History Main / MethodActing

* During the recording sessions for ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' Charles Fleischer wore an outfit similar to Roger's and rabbit ears while recording Roger's lines.

* Creator/ChristianBale is very well-known for method acting, putting intense amounts of preparation into whatever role he plays and getting deep into character[[note]]He claims that the intensity he puts into his roles is partly driven by the fact that he actually has a hard time staying in character. If he didn't embrace a role so completely, he'd be constantly cracking up, dragging productions out longer than necessary.[[/note]]. For example, the door to his trailer on the set of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' read "Bruce Wayne" rather than "Christian Bale". He's noted for being very adept at [[FakeNationality mimicking accents]]. Once he picks one for a role, he will keep it throughout production[[note]]During his infamous rant on the set of ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'', he verbally assaulted Director of Photography Shane Hurlburt for wandering about during the shooting of a pivotal scene several times while maintaining his FakeAmerican accent almost the entire time.[[/note]] ''and'' do promotion interviews with it because he wants people to focus on what he's saying and not be jarred by his natural Welsh accent. He will also put in an [[DyeingForYourArt insane amount of effort]] to [[http://i.imgur.com/IYA2t.jpg transform his body to suit the character he's playing]]. He was literally anorexic for the filming of ''Film/TheMachinist'', only to bulk up to a practically bodybuilder-like physique for ''Film/BatmanBegins''. Like Creator/DanielDayLewis, he'd developed a reputation as someone difficult to work with but seems to be easing up. Behind-the-scenes photos and videos of his more-recent movies show him occasionally breaking character and goofing off and he's started doing interviews in his natural accent.

A distinction, though, is that method acting can be as simple as running a few laps around a track in order to look exhausted... because they are. But a method ''actor'' seeks to absorb everything about a character and the environment so that it is not really acting but [[BecomingTheMask altering themselves to become someone new]]. This often streamlines and strengthens the performance, rather than [[{{Corpsing}} 20 takes of laughing with the cast and crew]] before finding the right line reading, method acting means you are always "on" and can hit those high points faster.

The caveat is when taken too far it can have a negative impact on your relationships, mental or physical health, and even the production. A character in a deep depression can bleed into the actor, making them unable to shake it off when the production is over. Actors can [[DyeingForYourArt gain or lose weight]] to fit a character who is morphologically different from him, which helps them find a new way of carrying themselves (some like Creator/RobertDeNiro and Creator/ChristianBale are infamous for it) but improper diet, training and metabolism changes can be harmful.

Method Acting is a performance preparation technique where an actor pushes beyond what they do in front of the camera or audience and tries to replicate the life circumstances, mannerisms and emotional feelings of the character he portrays, so as to give realism, legitimacy and dramatic strength to his performance.

* Creator/AustinButler worked intensely for three years to nail Music/ElvisPresley for ''Film/{{Elvis}}''. He found a personal connection to the singer after learning they both lost their mothers at the age of 23, wore period-appropriate clothing for rehearsals and voice lessons, and worked so hard on the voice that he hasn't been able to completely shed the timbre and accent after wrapping the movie. Butler also mentioned that he got so deep in character that he lost touch with himself and had to spend several months breaking down "Elvis" and rebuilding "Austin Butler".

* Probably no actor has been associated with method acting quite as prominently as Creator/DanielDayLewis. He simply IS his character for the duration of his role and gets so deep that he, in certain cases, even refuses to learn his lines because he feels that doing so will add an element of artifice to his performances. For his UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winning performance in ''My Left Foot'', he did not leave his wheelchair, speak coherently, or even feed himself for the entire filming. For ''Film/LastOfTheMohicans'' he became a survivalist living off the land. For his role in ''Film/InTheNameOfTheFather'', he lived in a prison cell, basically starved himself and asked the cast and crew to constantly verbally abuse him. While this definitely does result in amazing and spontaneous performances, it also made him one of the most notoriously picky and difficult actors to work with in all of Hollywood[[note]]Many actors, including Creator/LiamNeeson, flat out refuse to work with him because his approach creates uncomfortable tension on set. During filming of ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'', Neeson infamously shouted at Day-Lewis "Jesus Christ, man! Why don't you just try '''acting''' instead?!"[[/note]]. His immersion in his roles is often [[CreatorBreakdown just as damaging to himself as it is to his coworkers]]; he had to quit stage acting after becoming so involved in playing ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' that he had an actual mental breakdown on-stage, hallucinating that his deceased father's angry spirit had appeared to torment him during the scene with the King's ghost. Whatever one's opinion of him and his method, though, there's no debating that he is one of the most admired and critically acclaimed actors working today. With his win for ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' in 2013, he became the first man to win three Best Actor Oscars.
* Creator/ChristianBale is very well-known for method acting, putting intense amounts of preparation into whatever role he plays and getting deep into character[[note]]He claims that the intensity he puts into his roles is partly driven by the fact that he actually has a hard time staying in character. If he didn't embrace a role so completely, he'd be constantly cracking up, dragging productions out longer than necessary.[[/note]]. For example, the door to his trailer on the set of ''Film/BatmanBegins'' read "Bruce Wayne" rather than "Christian Bale". He's noted for being very adept at [[FakeNationality mimicking accents]]. Once he picks one for a role, he will keep it throughout production[[note]]During his infamous rant on the set of ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'', he verbally assaulted Director of Photography Shane Hurlburt for wandering about during the shooting of a pivotal scene several times while maintaining his FakeAmerican accent almost the entire time.[[/note]] ''and'' do promotion interviews with it because he wants people to focus on what he's saying and not be jarred by his natural Welsh accent. He will also put in an [[DyeingForYourArt insane amount of effort]] to [[http://i.imgur.com/IYA2t.jpg transform his body to suit the character he's playing]]. He was literally anorexic for the filming of ''Film/TheMachinist'', only to bulk up to a practically bodybuilder-like physique for ''Film/BatmanBegins''. Like Creator/DanielDayLewis, he'd developed a reputation as someone difficult to work with but seems to be easing up on more recent movies as behind-the-scenes photos and videos of him breaking character and goofing off occasionally pop up on the internet.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'', "Hooray for Holly Kongo Bongo"

Method Acting is a performance preparation technique where an actor pushes beyond what they do in front of the camera or audience and tries to replicate the life circumstances, mannerisms and emotional feelings of the character he portrays, so as to give realism, legitimacy and dramatic strength to his performance. A distinction though is that method acting can be as simple as running a few laps around a track in order to look exhausted... because they are. But a method ''actor'' seeks to absorb everything about a character and the environment so that it is not really acting but [[BecomingTheMask altering themselves to become someone new]]. This often streamlines and strengthens the performance, rather than [[{{Corpsing}} 20 takes of laughing with the cast and crew]] before finding the right line reading, method acting means you are always "on" and can hit those high points faster.

* In ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', all the actors went through a boot camp except Creator/MattDamon, who was brought in toward the end and given leniency so that the other actors would be resentful of him.

Though Method Acting has produced powerful and affecting performances, it is increasingly finding itself coming under fire for inherent limitations and taking what should be. Method actors are pretty notorious as being hard to work with because of their involvement with their roles. When all's said and done, method acting is a search for perfection in performance, so method actors sometimes have confrontations with cast and crew over the direction his character takes. Also, well, it's hard to give directions to an actor when he's in-character even off-camera (note that not all Method Actors do this, although they do have a reputation for it). Nonetheless, many of the greatest performances in movie history have resulted from an actor who completely immersed himself in the role..

* Creator/JaredLeto caused much [[MemeticMutation internet eye-rolling]] with his much-publicised [[DarkerAndEdgier creepy on-set antics]] while playing the Joker in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'', which included things like sending dead animals and used sexual items to his costars. When the film came out, [[AdvertisedExtra his character's part was smaller than the level of attention led most to believe]], and his performance in general was considered a CharacterTic ClicheStorm. [[http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/08/hollywood-has-ruined-method-acting/494777/ Several]] [[http://dorkshelf.com/2016/08/09/jared-leto-is-the-reason-suicide-squad-is-terrible/ commentators]] went so far as to suggest that Leto's puerile, superficial view of the Method and resulting bad performance (his behaviour being so insufferable that his coworkers couldn't talk to him about the film) [[DiscreditedTrope may have caused the whole pursuit to fall out of fashion]].

* Creator/AndyKaufman was a method actor who took the technique far beyond stage and screen. With certain characters, he absolutely refused to break because there were always people around from whom he could get a reaction. His dedication was such that his gags could last days or weeks. He took it UpToEleven with his "Tony Clifton" persona. In real life, Kaufman was a quiet and shy teetotaling vegetarian. As Clifton, he'd drink, smoke, eat meat, hit on every woman in sight and engage in casual sex. Sometimes he'd end up staying in character for days at a time. It was so all-consuming that Tony was treated as a separate entity, even getting separate contracts from Andy.

* In ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', all the actors went through a boot campe except Creator/MattDamon, who was brought in toward the end and given leniency so that the other actors would be resentful of him.

Method Acting is a controversial practice in the field of performance. The core gist of it is this: an actor tries to replicate the life circumstances, mannerisms and emotional feelings of the character he portrays, so as to give realism, legitimacy and dramatic strength to his performance. An actor playing a character from history might research the character, look for media featuring him, and try to live in the same conditions that that character lived, provided that doing so would not be detrimental to his mental or physical health. A character in a deep depression might make him reflect on his own moments of sadness and bring those feelings forth. He might [[DyeingForYourArt gain or lose weight]] to fit a character who is morphologically different from him, but this is generally frowned upon (despite what Creator/RobertDeNiro would have you believe).

Though Method Acting has produced powerful and affecting performances, it is increasingly finding itself coming under fire for its inherent limitations. Method actors are pretty notorious as being hard to work with because of their involvement with their roles. When all's said and done, method acting is a search for perfection in performance, so method actors sometimes have confrontations with cast and crew over the direction his character takes. Also, well, it's hard to give directions to an actor when he's in-character even off-camera (note that not all Method Actors do this, although they do have a reputation for it). Nonetheless, many of the greatest performances in movie history have resulted from an actor who completely immersed himself in the role. Method acting is, above all, not easy. It takes its toll on the actors, both physically and emotionally, and as mentioned earlier, can result in friction between the actor and the rest of the production staff. But when a performance was well method acted, it shows.

For the involuntary version of this, see EnforcedMethodActing. Among the controversies surrounding Method Acting, it's been said that it's something men do to themselves, and it's something men do to women. There are reasons why the lists of method actors include dozens of prominent men and a bare handful of reluctant women. Often traumatized or injured women.

A disclaimer is probably needed for anyone looking to try method acting: the process is controversial for a reason. Not only is it physically and emotionally exhausting, but it can also cause lasting physical and/or mental harm to an actor. This is because acting can alter the activity of a person's brain to fit the character they're portraying; staying in one role for too long will cause that character to gradually override the actor's state of mind, and suddenly dropping the character after a performance is complete can really throw the actor for a loop. In many cases, method acting gone wrong can result in the actor facing severe mental health issues and a lack of personal identity, hence the aforementioned case of Stanislavski's student breaking down. Actors who specialize in method acting often have to take long breaks between roles in order to recover from the immense strain they cause, and some, like Creator/DanielDayLewis, retire much earlier than non-method actors partly because of the dangers posed by the craft.

* Creator/HeathLedger dived deep to get into character as ComicBook/TheJoker for ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. He locked himself away in a motel room for weeks and kept an in-character journal to try and make sense of the Joker's psychology. During this time, Ledger meticulously developed Joker's every tic to create a personification of chaos[[note]]Rumors abounded that Ledger couldn't shake the character and it led to his death. However, cast members like Creator/MichaelCaine and Creator/AaronEckhart refuted this, saying that Ledger easily dropped out of character, happily socialized with cast and crew, and helped keep energy up by performing skateboarding tricks during long shoots. Ledger was also far-removed from the Joker at the time of his death, having finished all of his post-production (dubbing) work on ''The Dark Knight'', and nearly completed his final film, [[Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus a much less demanding role.]][[/note]]. This resulted in one of the most powerful performances in film history, as well as a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': According to Mr. Warburton's blog, Creator/TomKenny would hook a finger into his mouth while voicing Knightbrace to sound like he was [[BracesOfOrthodonticOverkill wearing a retainer]].

** Carrey and Dana Vachon's 2020 SurrealHumor novel ''Memoirs and Misinformation'' include wild AdamWesting of this trope, as a fictional version of Carrey, desperate to ''finally'' get some respect in his career from the industry and his peers or risk becoming a WhiteDwarfStarlet, decides to apply method acting to prepare for the prospective role of ''Mao Zedong's ghost inhabiting his body''. The prep work includes listening to Mao's speeches constantly (i.e. while he's lounging in his pool) and deliberately gaining weight; when he throws a party for his Hollywood peers he delivers a long rant on the decadence of capitalism and while some listeners are enthralled, others brush it off as him just doing what he did playing Kaufman.

** Carrey and Dana Vachon's 2020 SurrealHumor novel ''Memoirs and Misinformation'' includes a wild SelfParody of this trope, as a fictional version of Carrey, desperate to ''finally'' get some respect in his career from the industry and his peers or risk becoming a WhiteDwarfStarlet, decides to apply method acting to prepare for the prospective role of ''Mao Zedong's ghost inhabiting his body''. The prep work includes listening to Mao's speeches constantly (i.e. while he's lounging in his pool) and deliberately gaining weight; when he throws a party for his Hollywood peers he delivers a long rant on the decadence of capitalism and while some listeners are enthralled, others brush it off as him just doing what he did playing Kaufman.

** Carrey and Dana Vachon's 2020 SurrealHumor novel ''Memoirs and Misinformation'' includes a wild SelfParody of this trope, as a fictional version of Carrey, desperate to ''finally'' get some respect in his career from the industry and his peers or risk becoming a WhiteDwarfStarlet, decides to apply method acting to the prospective role of ''Mao Zedong's ghost inhabiting his body''.

* Creator/JimCarrey pretended to be Creator/AndyKaufman for the entire duration of filming ''Film/ManOnTheMoon'', which drove most of his coworkers nuts. (in fact, the only time during production he 'shut off Kaufman' was while auditioning for ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'') Once production wrapped up though, Carrey found himself feeling hollow inside, his entire state of mind having been shattered by the Kaufman persona. Much of his more infamous antics since then can be attributed in part to the sheer extent to which his mind was messed up by the persona.
** It actually became strange as Jim Carrey began developing strange tics and specific movements that Kaufman himself would do, ''but which weren't actually in the script''. Andy Kaufman's old friends who were working on the movie just decided to let it ride and figured "hey, Andy's back with us for a few months".
** Kaufman himself was known to stay in character while being on set, which is likely why Carrey himself decided to work this way.

* ''Theatre/NoisesOff'' mocks the trope with Fred, an American Method actor who can't do ''anything'' without having a justification.