The Problem of Method Acting
 

Re: The Problem of Method Acting
 

Are we supposed to watch this for 41 minutes?

Re: The Problem of Method Acting
 

I am going to watch it, but I like stuff like that.

I'm watching it now.

Only if you find it interesting. Maybe you could watch a minute or two and see if it grabs you?

I'm not watching it. I don't watch 99.9% of all the videos posted here...I mean geez I'm busy. I'd rather read a short but well written intro OP, than a long video. I guess I'll never know what the problem with Method Acting is:p

Watch it on fast forward. Put on some "Yakkity Sax" on the other tab. There are ways to conquer this video.

The problem is it takes 41 minutes to explain. :D

Does the video explain that the problem with method acting is that no one seems to actually understand what it is so the only stories the public hears about “going method” are ways in which actors gain notoriety for acting like eccentric ********?

See, no need to spend 45 mins on the subject.

Then.... ....don't?

LOL, you saved me the trouble of writing this myself.

You magnificent bastard, you’ve got a deal!

I have never subscribed to the idea that Method acting somehow caused bad behavior in (male) actors.
The behavior was there. Immersing themselves in the method merely gave them, in their own minds, permission to let it out.

Re: The Problem of Method Acting
 

hotdog shapes.

Precisely.

Even so, this would still raise the question why it does not unveil/unmask bad behavior in female actors, unless you are claiming that method is as like to reveal jerk regardless of gender.

To me that sounds reasonable-ish, in the sense that it probably is true to some extent?

Well, the most obvious is that women are not men, and I don't mean to be flippant, but we are physiologically, chemically, different sides of the coin. But the video also talks about how white male stars are at much less risk than female or minority (or both) stars of being blackballed for their behavior. Additionally, when you think of how much less power women had compared to now (when it is still obviously not equal), very few women were probably crazy enough to risk their entire careers on bad behavior. The video talks about how it is almost celebrated at times among white male actors, like, "Oh, aren't they bold, giving themselves over so much to the role that they are abusive and awful to other people and themselves!" Women simply wouldn't have gotten away with it. I read Syndey Lumet talking about the notoriously "difficult" Faye Dunaway and he had nothing but praise for both her ability and her professionalism. To get her reputations she probably acted like she had the right to behave the way the men did. Might women have acted as terribly as the men (sending their cast-mates ****ing rats?! What the f*ck, Jared?!) if they were on an equal playing-field? I doubt we'll ever know.
But additionally, there is the point that the video made that the far fewer women practice "The Method". In part because it's chief proponent in this country seemed to hate women and in part because it was abusive to women. I mean, Jesus, Stanley, was that really necessary? And Jack, you just stood there and watched?
And then there's all the ones who just didn't feel like it added, a point that both this video and Sir Lawrence Olivier (the reputed greatest actor of the time before me) made (Dusty, try acting).
I (and the video) would finally point out that arguably the best overall actor of my lifetime, Meryl Streep, didn't and doesn't employ The Method. And she also doesn't have a reputation for being a self-absorbed azzhole.

Right, so you do agree with the analysis in the video. I don't know if I agree 100%. I can only note that an actor would, or so I assume, need to feel rather entitled/privileged to go "all the way there" as some actors have in methody antics.



There are, of course, notorious stories about many actresses. The creator of Desperate Housewives is noted to have called Terri Hatcher "the meanest woman in the world" because of her on-set behavior. Jennifer Lawrence, is rather notorious for mistreating employees, agents, friends, etc. Katherine Mulgrew was famously uncooperative and cruel with Jerri Ryan on Star Trek: Voyager, but I must admit I am hard pressed to think of cases (not that I track such anecdotes) of female actresses getting weird/cruel in connection with the process of the method. Rather, accounts of female jerkdom seems to have to do with "Y'as Queen" entitlement directed at perceived underlings and perceived rivals (e.g., Mulgrew feeling upstaged by a "fem-bot" on her own show) than with method of preparation.



That is, there are privileged females who do feel quite safe in their power and privilege in acting out (which undercuts, at least somewhat, the video's analysis of "why" - the video suggests that actresses are not demanding but cower in comparative fear of reprisal), however, I must confess that those who get wacky in method acting do seem to be disproportionately male (which is consistent with the video's diagnosis of the "who").


In addition, it also seems to be true that this demo appears track white and male, although we can also note cases of non-white male actors being unprofessional on movie sets (e.g., Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard) or who were outrageous in behavior, in general (e.g., Bill Cosby who reportedly would force hotel employees to sit quietly and watch him ear meals).



The people doing weird method stuff are obviously trying to do good work (or at least participate in a sort of mythology of what good work entails). Why are they disproportionately white and male? I don't know. Privilege probably has a lot do with it, especially in the case of "classic" Hollywood cases.