Talk:Method acting/Archive 2

Criticisms
The common criticism of Method actors is that they often play very similar character types (Daniel Day-Lewis, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino among them). Does anyone know where I can find sources for this so that I may include it? Arthurian Legend (talk) 19:05, 25 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I have no idea where you'd find sources, but I can cite that this criticism exists. --Thatguykalem (talk) 10:03, 6 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Criticism certianly exists, but it is hard to ground these criticisms in fact as they could easily be from biased primary sources. In my opinion however, method actors such as Daniel Day Lewis may be confined to their own psychological and emotional boundaries, but that does not automatically mean their scope of personality is limited. It could simply be that actors who follow this "method" are flexible and adaptable in their personalities, thus they succeed in trying to emulate their characters, because they have the emotional resilience and empathy necessary to relate to their characters, no matter how outlandish or immoral they may seem to be. --Metacyn (talk) 2:16, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Matt Jones did a research paper?
Bully for Matt Jones.

This is irrelevant and unecyclopedic at best or vandalism at worst. Either way it doesn't belong here. Please let me know if there some importance behind Matthew Jones, son of Jacob Henry (son of? is this the Middle Ages?), otherwise I'm removing it. The Cap&#39;n (talk) 00:01, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Psychological impact of Method Acting
I've heard about some actors having psychological distress after dark and troubled roles. I don't know if this should be added here, but the method actors are the ones that connect more with their emotions. Here are some links about this (I think) 1 2 3. Someone with psychological training may be interested in this. Comu_nacho (spanish speaker) (talk) 00:14, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

This is certainly a topic to consider when it comes to Method Acting. Can you imagine the psychological implications of emulating a sociopath in your every day life? Taking on the persona of a sociopathic alcoholic, such as Daniel Day-Lewis did in "There Will Be Blood", might have had long-lasting impacts on his emotional state. It is the fearless pursuit of emulation that method actors pursue, for the sake of theatrics, that could potentially bring long-term harm to their identities. I could find many sources about (non-method) supporting actors who have felt legitimate fear because their main (method) actor was becoming to emotionally involved in their character's identity. Paul Dano (non-method actor), who played the charismatic Christian preacher, Eli, in the movie "There Will Be Blood" expressed dismay in an interview when he felt Daniel Day-Lewis (a renown method actor) expressed deeply personal hate for his character and proceeded to ad-lib the scene (which made it into final cut) by throwing bowling balls at his legs. In the movie, you see the supporting actor feeling true panic, not as his character, but as his true self because the method actor is forcing him to express fear the way he would feel it. To summarize, I have read that working with a method actor as a non-method actor can sometimes produce emotionally disruptive outcomes and investigating this phenomenon would be extremely interesting not only for the sake of theatrics, but for psychology as well. Metacyn (swedish speaker) (talk) 2:31, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

capitalization
Is it common in the sources to capitalize "method" in this context? I confess never having seen it capitalized. Robert K S (talk) 17:30, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Seems to me that it refers to a specific type of acting, and the requirement for being a proper noun is met. --Rlsaine (talk) 06:41, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Practitioners
Would Nicole Kidman apply as a practitioner of method acting? From what she said about her work in The Paperboy, where she immersed herself in the character, interviewing women who's husband's were in jail, stayed in character the whole time they were filming, and studied speaking in a southern accent,it sounds to me like method acting, but not entirely sure if this makes her a method actor. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.122.152.204 (talk) 03:08, 18 February 2013 (UTC)

Should Shahrukh Khan be added to the list of practitioners of method acting? Reference 2 does not even mention his name. And Shahrukh Khan in reality does not follow method acting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.49.68.142 (talk) 03:17, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 2 one external links on Method acting. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20131203012039/http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1444/ to http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1444/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20150607123550/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kbolAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2_IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1054,1011277&dq=&hl=en to http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kbolAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2_IFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1054,1011277&dq=&hl=en

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 15:42, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Archetype work
I've removed the reference to "archetype" work. It's the opposite of a Method approach. For Stanislavski/Strasberg etc., character is the ensemble of given circumstances. The conception is modern (i.e., post-Darwin) in that respect. Archetype work is romantic, relying on a notion of an essence. Although Drama Centre, London's approach, for example, confuses the two, nonetheless, that's because they're fusing Jung (!) with Stanislavski and Laban. It's not Method.  • DP •  {huh?} 04:03, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

Criticism of "method acting"
I've just removed this new edit: "After the release of Suicide Squad and reports of Jared Leto's over-the-top, method-based preparation for the part of the Joker, the use of 'extreme' method acting techniques mainly by male Hollywood actors has been criticized as drawing attention away from similarly skilled but less extreme performances by female actors: 'Method acting, as it’s practiced today, depends on framing less drastic techniques as feminine, and therefore inferior...But the gendered nature of modern method acting has had the unfortunate consequence of sidelining the transformative work of actresses who found authenticity without billing themselves as somehow 'above' their art form.'" I read the article at the time. It's nonsense and doesn't belong in an encyclopaedia. The only basis on which it would, would constitute original research -- that is, the journalist doesn't understand what method acting is in any way. No method acting practitioner has ever recommended the things claimed here. It may be a frequent misunderstanding in the popular press, but we shouldn't be perpetuating it here. I know, given the terrible state of this article, it may seem besides the point. It's fluff designed to stir up a bit of faux controversy in order to promote the movie.  • DP •  {huh?} 12:05, 20 August 2016 (UTC)


 * The criticism above by DionysosProteus| misses the point. Regardless of whether the journalist allegedly misunderstands the method, the fact is that, fairly or not, method acting is indeed being criticised as a result of behavior (mis)labeled as method acting. That fact alone seems like a reasonable point to address, and potentially rebut (in a section set aside for discussion of criticism of the method), rather than bury. Furthermore, the article is critical of movies and actors that resort to such tactics, method or not, and in a neutral reading is not a promotion of any movie. Therefore, while the edit noted above may indeed not be appropriate for the encyclopedia, the reasons DionysosProteus| has cited to remove this content are specious and call into question his/her objectivity; it appears from the statements above that this person feels far too much personal ownership over this article and its depiction of method acting to be an objective judge. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.37.70.20 (talk) 04:24, 27 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Well, there's nothing "allegedly" about it--the suggestion that actors should adopt that strategy appears nowhere in any of Strasberg's published works, nor, to my knowledge, in any other book about Method acting. If that's not the case, I'm happy to be corrected. The edit wasn't an attempt to "bury" anything. It's a completely non-notable article promoting a false account of the approach that, if we actually go look at it, is unambiguously a part of the movie's promotion and marketing. There are plenty of scholarly criticisms of Method acting out there, which you're welcome to consult and make use of to improve the article. Personally, I'd self-identify as a Brechtian, which is about as far as it's possible to get from Method. This article require substantial work to be anywhere near appropriate for an encyclopaedia. The edit was a drop in the ocean towards that development.  • DP •  {huh?} 10:14, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Method actors
As promised on the current talk page, placing the removed list of Method actors here, if anyone wants it for a List of Method actors article:

Method actors
The following actors have made significant use of Strasberg's method:


 * Carroll Baker
 * Christian Bale
 * Anne Bancroft
 * Marlon Brando
 * Sorrell Booke
 * Adrien Brody
 * Ellen Burstyn
 * Nicolas Cage
 * Michael Caine
 * Jill Clayburgh
 * Montgomery Clift
 * Tim Curry
 * Daniel Day-Lewis
 * James Dean
 * Robert De Niro
 * Sandy Dennis
 * Johnny Depp
 * Sally Field
 * Jane Fonda
 * Jeremy Brett
 * Lady Gaga
 * John Garfield
 * Ben Gazzara
 * Walton Goggins
 * Anne Hathaway
 * Gene Hackman
 * Julie Harris
 * Dustin Hoffman
 * Philip Seymour Hoffman
 * Michael Ironside
 * Samuel L. Jackson
 * Harvey Keitel
 * Shirley Knight
 * Dilip Kumar
 * Heath Ledger
 * Shia LaBeouf
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh
 * Jared Leto
 * Marilyn Monroe
 * Steve McQueen
 * Tomas Milian
 * Judd Nelson
 * Paul Newman
 * Jack Nicholson
 * Edward Norton
 * Gary Oldman
 * Al Pacino
 * Geraldine Page
 * Estelle Parsons
 * River Phoenix
 * Suzanne Pleshette
 * Lee Remick
 * Peter Sellers
 * Tupac Shakur
 * Sissy Spacek
 * Kim Stanley
 * Rod Steiger
 * Marisa Tomei
 * Denzel Washington
 * Shelley Winters
 * Reese Witherspoon
 * Joanne Woodward
 * Kamal Hassan