Written by Kylie Nadeau
January 2023
“The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it.”- Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the tales of Sherlock Holmes.
When the topic of Method Acting comes up in conversation, people's minds are drawn to different actors. Some may think of Al Pacino’s captivating performance as Michael Corleone in the film “The Godfather'' or Heath Ledger's ultimately fatal depiction of “The Joker” in 2008’s “The Dark Knight. Regardless of who you think of, method acting has worked for some. Yet this theater strategy has been ultimately fatal and detrimental for others.
Method acting occurs when an actor attempts to become the character and puts themselves in the character’s shoes. When an actor needs to portray a character that’s so eccentric or that has specific mannerisms, they put themselves into the mindset of this character and think to themselves “What if I were this person?” or “what if I did these things?”
Method acting has been a controversial tool in Hollywood since its arrival in the United States in 1906. Russian director Konstantin Stanislavski invented this technique in the 1890s in Moscow, Russia.
Author Isaac Butler wrote the book The Method: How The 20th Century Learned To Act which focuses on this acting strategy. When interviewed by Terry Gross for National Public Radio about his book and method acting, he said, “The character's often feeling emotions in a very intense way but not letting them out, but also allowing you to see that they are feeling them.”
In his NPR interview, Butler added, “So part of the thing that you do is you just think, and the camera will see what you're thinking.”
In some cases of method acting, it can create an amazing product. But it can always be fatal.
Springfield High School theater instructor Rebecca Skrypeck has an interest in method acting. “[Method acting] is when an actor takes on a role and almost becomes the character - emotionally. He or she connects and maybe at some point, really believes they are that character.”
Skrypeck does not implement method acting in her teaching strategy for the SHS theater program. “It [method acting] takes a lot of focus and concentration,” Skrypeck said. “You have to invest emotionally and it takes a lot out of a person. It's a hard technique to master and I don't think teenagers need the added emotional trauma that can go with implementing the technique.”