I just read the term somewhere and have read all the wikipedia stuff, multiple articles, reddit posts, discussions, etc, but I just don’t understand what method acting is? What else can actually be there? Don’t all actors try to feel pain when they’re in a role where they have to act hurt?
I am not really looking for the history behind it, but maybe an example of a scene and the different ways as to how a method actor would approach it vs how a normal actor would approach it.
Thanks!
Edit – I know this is not the most scientific or complex phenomenon to understand, but still.
In: Other
This story has been verified as being _not true_ but like all good fiction, it is a made-up story that conveys a deeper truth.
So, the story goes, they’re filming the movie “Marathon Man”. Dustin Hoffman, probably the most method actor of his generation, is working with Sir Laurence Olivier, commonly known as the Greatest Actor Of The Twentieth Century. They’re about to film the scene after the dentist (Olivier) has tortured the student (Hoffman) all night.
Hoffman realized that the true method actor would literally torture himself all night to get in the proper frame of mind to film the scene. So that’s what he did — he stayed up all night, literally banging his head against the wall, burning himself with cigarettes, and (in some versions of the story), taking more drugs than he was used to taking.
Hoffman showed up on the set the next day looking like a man who had been tortured all night. Laurence Olivier took one look at him and in genuine concern said “My dear boy, you look terrible! Are you quite all right?”
Hoffman managed to croak out an explanation of method acting, really needing to explore what the character is going through, experiencing his feelings, and so on.
Olivier listened in politeness and when Hoffman was finished, said “My dear boy… why don’t you try *acting*? It’s so much easier.”
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