Method Acting : A Quick Explanation

To the general public, “method acting” means “going to extreme, often absurd or unhealthy lengths in order to evoke some sort of character state,” e.g. actually going without sleep for five nights because your character is supposed to be exhausted. So people who think of it this way consider it the hallmark of childish,“Just pretend you’re tired!”

But this is not what method acting actually means. The Method is an rather complex acting system based on some of Stanislavsky’s teachings and writings. He was a Russian actor and director who, at the turn of the 20th Century, revolutionized acting by basing it in psychological realism—as opposed to cartoonish gestures and poses, which was the dominant style before his work.

Almost all modern acting training (Method or otherwise) is based on Stanislavsky’s techniques, though, later in life, he wound up rejecting some of the ideas of the Method.

By Safwan Kasim