So what exactly is a "method actor"

Does that mean they stay in character all the time?

• Joan was method. Bette was not.

• Say a method actor lands a role as a person who chain smokes. He will likely begin to start chain smoking in his real life to get a feel for the character, even if he doesn't actually smoke.

• So gay for pays are method....

• I am. Oh sorry, I thought you said "meth head actor."

  L.%20Lohan

• They're all different OP. There are Joaquin Phoenix and Daniel Day Lewis types and then there are those who can turn things on and off like a faucet when the occasion warrants like Saint Meryl of Streep. I've always been curious about Jessica Lange in regards to what acting school of thought she is into. I think that maybe she is her own unique bird in that she just naturally does her thing but I read somewhere that she did bit of study after the "King Kong" debacle from ages ago. I used to be curious about Vanessa Redgrave as well, but after having read Jane Fonda's autobiography, I learned that Redgrave seems to have a talent which is soo ethereal in scope that it is almost undefinable. Jane Fonda was at a loss for words in trying to describe Vanessa Redgrave's process.

• Click click click

  http://www.movieactors.com/acting-reviews/meryl-streep-review.htm

  Kate H

• A Method Actor is usually an actor who is not very good, so s/he comes up with labels for their style, so people think they are a serious artist. I.E. Tom Cruise calls himself a method actor, even though he always plays the same personality.

• I have always been curious about actors such as Farrah Fawcette who eventually proved themselves to be be quite good actors. What " method" was used?

• Vincent D'Onofrio is a method actor. He gained 70 pounds for "Full Metal Jacket." Of course, we all wonder what fat role he has been working on for the last decade or so when he get fat again. BTW, D'Onofrio may be a method actor but that doe snot mean he's good actor. In fact, I think method acting makes him worse.

• Dustin Hoffman is THE method actor. I personally don't like his acting.

  http://www.simplydustinhoffman.com/tryactingdearboy.htm

• A method actor is an actor who lacks imagination and trust in themselves so they go and do way out things like make people only talk to them in character and try to actually live out what their characters go through. Most method actors lose their shit and have tons of mental problems in their lives (Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Kim Stanley, etc.).

• Denzel is method as well. If you're acting alongside him, and his character hates your character, he will NOT speak to you the entire shoot.

• What are character actors

• R13, those are usually actors that you see all the time, but you're never sure what their real names are, and they're never in leading roles (i.e., "Hey, that's that guy! He's always playing a cop or a teacher or something, but I'm not sure what his name is.")

• A method actor can mean many things. "The method" as practiced by Stanislavski was quite different than "the method" as practiced by Strasberg. Generally speaking, all it means is that an actor uses subsitutions from his or her own experiences - sensory, emotional, familial, political, sexual, romantic - to understand the conditions, objectives, obstacles and relationships confronting his or her character, drawing similarities between his or her own life, past and present, and that of his or her character's. It has sometimes been taken to extremes with many actors suffering through it and others relying on it without using other powerful tools, notably, as Stella Adler - a devotee of Stanislavski but not of Strasberg - insisted, the imagination.

• There's a story about Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins during the filming of the movie, The Edge. In the scene they were about to shoot, they were supposed to be out of breath after running from a bear. So, Hopkins was just standing on his mark, ready to go, while Alec was holding everyone up as he ran in place and did push ups. Hopkins asked him what he was doing and Alec said the scene called for him to be out of breath. So Hopkins told him, "Why not just act?"

• r16, are you sure that isn't abou Dustin HOffman and Laurencce Olivier during Marathon Man?

• R13, R14 gave an excellent answer. And may I tell the two of you and others - if you hvaen't already seen it - about a GREAT documentary that was on Showtime On Demand for a few weeks (not on now, darn) called "That Guy..." Interviews 16 "character actors" - Bruce Davison perhaps the best-known; also the guy who plays Brass on CSI; the guy who plays the coroner on CSI-NY, and others you may well recognize (oh, and the "Lassiter" on Psych.) I thought it was superb. I'm not an actor but I have friends who are, and I'm encouraging them to see it. About 1 hr-20 minutes - fascinating - also a couple of interviews with agents. And like is said a couple of times in the filmm, that's how their fans often view them: "you're - that guy! that guy who was in - that thing"! Very down to earth; mainly (which is neither here or there) straight, married with kids, 40-60+ guys. Oh, and perhaps people will recognize Zander Berkeley from tons of parts: currently in "Nikita", and played Christopher in Mommy Dearest!

  Actor troll

• I completely forgot that Xander was in MD!

• R18, it looks like "That Guy" will be shown on Showtime this coming Mon 11/19 at 9:30am (EST). Thanks for the tip, I'll record it -- sounds interesting.

  http://www.sho.com/sho/reality-docs/titles/3359061/that-guywho-was-in-that-thing%23/index

• Thanks R18 and R14 - I will watch That Guy

  r13

• Usually an idiot, OP.

• I just pretend I am the other person.

  Sir%20Ian