people have what they call “baggage”: from their relationships, childhoods, and traumatic experiences. However, if you’re able to work through or come to terms with your experiences, they can become positive influences on your life and your ability to act.

While its easy to appreciate the “uniqueness” in others, it’s sometimes hard to do so for yourself.

Your unique experiences can help you to relate to characters who have gone through similar ones. Even if you don’t directly relate to a character’s “baggage,” your own will guide the way you interpret it; this is why there are often different but equally famous versions of the same character.

Think of all the Elizabeth Bennets and Willy Wonkas: each with its own merit, and each a production of the actor’s unique “baggage”.

Cathryn Hartt tells the story of how her sister, actress Morgan Fairchild, came to terms with her uniqueness.

When she first came to Hollywood, she was cast as the mean girl in a television movie, “The Initiation of Sarah.” She really wanted to play the “good” sister and begged the producer to let her at least read for it. He said, “Young lady, you haven’t been out here very long, have you? A pretty girl is a dime a dozen, but a good b**ch is hard to find. You have great power. Own it!

In coming to terms with your own uniqueness, you’re learning to understand your character’s uniqueness also.

 

Refining Your Uniqueness

Once you’ve begun to accept your uniqueness, its often helpful for an actor to pin down exactly what makes them unique. This will be what marketers call your USP, or “unique selling point”.

Branding, many experts will warn you, is a risky exercise. You could end up typecast for your entire career. However, the concept is a useful one: how do others see you, and how can you best capitalise on this uniqueness?

Actors like Robin Williams and Steve Carell built their careers on being seen as comedians or comic figures. This served them well, earning accolades and rave reviews for optimising how others naturally perceive them.

Branding your uniqueness doesn’t have to restrain you, either. Those same comedians mentioned before, Williams and Carell, portrayed tragic and dramatic characters later on in their careers to huge box office numbers, nominations, and awards. In fact, you could argue that the contrast of these later roles to their earlier ones is what got them such rave reviews.

To pinpoint what it is that makes you unique, try these two exercises – and when listing your own qualities, stay positive!

• You are what you watch. Characters from film, TV, and theatre that you relate to strongly could be the key to figuring out what kind of actor you are. Are you a leading lady? The comic relief? The villainPick three characters you’ve seen on a screen lately who you relate to, and write down some of their traits.
• As much as we don’t always it to be the case, your physical type can help define your uniqueness. If you’re muscular, you might go for the “muscle” or “action hero” roles; if you’re less physically imposing but wear glasses well, you might go for the “scientist” or “tech support” roles.Ask others what they first notice about your appearance. What do stereotypes say about people with these traits?

 

Adapting Your Uniqueness In Acting

You might find yourself being cast constantly as the father or the villain without trying. There is something in you that casting directors see as that character, and you might want to embrace it.

Karl Malden, a well-developed character actor, recently revealed that embracing that his unique typecasting was the most important thing he took away from his schooling:

Everything they put me in was the brother, the father, the uncle or the friend, never the leading man. So I said, ‘If I am going to stay in this thing, I’d better be the best character actor I can be’.

When thinking of successful character actors, think of actors like Jack Nicholson and Benicio Del Toro. These two have the same eccentricities in most films, expressed to different degrees. If your uniqueness has destined you for character acting, we suggest you take the same approach.

After narrowing down your personal traits as we explained in the section above, figure out how to enhance and embrace them in your acting.

Here are some questions to help you refine your unique character:

Think of the physical:

• Do you have soulful eyes?
• Do you move quickly?
• How loud is your laugh?

Think of the emotional:

• How quick are your reactions?
• When there’s a sudden noise, are you frightened or are you angered?
• Do you have any nervous habits?

Embracing Uniqueness In Others

If you’re embracing your own “weaknesses” as unique traits, it’s good to recognise it in others too. Your character’s experiences and perspectives are as valuable as yours, so you can’t ignore them completely in your interpretation.

When trying a character on for size, understand their personal traits and how their past experiences have formed them; and then line yours up next to them. This will help you find which parts of your unique self will help you to interpret the character.

You should also pay the same respect to the uniqueness of your fellow actors, writers, and directors. If you have an experience valuable to the performance, so might they.

Embracing your weaknesses as unique qualities is a fantastic tool for opening yourself up to new interpretations of characters and scripts. As an actor, you’ll know that the best state for a performance is vulnerability: being able to truly move with the flow of emotions in a scene. Understanding how your own unique experiences and perspectives shape your emotional responses is key to unlocking the full potential of this vulnerable state.

To better understand applying your uniqueness to acting, why not see if our elite Ultimate Acting Course is suitable for you?

 

Know thyself.

An ancient saying, and the first thing on the list of our Ultimate Acting Rules. To know yourself is to have a deep understanding of who you are, not a vague list of likes and dislikes. You should know the psychology behind why you like and do certain things. Once you know this, you know which buttons to push to get the most out of your performances. Secondary to this is knowing others: if you can understand the types of people and actors your scene partners are, you can work together to make the whole performance greater than the sum of its parts.

We believe that part of “knowing ourselves” is being able to learn and grow as a person. We like our students to be true to their core self, but willing to push themselves and develop as people.

A great actor will develop quickly. To help you get a head start on your career, we’ve explained three types of approach to acting: risk-taking, method, and hobbyist.

 

The Risk-Taking Actor

He who dares, wins.

Daring, risk-taking performances are those that risk you being ridiculed, or failing. You will fail sometimes; no-one is infallible. They say the greater the risk, the greater the reward – and this is particularly true in a creative career, like acting.

Taking risks helps you to stand out from the crowd, for better or worse; and in your early acting career being memorable is one of the most important things you can do.

Risk-taking also shows a desire to further than just memorising lines. You’re creating an interpretation and showing casting directors that you’re a creative – someone who will help enhance their work, not just parrot it.

 

The Method Actor

We talk a lot about the method here, and that’s because we swear by it. When over 80% of Oscar winners are method actors, you know there’s something to it. If you study with us, you will learn how to use the method in your acting; but can you use the method to forward your career?

Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.

This saying speaks of tackling your aspirations in a way very like method acting: it says to actively become what you want to be instead of waiting for it to happen to you. When it comes to auditioning, there’s no better advice. Directors and casting agents look for actors who are prepared to commit themselves to a role, so turning up “dressed for the job” is a good sign that you’re the best choice.

Dressing for the job at an audition doesn’t necessarily mean turning up in character; that could be overkill. However, turning up with subtle allusions to the part you’re auditioning for will help them envision you in the role.

For example, Andrew Lincoln – the lead actor on The Walking Dead – wasn’t exactly a household name. When he went to audition for the now-famous role of Rick Grimes, a hardened leader of rag-tag survivors, he’d been coping with the birth of his second child. He naturally looked haggard, and was brusque. He got the part. He might have method acted his way to success by accident, but it was the method all the same.

 

The Hobbyist Actor

Not everyone who acts is able or willing to turn it into a career. Although my students are committed to acting as a career, there are plenty of people out there – you might be one – to whom acting is a passion and a pleasure, and who don’t want to go through the hard years of trying to earn a living off it before that big break.

As a hobbyist, you’re best off pursuing independent projects or joining community theatre groups. You could even do voice acting or advertising on the side of a full-time job.

In terms of a career, hobbyist acting can be a great choice. Not only are you improving your public speaking skills and charisma, but you’re also forming a network of other hobbyists from all kinds of fields. All that different life experience in one theatre is sure to help you develop an affective memory, and make you a local star!

If you’re currently a hobbyist actor and considering becoming a professional, you may have to re-brand yourself.

 

So Who Are You?

The best actors are also experts on human nature. When trying to decide what type of actor you are, you should first learn what kind of person you are. One tried and true way of doing this is by discovering your Jungian archetype. Carl Jung’s famous archetypes can not only help you understand your character, but also yourself. Try this quiz to figure out who you are.

If you’re passionate about the method or consider yourself a risk-taker, why not see what we can offer you?

 

“There are no small parts, only small actors.” – Laurence Olivier.

Have you ever been watching a play or movie and said to someone, “wow, that actor really stole the scene!” This is what Olivier was talking about: how a great actor can own a scene, no matter how small their part in it. To commit to your acting to this degree requires seriousness, skill and real passion.

I want to talk about what I call the “three deadly sins” of acting. These sins are what holds an actor back from greatness, and from commitment. These sins are indecision, doubt, and fear: feelings that plague so many people that half the self-help book industry addresses them. In an actor, however, they’re particularly cumbersome. When your job is to be confident, even one of these three sins could be a problem.

 

The Three Deadly Sins

Fear

Fear is a problem because it holds you back from making bold choices in your acting. Fear is the little voice inside your head that asks, “what if this doesn’t work? What will the other actors think?”

You must remember that you have control over this voice. Think of it as a dog that’s taking you for a walk instead of the other way around: tell it to stop. You could even train that voice, so that every time you feel it niggling at your self-esteem you pay yourself a compliment: “you are brave! That’s a novel choice!”

Once you allow yourself fearless self-expression, your creativity can flourish. Just as importantly, it allows your scene partners’ creativity to flourish too – if they know they can be experimental and honest in their rehearsals with you, you can build on each others’ portrayals.

This could never happen if you were crippled by fear.

 

Indecision

Indecision is the leading cause of reviews containing the word “lacklustre”. Without strong and decisive creative choices, a character’s portrayal can seem vague and weak.

If you commit to a decision then you are taking a creative stand – so, yes, it can be hard to do. However, your decisiveness means that you will never be seen as a “weak” actor. Perhaps, at worst, someone might call your choice an “odd interpretation,” but this, at least, is subjective.

Moreover, casting directors like actors with strong and clear opinions about their characters. Decisive choices about the character you’re auditioning for will make it clear that you’re familiar with the character and the context, as well as showing that you can produce a powerful embodiment.

 

Doubt

Otherwise known as indecision’s little sister, doubt is a sin after the fact. It’s the little voice that waits until you’ve quietened those of fear and indecision, and then asks: “did I make the right choice?”

Remember the catchphrases of the Instagram generation: “no regrets,” “you only live once”. Commit yourself to the choice you’ve made, and continue on positively. You can’t take it back, and doubt does nothing to help you.

Doubt will only weaken your acting, as you spend your time mulling over previous choices instead of focusing on owning your next ones.

 

Case Studies In Commitment

Meryl Streep

Her work seems effortless, but it is far from. A student of Meisner’s Technique, she is well trained in method and, in particular, physical acting techniques. This is where her commitment comes from.

You’ll notice that even without dialogue, she can convey multiple emotions. She seems so “natural,” and all because she’s an expert study of human nature. During filming of The Iron Lady, a fellow cast member recalls a speech that attests to Streep’s commitment to a role’s small details:

“I’m Meryl. Please do forgive me if I talk in this accent all day, but if I don’t keep it up between takes I’ll lose the bloody thing and not get it back.”

Meryl was confident in her choice to commit to the accent, and her fellow actors were charmed by it.

 

Jack Nicholson

Nicholson is one of two actors, and the the only American, to have been nominated for an Oscar in every decade since the sixties. He’s worked hard, yes, but more importantly he committed himself to every role, no matter how small.

He got his first screen role in an episode of Matinee Theatre, in 1960. He had a small role, “Musician’s Son,” with a total of four words. He performed these four words so well that his next role was as the lead in a film. He did this by committing to every second of his character’s screen time.

 

Steve McQueen

The man’s a film legend, and an acting as well as an action hero for many. Something you might not know about McQueen is that whenever he got a new script, he would look for ways to reduce the lines. This gave him less to remember, but what he’d tell directors is what every great director wants to hear: that they can cut a couple of paragraphs because the actor can speak them with just a look.

 

Practicing Commitment

So you want to be the next Nicholson or Streep? Acting doesn’t just happen when you open your mouth. Acting is committing to an embodiment; that means your whole body. The next time you’re reading through a scene, take a moment to dissect the thoughts of your character in every second of it.

What are you thinking when you’re speaking your lines?

When you’re reacting to someone else’s lines?

When you’re watching an event unfold?

Now try to adapt these “lines of thought” into a physical act. For example, when your character is thinking “This person’s story doesn’t add up,” they might convey this in the face, the hands, or the stance. How would you interpret it?

I challenge you to be bold in your next rehearsal. Be confident, decisive, and have no regrets. See how liberating it feels, and how it liberates your scene partners too; confidence is not selfish.

If you find you enjoy it, you might have what it takes to be a great actor. I encourage those of you who are ready to truly commit to your acting career to apply for my Ultimate Acting Programme, which takes only the most committed actors.

 

Acting is an industry and, like any industry, you need more than just an understanding of your craft to succeed. To become a successful professional actor, you have to understand the business side of the industry – how to get work, how to present yourself, how to keep on moving onwards and upwards.

The greatest actors in the world would not have the careers that they do if they didn’t understand that acting is a business. If you are determined to become a professional actor (and you do need to be determined if you want to make it!) then you need to learn the business skills to back up your acting chops. Fail to do that, and your career will never get off the ground.

 

Marketing yourself as an actor

Getting yourself noticed is something all aspiring actors are desperate for, but how do you do it? Understanding how to market yourself will mean that your talent doesn’t go unnoticed. After all, it doesn’t matter how good you are if nobody ever sees it.

There are a number of basic ways you can market yourself as actor, but the important thing is to show yourself off in the best possible way and make sure that the right people see it. Learn who the gatekeepers of the industry are, what they are looking for and how to get yourself in front of them and your chances of success will be infinitely increased.

Make sure you have all the fundamentals covered, like a professional acting CV, good quality head shots and an acting show reel if at all possible. These are essential tools of the trade. Without them you are unlikely to be taken seriously as a professional and it will be virtually impossible for you to get work.

 

Getting an agent

Although not every actor has an agent, most do and with good reason. A good agent will understand the industry much better than you do and will already have loads of useful connections with casting directors and other industry gatekeepers. Your agent is a major asset, both as an advocate for your talent and as a career advisor helping to steer you to success.

Finding representation can seem impossible, but the trick is to do your research. Find out which agents represent actors looking for the kind of work you are interested in, then send them your CV, headshots and a one-page covering letter.

When you meet a potential agent, make sure they’re right for you before signing on the dotted line. The wrong agent can do more harm than good, so make sure you know the right questions to ask to weed out the good from the bad.

 

Understanding auditions

Being offered an audition doesn’t mean you’ve made it and success isn’t just about turning up and giving a good reading. You need to understand how to handle an audition when you get there and what you are really aiming to get out of it.

If you want to be a professional, then you have to know how to behave professionally at auditions. Remember, this is your business, so treat it as such. Don’t take feedback or rejection personally and realise that you will probably have to spend at least 80% of your time auditioning in order to spend 20% of it actually acting.

It’s also important to understand that, even though you won’t get every audition you go for, if you make a good impression the casting director will remember you. That means next time they have a role you could be a good fit for, they may just jump you to the head of the queue.

 

Never stop learning

No matter how good you were in your school plays or at your local theatre group, nobody is just a naturally brilliant actor. In any other career you would be expected to constantly learn and develop new skills to stay up-to-date with the competition – acting is no different. You have to work at improving your acting skills and your knowledge of the industry.

How do you do this? Take classes. Go to workshops. Attend networking events. Continuously push yourself to get better. It takes that level of commitment to succeed. Don’t think you can just sit around applying for additions and think your big break will just come along somehow – it won’t. Learning to become an actor is a lifelong commitment – the moment you think you have it all figured out is when you stop progressing and allow everyone else to overtake you.

 

Make persistence your superpower

“A lot of folks got the wrong idea about how I got my breaks. I’m sure they thought I tough-guyed my way up to the studio boss and bullied myself into a part. No way. I worked hard and if you work hard you get the goodies.” – Steve McQueen

Having the right attitude is half the battle. It’s not enough to have a vague aspiration to be an actor, you need to be prepared to work at it, keep working at it and then work at it some more. Again, this is a business, so you will have to do some work – it’s not all swanning around, sipping chardonnay in your trailer between takes. If you’re not prepared to put in the hard graft then acting really isn’t for you. It’s not an easy profession, whatever people might tell you!

Making it as an actor means spending hundreds of hours sending out CVs, going to auditions, standing around waiting, and constantly doing everything you can to practice and improve your craft. If you’re not prepared for that level of effort you really are looking at the wrong career!

 

Learn the business of acting

The Brian Timoney Actors’ Studio stands out from many other acting courses for a number of reasons, but perhaps most fundamentally because we are 100% focused on turning our students into working professional actors. As well as offering unrivalled tuition in the secrets of method acting, we also have a heavy emphasis on the business of acting. That means we give you all the acting career advice and guidance you need, so that when you leave our course you can go straight out and start working professionally.

Our year-long Ultimate Acting Programme is the best course around for aspiring professional actors, so, if you are ready to turn your acting dreams into a reality, you need look no further. Places on the course are decided by audition and competition is fierce as we only take 16 students at a time. The next round of auditions take place on 27th July 2016 and the application deadline is 20th July, so don’t delay, get that application in now!

To find out more, please take a look around the rest of the website and, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.