Method Acting in 2024 (easy to understand)

In this article, we'll dive deep on Method Acting – what it is, how to use it, where it came from, and even some stories of famous method actors who went too far.

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Method Acting

Method Acting is one of the most well-known film acting techniques, perhaps because it's so controversial. It was developed by Lee Strasberg and had influences from Konstantin Stanislavski, Robert Lewis, Stella Adler, and Sanford Meisner.

Also called "The Method," Method Acting is an acting technique that creates performances so realistic and incredible that members of the audience often completely lose themselves in the world of the character.

Method Actors live the life of the character they're playing not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. They first rid themselves of all their personal thoughts and worries, and then completely immerse themselves in the mind of the character by thinking as the character would think, feeling as they would feel, and responding as the character would.

What is the Method Acting Style?

Method Acting requires an actor to use experiences from their own life to bring themselves closer to the character. The actor is to recall sensations they experienced from a personal memory and allow their emotions to flow freely as they re-experience that memory in their mind.

The actor will take the situation their character is going through and ask themselves, what would this be like compared to something I went through in my own past? "It's 'as if' I were reliving X," where X is a memory from the actor's past. Some Method actors actually hire psychologists to help them discover and vividly relive their past memories.

An important distinction to understand is the difference between sensation recall and emotion recall. Method Actors are advised to focus on the physical sensations they experienced in their memories, such as the "loudness of his father's voice as he yelled," or the "smell of the green grass as she sat on the dock fishing." By focusing on this sensation recall, unconscious emotions will rise to the surface naturally. This ensures the actor's emotions are more authentic than if the actor simply tried to use emotion recall – or bringing up the specific emotions they experienced during the memory (without using the sense to trigger it).

Lee Strasberg described Method Acting as what all actors have always done whenever they acted well. What he meant was that sensory recall was the most effective way he had ever seen to bring up natural emotions that could truly be believed (and even felt) by the audience.
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Before we jump into Method Acting techniques, check out this interesting video that dives deep on Method Acting and how it's different than other forms:

​How to Use Method Acting

There are four important questions an actor must answer before beginning the process of Method Acting:

• What are my Character's Objectives? The objectives are what the character most wants in the scene. The moment-to-moment objective is what they want at different moments throughout the scene, and it's subject to change based on what the other character(s) in the scene say or do. There's also the Super Objective, which is the character's overall, long-term objective in the story. What does the character most want in life?
  • Related: The Actor's Objective
• What are my Character's Obstacles? What is currently standing in the way of the actor achieving their objective? What must they overcome to reach their goals? Obstacles can be physical, such as having to climb a fence to escape a prison, emotional, such as wanting to ask someone out on a date if they don't like you, and even mental, such as wanting peace in one's life but being too consumed by the guilt of what happened in the past.
• What are my Character's Intentions? Why does a character want to achieve their objective? Knowing the reasons behind their goals allows for a much deeper and rich understanding of the character, which makes the performance more realistic and natural.
• What are my Character's Actions? What will the character physically do to achieve their objective? The specific physical actions the character takes will usually be dictated by the script, but there are also emotional actions, such as how the lines are being said (yelling, crying, etc.). Those actions are usually determined by the director.

​Once the four questions above are answered, the actor will begin the use of "affective memory," where they choose a specific memory from their past to relive in order to better understand and experience what the character is going through. The emotions that come up as the actor relives their memory could be joyful, traumatic, etc., but what's important to understand is that these emotions are real – they're the byproduct of reliving the physical sensations from past memories.

​Now, before we go any further, one important distinction to understand is that there are two types of Method Acting: Surface Acting and Deep Acting:

• Surface Acting is where one experiences the deep, true emotions of affective memory but does not actually change their thinking – this means the actor lives life off set as themselves.
• Deep Acting, on the other hand, is where the actor actually changes their thinking too, so they essentially "become" the character fully. You'll find Deep Actors staying in character for extended periods of time, both on and off set.

A Common Misconception

One of the most common misconceptions about Method Acting is that it requires actors to live as the character, even when they're not on set.

This is untrue – there are many Method Actors who leave character once they're off set. Living as the character off set is simply a helpful technique some Method Actors employ, primarily for one or both of the following reasons:

• To avoid feelings of drain and fatigue: Living as the character off set helps actors continue thinking exactly as the character would think, which can help them avoid cognitive dissonance (experiencing emotions not in alignment with their thoughts) and the feelings of drain and fatigue that it causes. More on fatigue in the next section.
• To better understand a character: Since Method Acting requires actors to use their own memories to draw up emotions, it's sometimes the case that an actor simply doesn't have a memory that would be usable for a realistic performance. If that's the case, a Method Actor might choose to live as the character off set for a week or two, or experience certain life events the character is supposed to experience so they can better understand the character and draw up the right emotions.

Stanislavsky actually tried requiring actors to stay in character off-stage, but noted that "the results were never fully satisfactory."​

Is Method Acting Bad?

One of the reasons Method Acting is so well-known is because of the lengths to which some actors will go for an authentic performance. Here are some of the biggest drawbacks and challenges with Method Acting:

• It can be draining and fatiguing. Experiencing raw emotions of powerful intensity for extended lengths of time (hours on set and in some cases, days and even weeks if needed because of shooting schedules) leads to fatigue and can be extremely draining. Powerful emotions combined with "dissonance" cause extreme fatigue. Imagine what it would be like to have to experience the emotions of two entire human beings at once – yourself and the character you're playing! In order to avoid this fatigue, some Method Actors use Deep Acting, where they essentially switch their normal self "off" for the entire length of the shoot (which can really freak people out around them).
• Sleep Deprivation. Shooting multiple takes of the same scene or same time frame in a film means a Method Actor needs to hold onto a particular emotion for a much longer-than-normal period of time, which can cause anxiety and sleep deprivation, both of which can lead to emotional instability, anxiety, fear, and even shame.
• Physical Deterioration. For Method Actors who need to create memories from scratch to work off of, they might go to extremes, such as getting teeth pulled, living in poverty, excessive weight gain or loss, alcoholism, etc. (more on these examples below). Putting the body through these stresses can lead to sickness and other forms of physical deterioration.

​Is Method Acting Dangerous?

In general, the answer to this really depends on how far you take it. As discussed previously, there are surface level dangers such as fatigue and exhaustion, but there are also deeper issues such as the possibility of permanently changing your personality (yes, for real)!

James Franco wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times about how method acting is likely responsible for the erratic behavior of some actors who have taken it too far.

At the end of the day, Method Acting itself is not dangerous – it's only dangerous if used improperly.

​Method Acting Examples

To wrap up this article, here are some intense stories of Method Actors who took things to the extreme:

• Marlon Brando stayed in a hospital bed for an entire month as a way to prepare for the injured veteran character he'd be playing in The Men.
• Robert De Niro worked as a real taxi driver, picking up passengers around New York City during breaks from shooting Taxi Driver. He worked multiple 12-hour shifts!
• Hilary Swank lived as a boy for an entire month to prepare for her role in Boys Don't Cry. She lost a lot of weight to make her cheeks look hollow, stuffed socks in her pants, and even wrapped her chest.
• Adrian Brody dropped weight, learned the piano, gave up his life, disconnected from society, gave up his apartment, disconnected his phone, left Europe, and even lost his girlfriend, all as a way to prepare for his Oscar-winning role in The Pianist.
• Heath Ledger locked himself in his apartment for an entire month, practiced his laugh, and scribbled Joker-like ramblings into a notebook to prepare for his role of the Joker in The Dark Knight. He then proceeded to die right after the shoot from an overdose of prescription drugs.
• Daniel Day-Lewis refused to wear an insulated coat when shooting Gangs of New York because it would take him out of character, and he subsequently caught pneumonia.
• Kate Winslet only spoke with a German accent for an entire month before playing a Nazi concentration camp guard in The Reader. She said it took her months to recover and begin speaking normally again.
• Leonardo DiCaprio, a vegetarian, ate raw bison, slept in an animal carcass, and withstood freezing temperatures when shooting The Revenant. Later, in Django Unchained, he slammed his hand into glass during a take and cut himself badly. He continued to perform his scene and stunned everyone on set.

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Some Additional Q&A

​What is Method Acting vs. Character Acting?

Method Acting is an acting technique, whereas Character Acting is less of a technique and more of a style of character you play. Character actors typically play eccentric, funny, or weird characters that are very unique. An actor can play those characters using Method Acting Technique if they wish, or they can use Meisner Technique, or any other technique. Character Acting is not a technique in and of itself.

​What is Method Acting vs. Natural Acting?

Method Acting is a form of Natural Acting. Natural Acting is simply a way to perform that works especially well for film, where you're not trying to "show" or "indicate" your emotions to the audience. Method Acting is one way to do it, as is Meisner Technique. Classical Acting on the other hand is not usually considered Natural Acting. In Classical Acting, you're meant to "act out" your emotions so the audience (who is often around 20-50 feet away, depending on the size of a theater) can see what's happening.

​​What is the Difference Between Acting and Method Acting?

The main difference between regular acting and Method Acting is the way in which emotions are drawn to the surface. In regular acting, actors take control of their subconscious mind and bring emotions to the surface by reacting instinctually to what's happening in the scene. In Method Acting, the actor imagines a past experience, re-experiences the sensations of the memory, and the necessary emotions will rise to the surface unconsciously.

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​What is an Example of Method Acting?

There are plenty of examples of actors who went deep into character to prepare for roles and give truly authentic performances. For more examples beyond those presented in this article, try Googling things like "method acting Joker," "Heath Ledger method acting," or "Jim Carrey method acting." You can also try searching, "​method acting movies" and watch some scenes on YouTube.

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​Further Reading:

If you enjoyed this article (Method Acting: The Ultimate Guide), you might be interested in some of these:​
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• Natural Acting: The Ultimate Guide
• ​Acting for Film: The Ultimate Guide
• Acting Resources: Everything You'll Need to Build Your Career
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: All You Need to Know