Austin Butler and Why Women Don't Get to be "Method" Actors
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
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Austin Butler is a serious contender, not just for the 2023 Best Actor Oscar, but for Doing the Absolute Most when it comes to his method acting. Nearly two years after Elvis wrapped filming, Butler retained The King’s thick Mississippi drawl. Method acting in general is mostly reserved for guys. And that reflects how male actors’ performances have historically been taken more seriously, and they’ve been allowed to take far more extravagant liberties for the sake of their art. A woman could never get away with Austin Butler's style of method acting and how that exposes a bigger double standard.
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00:00 Is method acting a man's gimmick?
01:22 Austin Butler's insane method performance
03:52 MUBI
04:48 How the method acting manual was passed down to men
08:04 Iconic female method actors and their trials
14:50 How method acting changed Hollywood 
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Has anybody realized how Gabrielle Union and Katherine Heigl look alike in facial structure and their eye shape?
I was a background actor in this film. Austin wasn’t being Elvis 24/7. In between scenes he was Austin.
His voice was trained and Austin himself said Elvis’ own voice changed from when he was young up until his 40’s. If you listen to the movie again, Austin’s version of Elvis’ voice changes as Elvis ages in the movie. That is called phenomenal skill and research.
He also learnt to sing in front of an audience. I was in the Las Vegas scenes. He sung a full 20 minute show (and danced) without cutting, then
There would be a break to reset and get notes from the director then Austin would do another 20 min show all over again to perfection. His voice is just trained now.
He was Austin all the way through and was the most humble person on set.
Robert Pattinson : Its funny, People only doing the method when they are playing an asshole. Nobody goes around just being lovely and say “I’m deep in my character”.
Good point
lady gaga does
@@heyhey8528 the only time Lady Gaga state that she goes method is for House of Gucci.
@@bumblebee7384 not true, for a star is born as well
@@bumblebee7384 for every acting project she is method
It’s also funny how male method actors are never limited for being “difficult to work with” despite being VERY difficult to work with. 😒
Christian Bale, Edward Norton, Daniel-Day Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Marlon Brando and Jared Leto would beg to differ. Give me time to research and I could give you several more.
Shia Labeouf? Marlon Brando?
@@TheRealBaschYes. But they won't stop working due to that difficulty.
@@1105grumpy THANK YOU. That was the point.
@@TheRealBasch I wouldn’t say anyone you mentioned has been limited because of it, not even a little
Remember when Anne Hathaway was bullied for having fallen into a depression after LesMis and not reacting the way people expected her to when winning an Oscar?
No
@@Chris-rg6nm 😂
How did people expect her to react?? Like she seemed very happy and overwhelmed and gave a sweet speech. I think it's more so misogyny cause they kept comparing her to Jennifer Lawrence who was like the epitome of a cool chick back then, she made action movies that appealed to the boys, and mainstream public, she publicly and very much talked about her love for burgers and junk food, despite somehow still be in shape and be conventionally attractive, and also that fall. She was seen as funny and relatable, and Anne Hathaway was seen as too perfect and that she tries too hard.
Yeah I remember everyone criticizing her reaction and I'm still not sure why
I still have no clue as to why people reacted so badly to anne’s speech. she did absolutely nothing wrong
Hilary Swank spent five weeks living as a man for her role in "Boys Don't Cry", to the extent that she was mistaken for her male cousin, and Reese Witherspoon hiked for "Wild." It's a shame that their efforts aren't as widely recognised as their male counterparts.
Very true. Addtionally, don't forget Charlize Theron shaving her eyebrows and adding an additional thirty pounds for Monster (2003).
@@BatAmerica but Theron did get proper accolades for Monster, she won the academy award for her work.
@@jamesgomez9151 Same with Hilary Swank
@@jamesgomez9151 Both won the Academy Award for their films.
Many actresses have gone to extremes to get into character and have been awarded for it.
The Take doesn't do facts though; it's all about emotionally manipulating women. Exhausting.
I feel like we should also talk about instances where directors try to non-consensually enforce The Method onto their actors, particularly women. Stanley Kubrick's treatment of Shelly Duvall is a sad example. Kubrick wanted Duvall to remain in character the entire time and was ruthless to her on set in order to "authentically" maintain a sense of fear and paranoia in Duvall's performance. He even instructed the members of the crew to ignore her and show no sympathy. Jack Nicholson also admitted that Kubrick's treatment of Duvall was far more vicious than any other actor.
Another example is director Bernardo Bertolucci during the filming of The Last Tango in Paris. There is a scene in the film where the main female character is sexually violated. The actress who played the role, Maria Schneider, who was 19 at the time, later revealed that she had no idea that that was going to happen in the scene when they took the shot. Although the rape scene itself was simulated, Schneider said that it was incredibly humiliating, that she felt like she had been raped, and that she was crying due to genuine distress. The director jutified the decision by saying that he "wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress" and that " the girl [Schneider] wasn't mature enough to understand what was going on"
I think method acting has its place, but unfortunately I think it tends to attract the narcissistic, abusive assholes of the film industry like magnets. There are enough fantastic actors that are non-Method that prove that great performances need not come at the cost of hurting others or yourself.
True, I think the same thing happened in Citizen Kane.
@@vincentadultmyn6170 Correct. Dorothy Comingore was also cruely treated by Orson Welles to strengthen her resentful performance.
I’m not sure if these examples qualify but Alfred Hitchcock had famously jarring relationship with his female protagonists. The movie Hitchcock explores how while filming Birds the lead actress was real life attacked by birds thrown at her for the sake of authenticity.
Another horrible example would be I think when in Last Tango in Paris lead actor Marlon Brando and director Bernando Bertolucci went too far in the rape scene which scarred 19 year old lead actress Maria Schneider for life. These instances when lead actors or directors clearly from a position of power decide unilaterally to blur the lines between acting and real life with their female coworkers are a violation of trust, basic human rights and so much more, not something to be commended for.
I hope Duvall gets better. She was so sweet in that children's programme.
@@we-need-to-talk-about-it I would argue that falls under the category of unwilling method acting.
Alternate hot take: women don’t go as far in ‘method acting’ because they’re just smarter/have boundaries
I got a feeling in my gut they about to boo you but you right
They have empathy so they don’t have to do crazy shit like that to imagine how their character might feel
Saying women are smarter isn't a hot take with certain crowds. Certainly not with this one. This one is more likely to woo and clap because it flatters their egos
How bout just have boundaries? let's take the attitude out of it Ms
I agree but for me women are very intouch with their emotions so no need to do method acting really in my opinion
Okay, but Rober De Niro trying to experience life as a taxi driver by doing the work for a month, is not the same as an actor talking, walking, breathing and living as a character for 3 years. Stanislavski developed 'The Method', yes, but he never said to be in character 24/7, 365. Only the feel and think as the character while acting.
Even years later Stanislavsky wrote "The method of physical actions" where he gave another perspective on acting, one quite far from his first books and ideas.
Yeah that's more general research for a role 🤷♀️
I've heard of actresses doing similar things
Having been a ride share driver, I actually feel everyone should consider doing it for a month or so. You'll see your city and the people in it in a whole new light, and discover so many interesting things
You'd like after Heath Ledger locked himself in a room until his mental Health was paper thin would have been enough of a warning. Even cases like Leonardo in The Revenant. Why did that movie NEED to be made in the middle of nowhere and why did Leo HAVE to starve and get hypothermia for the role? The point of acting is to pretend. The world seems to think actors are more deserving of their awards if it included suffering of some kind
@@devinkerr5474As an acting student, no, acting is not pretending. Actors who pretend aren’t good actors.
The problem with how these actors make use of “method acting” is that they lose themselves doing so. What they should be doing is being a 100% empathetic with the character they’re playing, understanding their thoughts, their behaviour, their opinions based on the character’s perspective. What they’re doing is basically trying to transform themselves into that character, fully becoming them, and - even if it’s very likely that their performance will be brilliant - that’s absolutely harmful, not only for their overall health, but also their identity. That’s the huge problem.
If you’re going to method act as a disabled person,
And force people to carry and feed you,
Then the main perceived “benefit” of hiring a non disabled person is moot
Just hire real disabled actors for roles where possible
So much this
FUCKING THANK YOU! She screamed at her phone.
Except the main benefit of hiring Daniel Day Lewis isn't that he's physically able, it's that he's a generationally talented actor.
@@krombopulos_michael yeah, but who says there wasn’t an equally talented disabled actor out there who could do just as well in the role
@@annajoy3323 If you can find one then feel free to name them but there's pretty much no male actor alive who is as good as DDL, and finding one who is also suffering from severe cerebral palsy would have been an enormously more difficult task than having to feed and carry a person around on set, especially considering a disability like that is going to make it extremely difficult for them to land enough leading roles on stage and screen to gain experience. It's crazy to just speculate and imagine there is someone out there like that, and that a small budget film with deadlines has the endless resources needed to find them.
Renee Zellweger worked in a London publishing house for a few weeks and didn't drop the accent until the shoot wrapped for Bridget Jones. That did no one harm. No need to go full Jared Leto. However, a woman doing the same thing would get called difficult. However, I don't think actors should act like jerks and call it 'Method Acting'.
Wasn't it Sir Lawrence Olivier who said to Dustin Hoffman "my dear boy, why not just try acting?"
@@Horticarter41 That was in this video.
The men doing those things get called difficult.
It's no different. The question would be, after getting labeled as such, is there a difference between the Men and Women on getting Future Roles?
I know a woman (stage actress) who was instructed by a director to prepare for a really emotional scene by reading a letter back stage. The last letter her fiance wrote her before he died. Now that extremely tender and precious letter is inextricably linked in her mind with a hellish production, not the memory of a loved one.
She teaches theater now. No surprise here, she never encourages this kind of "method" of bringing your own personal trauma into roles.
That makes me incredibly angry for her. How dare the director do that??
You live and learn, but it’s so amazing that she is passing on that experience to a new generation so they understand what that can do to your mental health and how you connect with yourself instead of how you use yourself to connect with the trauma of a character. Love this story. Thanks for sharing. ❤
I studied the Method at the Actor's Studio Drama School with disciples from Lee Strasburg himself. What Hollywood and its actors say the Method is is not what I was taught. For example, we weren't taught to be in character 24/7. On the contrary, as soon as the scene and/or acting exercise is finished, we put the character aside and immediately do self care since it is mentally taxing to embody someone else and we must take care of each other first.
People should remember that what they call the Method is actually a set of acting guidelines that actors can take and make their own. It evolves with every person who uses it. There's a reason there emerged 3 different schools of acting based on Stanislavsky's System, Strasburg, Adler, and Meissner. Each one took something different from it and made it their own.
That sure sounds a lot healthier and more effective that the current popular idea of method acting
@Ali M. It's not flawless. Sometimes, it can be really hard to let a character go, but it is quite different than what's considered Method nowadays. Another example of what I was taught vs. What people think the Method is is the perception of affective memory, where you use a memory of your own to fuel the character. It's very effective when done right, but nowadays, people think it means that you have to use deep, dark memories to get the proper emotions, especially if it's something you haven't dealt with. On the contrary, in my lessons, we were taught under no circumstance do we use unresolved trauma to fuel the emotion cause 1) that goes against mental health which is paramount to everything else, and 2) you could get so lost in the memory, you're no longer serving the character, the character is serving you. In fact, Lee Strasburg had what is called the 7- year rule, which was that the actor doesn't access a memory from less than 7 years prior because those memories are less likely to have been dealt with, and more likely to cause emotional issues. But even then, if a memory older than 7 years is an unresolved issue, DON'T USE IT.
PREACH!
I study at acting school and some of my teachers are the actors of Moscow Art Theatre (the first big state theatre in Russia, which was founded by Stanislavsky, and the actors there try to keep the system, so to say) and they keep repeating to take the role out as soon as you finish your day. It takes a lot to be the character, but sometimes it takes more to be yourself afterwards.
That's why I can't say that I admire actors who use the current definition of "method" and are proud of it. It's not healthy at all. As for me, method of Chekhov is more attractive and healthy
@Maria Schukariova Oooooh absolutely.
My favorite women actors like Angela Lansbury, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep have been able to switch between a lot of wildly different characters with many different qualities, accents and personas, and still be unmistakably themselves. And I've always seen that as a strength, which I actually don't see in many male performers.
And Kate Winslet
Black male actors have also talked about how they can’t do method because of how they’d be perceived afterwards
who? never happened 🤣
I did notice that ALL of the examples mentioned (male and female) were white.
I forgot who it was when I wrote this but I looked it up and Brain Tyree Henry from
Atlanta talked about it amount a few others
Not surprising but also messed up
@@pupkru Denzel Washington
I can’t help but think of the Tina Fey joke about so much hype over Matthew McConaughey’s dramatic weight loss for Dallas Buyer’s Club: ‘or what women call being in a movie’
The double standard is appalling
Marion Cotillard had a really hard time "getting rid" of Edith Piaf after her role. She spent 6 months in the role, not seeing her family and she had felt ashamed for not being able to let her character go. Her transformation was both physical and mental. She talks about it in Graham Norton's show. She did win an Oscar for her performance, though. Maybe women just feel more pressured to comply with what society wants them to be, do, and look like, whereas men don't really give a sh*t. So if they want to be Elvis, they do Elvis.
Yeah. The fact that boys are brought up to do as they please while women are brought up to please and fit in contributes to this inequality
I was looking for this comment
Wonder how she felt about Inception afterwards 😅
@@alexman378 non, elle ne regrette rien
Exactly!!!!
There's a line from SATC where miranda says something like "a man correctly identifies an emotion and he wants a medal? Women do this all day and nobody cares". This is why male actors get credit because we live in a society that thinks empathy is beyond men so "method acting" had to be invented, by a man. Of course. Women can generally empathise and act better.
"I'm pissed off, TA DA"
This is so true
Haha!!!!!! Wow!!!! What a great observation!!!! It's true!
I was trying to put what I thought into words and you did it !
While it doesn’t address the gender problem, I think one of the “healthiest” stories I’ve heard about method acting has to be Viggo Mortensen. On Lord of the Rings he insisted on maintaining his costume and weapons himself, and to get the feel of a ranger he fished for his own food and even cooked roadkill. There were still stories of antics going a bit far on set, but most of the cast and crew have spoken about his enthusiasm and generosity more than anything.
Yeah but I don’t think that had anything to do with method acting. That’s just Viggo
Honestly I feel like cooking roadkill is a ridiculous way to prepare for a character like Aragorn. You're not going to be better at your job with food poisoning.
Yeah. He wanted to look as natural as possible with his full costume hence keeping the costume on even behind the scenes.
Since Viggo Mortensen was also cast at the last minute, he did not have the advantage of spending months training and becoming the character.
Katherine Heigl would expressed the most mundane criticisms and get thrown under the bus. She literally just said the movie she was in, Knocked Up was "a little sexist" and she was all but blacklisted from Hollywood. She had nothing to say bad about anyone in the movie. Just a small, valid critique. It's been 16 years and she says it still follows her.
I don't think we talk enough about actors who put in the work for a role but either don't end up suffering or don't end up being an ass hat. Tom Holland for the Spiderman Home trilogy while it was only a flippant comment went to a US high school for a few days to gain experience of being an US high school student because being English our school system is different. And then for Uncharted with his character being a mixologist he took a mixology class and learned how to make cocktails and do all the fancy stuff with the shakers. And then you have other actors who are so chameleon like in their roles you can tell they took time to do research. Tom's fellow Spiderman Andrew Garfield has talked a lot about things he studied and learnt for roles. He did have to learnt to sing and play piano for Tick Tick Boom and I for one think he should have won the Oscar for it. He also mentioned once learning carpentry for a role and then he made a rocking chair and gifted it to Emma Stone. I think I have heard him mention that for one role where he was playing a Jesuit priest he studied the process of becoming a Jesuit priest. For Hacksaw Ridge he went to the hometown of Desmond Doss. I am all for doing research to nail those extra details for a role but don't make yourself suffer for an ego boost and don't become an ass hat and treat everyone like trash. Put in the work but also don't sacrifice yourself. Keep sight of you and your own sense of self.
method acting to the extremes is good
@@fate8007 how? All you are doing is making yourself suffer and treating everyone else around you like trash. Yes I understand wanting to do that extra bit of research and preparation for a role to make it feel a little more authentic but why go to such extremes that you are like physically damaging your body or putting yourself through mental anguish or you are ending up treating everyone around you horribly. There is a line. Actors should find balance. Yes take some time and put in a little extra work to do a little research on the character or the setting to get a feel for stuff or learn a new skill that is pertinent to the role but don't physically or mentally torture yourself for a role. Keep some of you within you.
"Tom Holland for the Spiderman Trilogy"
nah y'all are some clowns
@@lucypreece7581 It's a good thing you're not a filmmaker, then. What more do you want from this conversation? You don't understand process, and you don't understand art. Well enjoy your Spiderman movies and leave artists alone.
Well said
I wonder if Marilyn Monroe was the most effective method actress since the entire world believed that she was her character.
There is a difference between developing a persona and doing method acting, though.
@@ruisenor8993 that’s true. i think they were more so just trying to make a cheeky remark rather than a serious comment, though.
Everyone thought Butler was gonna take home the Oscar…but it ended up going to Fraser for The Whale. Surprising, considering the Academy loves its “transformations”, especially very method ones. You would think Butler had it in the bag. But here’s the thing: you can prepare and be method and try to sound/look exactly like a historical figure all you want, but at the end of the day, the best performances are the ones that MOVE you. The ones that INSPIRE you. The ones that TEACH you something. Fraser made me bawl in the theater. He touched my heartstrings and made me want to truly live. Butler truly was Elvis in his performance…but did that affect me in any deep way? Besides wanting to listen to more Elvis songs on Spotify, not really. He became a carbon copy…but maybe he was too focused on becoming a carbon copy that he lost the humanity in the craft of acting. (Or maybe it’s just that the writing in The Whale is better lol.)
In my opinion, a good performance is one that feels authentic AND moving. It’s one that feels relatable to an audience. So while the biopic method acting machine isn’t going away anytime soon and does tend to create Oscar buzz, this 2023 awards season has proved it’s not a guarantee of gold. 🤷♀️ Every actor’s process is different but I do think many actors…specifically men…do need to stop putting so much glorification on method acting. It can be dangerous, can be an annoyance to the crew (depending on your behavior), and isn’t a guarantee of a prize.
I personally feel like “method acting” is a problem itself, rather than gender “double standards” regarding it. Going “full-method” is unhealthy. Like any other job, you should be able to leave your job at the end of the day and focus on your life, not be the character you’re going to be playing for the next several months. There needs to be healthy boundaries regarding approaches to acting. I feel like what Austin Butler did wasn’t healthy for his mental or emotional health. I also feel like the pressure to play a “beloved” real-life figure like Elvis Presley might’ve contributed to this. The public is so harsh with their criticisms of actors’ performances (just look at how people criticized Heath Ledger before they saw his performance as the Joker) that if Austin didn’t “become” Elvis, the movie would’ve flopped, his career could’ve ended, and he would’ve faced lots of verbal abuse from angry moviegoers on the internet. I feel like actors need to be able to find a healthy way to “get into character” without losing themselves in the process. Marvel actors, male and female, were able to fully embody their characters without going full “Jared Leto”. Robert De Niro getting a taxi license and working a few shifts as a taxi driver seemed pretty tame. It was enough to get him into the mindset of his character pre-production, but it wasn’t so much that he lost himself in the process
There is a schism.
Stanislavsky was followed by Strasberg. But Stanislavsky said his school was about finding the right ways and the wrong ways.
Strasberg just took the (at that time) 'most effective' and made that gospel. Stanislavsky continued to tinker and update his System... Strasberg set his Method in stone.
So when Stella Adler didn't like how Strasberg was teaching, she went and learned under Stanislavsky. She liked his Updated System better, and brought back her variation on it to America. Strasberg called Stanislavsky 'wrong' and dug in.
All 3 are Method. But are you Strasberg, or are you Stanislavsky, or are you Adler/Stanislavsky. The difference in the last two is if you are European you're probably Stanislavsky, and if you are American you are probably Adler/Stanislavsky... she didn't drop his System, she just added her own insight into it, so it's correct to add her to it, but not subtract him from it.
It seems Stanislavsky and Adler don't care for the 24/7 'in character', and stress the importance of Mental Health.
You're totally right, Lady Gaga didn't get the praise for House of Gucci. Neither did Demi Moore for GI Jane.
She got a razzi because her performance was so bad
Mmh i've only seen clips of the Gucci movie and her Italian accent didn't ring true to my italian ears
@@VenusinaMars Elvis is also not critically acclaimed, the only praised thing about it is the acting
I'm not a gaga fan but I thought she was great in House of Gucci. She deserved some kind of accolade.
@@FanyLI It’s just like Bohemian Rhapsody. People love biopics. But Gucci family is not as famous as Queen and Elvis Presley.
Sometimes it seems like certain actors use the excuse of method acting to be abusive towards others, especially their costars. I remember reading that on the set of "The Little Things" Jared Leto attempted to do method acting, but Denzel Washington shut him down very quickly.
I think that great actors don't ever lose themselves in a character. Method acting just sounds and seems extreme. If you have to do all that to "get into character," idk if acting is for you.
💡
Yes thank you, exactly! If you need such an extreme to act you can't be very good to begin with.
I think method acting is douchey because it's what Jared Leto does.
Method acting is not always reserved for extreme roles. Daniel Day Lewis learned how to use mining equipment for There Will Be Blood and Garfield both learned piano and was instructed by a professional voice coach for Tick, Tick, Boom. So, why can't these performances become more mainstream? Especially when these talents can apply to both men and women.
Andrew Garfield once studied carpentry for a role and he made a rocking chair with the skills he learned and gifted it to Emma Stone. He is an exceptional actor. almost chameleon like in his skill. He has done pretty much any and every genre you can think off and he always knocks it out of the park. I still maintain that he was robbed of the Oscar for Tick Tick Boom. I will die on that hill. But yes. Andrew is an exceptional actor and I feel doesn't get praised enough for it.
@@lucypreece7581 Thank you. Funny enough, he incorrectly sung "do" during 30/90 just like Larson himself. Also, I showed my Mom (who isn't a film enthusist) that film and she was blown away by his voice and mannerisms. Andrew was robbed.
What you described isn’t method acting, it’s simply research and preparation for the role
You mean Daniel Day Lewis learned those things for the role of Daniel Plainview. A mistake I’ve made in conversation as well, I’d like to think it’s because his performance is so good we can’t help but mix them up.
Correct. It's a bad habit whenever I talk about a great performance.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING
Like I can't name a single actress who's a method actor she'd be called "impossible to work with" and never get a role again
Natalie Portman and Hilary Swank, just to name two. Reese Witherspoon to name another.
Freaking Stella Adler learned under Stanislavski AND Strasberg... she's taught Method Acting (before passing at 91) for DECADES.
Don't confuse YOU being unaware of Females employing the Method, with there not being any.
Lady Gaga, Hillary Swank, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Rosamund Pike, Anne Hathaway, Rooney Mara, Angelina Jolie, Margot Robbie are a few of the women who are known for being or have practiced method acting for a movie.
Heck, Robert Downey Jr, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Tropic Thunder as a parody of method actors only to lose to Heath Ledger for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
Heath did die tho, I mean, yeah
@@tinaloye2014 Can't deny Heath's committed to his role even though it did... well...
Lol true!
It's actually a myth that Heath Ledger was method acting on the set of The Dark knight people have said that in between takes he would joke around and ride around on his skateboard
This was absolutely brilliantly done, and spot-on! Back in my long-lost teens, I spent a year attending a special young-people's class at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in L.A. Though this was way past the heyday of The Method, and was quite separate from Meisner, Adler, etc., it was a strong and bitter taste of how the "sense memory" techniques utterly failed anyone without a "standard"--read: masculine standard-- upbringing, as opposed to cultivating the imagination & spirit, which at 16, i had much more of than memories that "fit" the character I was "preparing for"). Ultimately, I learned how lttle was expected of/invested in a female actor as opposed to the iconic male actors still making important movies, at that point. When I got into a NYU-affiliated theater program a few years later, I avoided the Actors' Studio & Adler, opting for other workshops where more would be asked of me, so more could be gathered. Brava to The Take for articulating something that's been hiding in plain sight for decades!
But Meisner and Adler and Stanislavsky are as much Method as Strasberg. This isn't a Method issue... this is a Strasberg Issue. Specifically a 'sense memory' issue.
Are we just going to erase Stanislavsky and Adler and Meisner?
I did a PowerPoint presentation on Stanislavsky for one of my theatre classes in college. I don't recall the exact sources, but from what I do remember:
Yes, Stanislavsky did pioneer the use of emotional memory to guide actors' performances and make them more authentic. However, even he quickly realized the following downsides:
1) It was unreliable (e.g. a memory that helps you cry on cue today may not have the same effect ten years from now).
2) It was unsafe (e.g. it's harder to improvise to cover a mistake, or to break character in an emergency, like if the stage is on fire, because you're too busy reliving serious trauma).
3) It promoted narcissism. It practically became a contest over who had the more miserable childhood.
As a result of these findings, Stanislavsky continued to change his system up until the day he died. He ultimately concluded that emotional memory was only advisable during rehearsal - NOT during performance.
Stella Adler and Sanford Meisner stayed loyal to Stanislavsky as he continued to update the system, and eventually added their own input to it. Adler taught actors to fill in the gaps left by inexperience with imagination because it was safer; in other words, if you don't know what your character's feeling, you don't have to experience it firsthand, especially if it's something dangerous. Meisner placed heavy emphasis on improvisation and reacting to your costars in order to adapt and be the best possible team player.
Lee Strasberg, on the other hand, snob that he was, continued to push for emotional memory and created the Method as we now understand it, even as his mentor advised against it.
Despite studying under Adler, Brando is ironically considered the first major method actor, and he DESPISED Strasberg for taking credit for training him.
Acting is a collaborative art form. Method acting needs to fade away. It's just an excuse for jerks to be jerks to everyone else and get away with it because they're "suffering for their art."
"Acting is a collaborative art form" a million times yes to that!!
Isabel Huppert is a great example of an accomplished actress not resorting to method acting.
The first time I heard about method acting was with Marion Cotillard when she performed Edith Piaf in The Mome. It was so scary yet impressive to see someone becoming another person for a long period of time.
Marion>>
In the case of Butler, was he stuck in Australia during quarantine? And how much of this odd behavior during 2020 was a reaction to the pandemic? I think we need to all cut each other a little slack for choices we made during that year.
Agreed, it's also important to remember that in the beginning it was all "2 weeks to flatten the curve, and then we all get back to normal!" So if at any moment he thought he was going to have to go back to work, of course he was going to keep going with it, especially if it was hard to pick up in the first place.
He wouldn't have been "stuck" in Australia. People were allowed to leave. Also, filming was done on the Gold Coast. Queensland had few or no restrictions during most of the pandemic (due to low or no cases) so Butler was in one of the best places he could be at the time. A common misconception (I assume you're not Australian) is that Australia was some kind of prison state during the pandemic. In most of the country it was business as usual.
@@seaofghosts no I'm not. And I didn't know that your country was perceived that way. To the best of my knowledge I thought Australia did a better job than a lot of places at managing the virus. I didn't mean my comment to be offensive or judgemental of Australia. I meant that if he left, he might not be sure he would be able to re-enter the country.
@@maggierobertson2962 There is that perception but admittedly mostly from the Right. He would have been allowed back in as anyone who was making an important contribution to the economy (such as people in the film industry) were given exemptions. But, he would have to have gone through quarantine again which wouldn't have been fun. I don't know why he would have stayed two years as I can't imagine filming took that long. The Hanks certainly didn't. Perhaps he wanted to see the whole process through - from the start of filming to the final product.
@@seaofghosts not only that, but the funding for Elvis almost fell through so he didn't want to risk not being in the country when they resumed. People are so judgemental and it's clownish. Like - this whole comment section is dimwitted jealous women complaining about method acting when there's people starving in the developing world to supply the raw materials used to make that oat milk frapuccino they drank that morning.
I don’t know if anybody remember’s the interview that sarah paulson did but she said that for american horror story, she did method acting.. I think she even said it herself that it’s hard but you always need time to bring yourself back! I know many people use this method as a way for traumatic experiences or stuff happening… which can actually mess you up bad! From what i’ve seen, it’s always good to tale time off to bring yourself back!
I can't help but take note of Sir Lawrence Olivier who told Dustin Hoffman just to ACT. There are both sides. I don't think Tom Hanks has done more than proper research for most of his roles. He did immerse himself a lot for Forrest Gump. But he is extremely versatile.
Most method actors tend to also be American, Day-Lewis being an exception. The Method really took off in America, not so much in the UK which I think shows when so many British actors like Olivier, Cox and Anthony Hopkins mock it all the time. Stage acting and crafts have been taught in England for centuries and I think American acting teachers wanted a leg up in the competition of the acting world to distinguish themselves from traditional English methods. That’s probably why so many great English actors have been getting roles here in America because over there they teach them to, well…act! It’s gotten to the point where if I discover a really great new actor, I always expect them to be British and am surprised when they’re not, like Julia Garner
i'm not trying to sound like i don't get your point but, there are lots of great (and lesser known) actors in america who aren't british though...
Harry potter actors said they did method acting
except method comes from Russia and is a result of years of collaboration between Stanislavsky and Chekhov. As an outsider it always appeared to me that the Brits in their infinite conservatism do not like to try anything new until after US has. both with method and Rock'n Roll. most method actors today are british.
You confuse 'Method Acting' with 'Strasberg'.
Stanislavsky, Adler, Meisner... all taught Method. They removed the 'emotional memory' part that Strasberg kept (originally Stanislavsky, but he continually updated his System, where for Strasberg the Method... which was just the earliest version of the System... was set in stone).
There are TONS of Method Actors, all over the world.
We seem to only want to discuss the Strasberg one's though... which is pretty insulting to the others.
I don't consider an actor "acting", if they need to immerse themselves so deeply via this method in the character, that they essentially warp into them - a good actor can turn a role on and off at any moment - that is FAR more impressive in my book.
There is doing your research and informing yourself well ahead of time (good) and than there is method "acting" - IMO just BS. It annoys me, that that gets validated by prizes.
Compare Jared Leto’s Joker with Mark Hamill’s Joker. No one ever complains about working with Hamill on Batman properties cuz he knows how to bring Mark back.
@@crystalfairy912 Hamill is the best Joker imo, and objectively I think he's gotta be at least in the top 3
Exactly!
Bulter also felt this was a make it or break it moment for his career. If he didn’t give it a thousand percent he wasn’t guaranteed another big break.
Excatly! It was like his last chance at Hollywood so why critisize him for doing what he needed to do to perfect the role? This has nothing to do with feminism
@@newbeeify they're feminists; EVERYTHING has to do with feminism to them lol
There is also a difference between research for a role and Method.
Method doesn’t make you a better actor. You are a better one if you don’t need to go through all of that pain to act
Check out "Problem of Method Acting." That's a nice video essay. Also Mads Mikkelsen's joke about method actors got me rolling, "I’m having a cigarette? This is from 2020, it’s not from 1870 - can you live with it?"
I kinda feel like this is a man that was stuck in quarantine and did what we all did during quarantine “went a little crazy”
I think someone said that “method acting” is always an excuse for bad behaviour. No one is behaving sweet and kind and lovely and call it “method acting”.
Robert Pattinson made that comment, how you never hear about someone going method to play a really kind person.
@@serenabramble260 from everything I've heard about him and what he's said, Robert seems like a very good guy and wise person
Some good points but it’s worth noting that Austin comes across as genuinely likeable, has remained humble, and didn’t do any crazy shit like sending rats to co-stars: I think putting in the work and crossing the line to fuel your ego are very different things
Austin Butler's method acting methods are only admirable if you admire putting career over family and other significant relationships. Sure, he's getting lots of awards. He did a great job as Elvis. However, it was at the cost of his family and other of his significant relationships. For people who say 'family first' (and actually mean it) that's not admirable. If anything, it's actually super sad.
At the end of the day, the people who truly care about Austin Butler aren't the fans of his acting, the people who are giving him awards, or the people who want to make more money off of his (admittedly excellent) acting skills. The people who care about Austin Butler the most are his family. Those are also the people he put last in order to have such a great performance as Elvis. That's actually pretty tragic.
9:14 OMG finally someone has articulated this brilliantly. I mean, this obsession with the ‘de-glam’ look.
The thing with method acting is it isn’t even acting. If you’re character is eating raw liver and you ACTUALLY eat raw liver…. That’s not acting. You’re no longer pretending to be someone who eats raw liver, YOU ARE a person who eats raw liver.
I disagree. It doesn't matter how you arrive at becoming a character, as long as you become the character
Method acting can be good for accent work and mannerisms, but I think it should be on moderation. I think good examples of method acting is doing research for the role, voice work and accent work, imitating mannerisms, moving to the character's hometown, placing yourself in their environment but don't get carried away. Method acting shouldn't be an excuse to be rude, mean violent and nasty to others and to dangerous things, like you don't need to hurt yourself and jeopardize your health just because of a role. And Leonardo DiCaprio gave a great performance in the revenant, but it wasn't really necessary for him to literally eat a whole animal's liver raw. Method acting should be like an imitation, a performance, not be real.
Also, I need to add whent the project is over, actors need to stop with the character's accent and leave the character behind.
Frankly, I think true talent is being able to turn it off and on and not lose any quality
The best example of this I think is Andrew Robinson, who played Garak on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. He just kept a diary as the character to get in the right headspace. Like nothing crazy or showboaty. Plus he wrote so well the diary has since been published.
i think that actrecess seems to be less recognized to use the Method because their more naturaly empathic; they used that empathy as women to conect with their characters while the men use the method to put themselves in character. Men are not necesarely more empathic to the roll so they need more extra steps to futfill their performances. they need the Method, actrecess just need their character's name.
I don't think so. I think that the nature of masculinity is to look to the external, rather than internal. They're working from the outside rather in than inside out.
I think men are naturally more extreme. I don't think one gender or race has a monopoly on empathy.
Men are defined by their careers and women are defined by their bodies.
Not true at all.
Bless his heart for the effort method or not - can’t see any other way to perfect the Elvis role other than transpiring into the character & yeah for Austin for the amazing effort !!!! Really the voice whining is ridiculous . If you watch part 2 of Shannara his voice is of that tenor !!! Amazing Austin !!!!! If he hadn’t mastered this you’d all be criticizing for that . I really don’t hear it - or maybe I just appreciate his work more than the critics ❤❤❤❤
I guess you can say playing Elvis got Austin Butler’s voice .. all shook up.
Christian Bale doing all those dangerous things with his body (weight fluctuation) has been praised, while Anne Hathaway was given the usual "you look so skinny" when she portrayed a sick starved poor woman in Les Miserables...
If someone has to endanger themselves just for the sake of acting better...then they're not good actors in my opinion.
A good actor can be their character well enough to make you believe them, no need to endanger themselves for it.
We have the male actors ruining themselves from a system they’ve created (Butler but lockdown may have affected him too). Then you have men who use it as an excuse to be terrible (Leto).
Angelina Jolie did method acting for Gia and Girl Interrupted. Oscar. 👏🏽😎
Although you made a point about the "difficult to work with" label, this seems more like a discussion on healthily researching and portraying a character instead of going the full 9 yards and then some.
LOVE that you guys used victorious and glee as references. iconic.
Thanks for talking about this
I've wondered this myself too, thank you for this.
Whenever I have to cry in stage plays, I think back to my grandfather’s traumatic passing to generate the tears necessary for the scene. It can be relieving because it gives me an appropriate time to get nearly 20 years of grief out.
I honestly didn't realize he was the Chase replacement in Zoey 101.
Dont forget Robert Carlyle. For his role in Carla's Song, playing a bus driver, he got his bus drivers liscence.
Method acting has given us some of the best performances, but also in some cases it has led actors to be unprofessional on set, mistreating their coworkers and putting their phisical and mental health in danger. I admire the most the actors who can become the character and give an accurate rendering and still be themselves at the end of the day. It´s okay to learn stuff the character would know and act like them in their expressions,mannerisms, feel like them. but some actors take it too far. Think jared leto in suicide squad mailing dead rats to margot robbie or christian bale having extreme weight loss and transformations for a role.
I’ve been thinking about this. I hate double standards
You’re point is totally valid. Just the conclusion is not one I would make. In my opinion, all genders should „just“ act, neither women nor men nor anyone else should go to those lengths, in opinion. We shouldn’t hope for woman being allowed those insanities as well, we should stop it altogether. The point about „trying acting“ is very valid…
Damn! Very interesting an insightful video essay. Thank you!
Quick one, Maia has an amazing video essay about method acting named "The Problem of Method Acting" at her channel, Broey Dechannel. Very enlightening, can't recommend it enough!
The best example of method acting is Marion Cotillard. She said in an interview that six months passed after they wrapped up the movie and she still couldn't shake off Edith Piaf out of her system.
This is such an amazing point! Once again 'the take' raises a whole conversation!
Never realized this concept
Now I understand why Sally Field spoke up about method acting on Graham Norton’s show
She said that she was a method actress and there is nothing wrong with that no matter what people think
Go Sally !
Keep on doing what you do
Very well, in fact !
Stanislavski method was Just a First step for Young actors and actresses reach some results they where finding dificult otherwise
But Stanislavski himself take this concept behind when he percept
01 - This was getting some actors to facing emotional struglins, witch was never intended.
02 - The "method" is not reliable. When you are acting there's a certain performance you are trying to reach. When you are living the things on a stage every time the results tends to be different. Because we don react exactly twice for the same events.
On screen directors have less Trouble by Just picking one take they find appropriate for the work, but on plays this would be a no brain - results would be crushing ...
Thats why Stanislavski himself start another system for actors reaching the phisical reactions and leave this one behind. Unfortunatelly people in US take a wrong Idea about his work and insisted on a absolutelly corrupted Idea Of what they believe the Stanislavski method should mean.
it’s actually way more impressive if an actor goes back to being themselves as soon as the director says “cut”
Good connection to how who gets applauded for method in discussing Austin butler,
Method acting seems intense and dangerous to me...idk... it just seems mentally this could be taxing
Most method actor stories are just marketing and hype for a movie. Also, seems like acting may be too difficult for some that they can’t break character but they can’t just “act” on command.
4:51 In Mainstream Hindi Cinema, it’s not like the method doesn’t exist but it’s derided most of the time. It’s often misunderstood (no surprises there) and people do follow the method without even realising it through formal training.
To me, men with method acting is just the Hollywood epitome of the meme “I wonder why women live longer than men”
I mean, I just watched a video on Method Acting and it was full of Women employing the Method. Even spoke of a great Female Actress that TEACHES Method Acting... to other Women.
Yeah this video is a joke
He really did a Heath Ledger/Joker with this role. Method acting is crazy
I'm probably in the minority but I can't tell much of a difference between a talented person's acting and' method acting. For example, Dicaprio in revenant did method while Brad Pitt in Once upon a time didn't. Both won Oscars, and if I'm being honest, I far preferred Pitt. I always get weird reactions from people when I say Pitt and Dicaprio are equally great, just because Pitt doesn't do method. Sometimes method acting just looks like overacting to me. I personally prefer more relaxed suble acting like by Pitt, Gary Oldman, Joe pechi, alan rickman, Robert Parlttenson, Bryan Cryanston, than in your face acting like Jared leto as the joker. Great acting is great acting but sometimes method acting gets all the praise for doing the same level of job.
Method acting isn't always so extreme. Sally Field is a career-long Method actor. (OK, maybe after "Bridget" and "The Flying Nun", lol!)
But most women who try the more extreme approach often get labeled as "difficult" and lose out on jobs.
I don’t know if she officially used method acting… But I will say that Jennifer Lopez in Selena was incredible. She gets reputation for not being a good actress (And I don’t think she is that great tbh…) But in that movie specifically, she completely replicated Selena. She spent time with the family, she apparently spent time in Selena’s old home and with her husband. I saw interviews with the family and they talked about how eerily yet beautifully similar they were.
To me, she completely morphed into Selena and I feel like she does not get enough credit for it.
There is such a myopic view of female emotion that it's not at all surprising we're pigeon holed and method acting would just be seen as an emotional/mental descent, instead of the flipping job it is.
I think y'all made some fair points in this video. And this is negative bias being stronger than the positives. But the point about Leno and Gaga only having to deal with online criticism seemed to deeply minimize the emotional toll online criticism can bring to these actors. I know y'all have different writers but it shoved aside other points the Take has made in other videos.
Could you please elaborate? Sounds interesting.
Incredible performances by a group of incredible actors. I'm well aware of both the male and female performances on this list. I think the part about a global pandemic is a bit underplayed in regards to Austin Butler's particular situation, though, considering everybody in the world had to shelter in place or risk getting a potentially fatal virus.
nice video keep going
If you play a role that suffers and you approach that role with making yourself suffer it's not acting, you are just suffering on camera. That is not preparation for the role, that is altering your mind, body and personality, sometimes permanently, and if anyone would do this for their job, other than actors, they would be treated for serious mental health issues.
This is crazy comparison because Austin gets hate on a daily basis for his voice 🙄
Everyday people who watch tv and criticize actors have no impact at all of Hollywood and which methods of acting they prefer and reward more. So what the general public is doing isn’t worth anything
No creo que sea odio, solo extrañeza y si que lo es... admiré su actuación, pero después de un tiempo me ha resultado bastante cringe escuchar sus entrevistas
@@gdhgvhv maybe so but the assumption that’s he’s doing it on purpose, is very predictable and a little immature of some people. When you speak in that specific a voice for a long period of time while filming a movie, it makes logical sense that it’d be hard to get rid of, so immediately. And it goes beyond having a different accent. Just seems a little ignorant of people not to recognize that given how common it is. 🤷♀️
I have never heard this complaint about female method actors before... I have also heard plenty of complaining about male method actors.
Imagine a female actress pulling a Christian Bail in the Machinist, the social and mainstream media world would set her aflame
This whole thing about pain for your art and suffering in slow motion as you romanticise sadness is really getting on my nerves. Yes, you should take your broken heart and create art but why can it not be expressed in different ways?
I would consider Charlize Theron a method actress. She dedicates a lot and change her appearance for the roles.
Didn't Meryl Streep use the "method" for Sophie's Choice? She even learned Polish.
Some of the worship of Meryl Streep comes from her method commitment.
A lot of actors if not most are method actors like sally field is one for example and she’s said that they do it but they don’t show it on their sleeve. Also people staying in character isn’t method acting it’s actually a aspect of method acting that has only been created recently and many don’t adopt