WHAT IS METHOD ACTING?

Method acting is technique that produces world class acting ability. It is made up of in depth acting exercises that answer the question.

How can I (actor) be truthful when everything around me is fake?

Lee Strasberg

Method acting is a practice that was developed by Strasberg following on from the work Stanislavski initially set out. It allows you to work from the inside out, using your own personal life experience and marinating it with your imagination to create truly unique, authentic human behavior whilst living moment to moment in the imaginary given circumstances without forcing, faking or “acting”.

Method acting will transform your acting skills from that of an average actor to that of an outstanding, world class actor, by asking you to truly understand who you are and your experiences, so you are able to empathize with and understand what motivates each character.

Another great benefit of Method acting is that it allows you to understand why people behave the way they do, thus allowing you in your own life to be able to start to read people´s behavior and body language.

Method acting exercises include:

• relaxation
• sense memory
• the animal exercise
• affective memory
• script analysis
• character analysis
• the need, the motivation, the action
• substitution
• object of attention
• triggering imagination
• method acting improvisation
• repetition exercise
• private moment exercise / fourth wall

CONFIDENCE

1- Identify your strong points. Maybe you´re a good listener, good at telling stories, have a big imagination, are good at expressing yourself clearly, are empathetic to other situations. Whatever your strengths are they will always be useful within acting as we work with the human condition. Make a huge list of your strong points

2- Affirm your strengths by writing them on a phone, in a diary, or on a piece of paper you can stick somewhere you will see every day. I find placing them on your phone alarmas, set to music you really like works very well at affirming these strengths and boosting your confidence

3- Recognize your insecurities by writing them down, this will also help you disassociate yourself from them

4- Challenge your insecurities with positive evidence. Prove to yourself that your insecurity isn´t true. When we challenge our insecurities, we begin to slowly but surely change our thought process and our confidence grows.

5- Speak with friends/ family/ fellow acting students to recognize everyone is insecure / un-confident about something. It´s part of being human

6- Write down the worst thing that could happen with your insecurity/ specific confidence issue and workout the likelihood of that happening,

7- Stop comparing yourself to others. If you find yourself doing this re-visit tips 1-7 or challenge your thoughts with something you like about yourself

8- Imagine yourself each morning as a confident successful actor achieving the success you want, e.g collecting an Oscar or signing a contract with an agent.

9- Keep a confidence journal. At the end of each day or week scribble in it any insecurities you have overcome, any confidence breakthroughs you have had, compliments you have received, positive thoughts about yourself, anything great your are proud of yourself for achieving and take time to read every month so you can see just how fantastic you are and begin believing it.

LEARNING THE LINES

Most actors spend much of their time worrying about the lines, but as Lee strasberg correctly stated, learning lines is nothing to do with acting, it is to do with memory and memory is not something your acting coach will teach you.

1- Clear your head of any stress, tension or pressure. These are counter-productive & make the process more difficult. Using a form of relaxation can help with this

2- Find a relaxing and calm space where there are no distractions, to go over your lines. Burning scented candle can help with this. I like to go to a park or coffee shop and leave my phone at home so I am distraction free

3- Break down the learning into units. Set yourself goals e.g learn two units of lines in 30 minutes

4- Record your lines into a phone, dictaphone or other recording device. Listen to these on your way to work/college, in bed, in the car, in the bath. Listening to these just before you doze off and just as you wake up is most effective as your brain is in alpha waves and will take in more of the information

5- Be careful not to get stuck in rhythms. Record your lines in a few variations

6- Sing your lines: opera style, musical theatre style, as a pop song, rap them and add fun movement, etc. This is a fun, stress-free way of learning and remembering them and again is backed up by science

7- Some people find writing their lines out helps, try it and see if it works for you. 

8- To help your short term memory improve, which will aid line learning, each morning recall what you had for tea 2 days ago.

9- Choose a line learning partner to help “test” you on your lines, one who will ensure you have learnt them word for word and not paraphrased them

10- Underline or mark on your script where you are paraphrasing your lines then focus on learning these sections. Don´t move on until they are clear in your mind and word perfect, because the playwright/script writer chose every single word for a reason

CREATING A CHARACTER

Method acting is firstly about understanding yourself and knowing what has got you to the point you´re at in life so you can empathise with characters. When we get to characters it is about finding inspiration so you can work moment to moment to find and express the truth, which is so powerful and unique it can´t be copied.

Method acting is jam-packed with the most powerful exercises to help each actor overcome problems of creating a character, connecting to the role, overcoming inhibitions, overcoming problems of in expression and much more.

In the studios each actor has a different problem and whilst they all work through the same modules they are each given individual prescriptions to help them on their way to becoming a world class actor.

1- Find all the similarities between yourself and the character for a strong starting point. Research the differences so you become familiar with them

2- Choose 3 dominant personality character traits that stand out from the script as another good starting point for discovering who this person is

3- Read the script as many times as you can to find all the evidence about the person you will become. Some clues are very well hidden so you may have to dig deeper

4- From all the clues you have discovered begin writing or voice recording a back story from birth until present day, to create a life for your character away from the script.

5- Answer the following question and explain your answers. If my character were a season they would be… if my character were a color they would be… if my character where a musical genre they would be… if my character were an animal they would be…

6- Work out how other characters perceive you by writing down what the other characters say about you, you will find this in the text

7- Write down what the writer says about you. You will find this in the text usually in the stage directions

8- Write down what you (your character) says about others. You will find this in the text

9- Use an actors journal for each part you play to record your discoveries and for charting your character development. It helps you keep track of where you´re up to with developing your character

10- Stick anything in your actor´s journal that inspires you -pictures, poems, song lyrics, conversations you´ve had, pictures of people etc. This is personal to you and there is no right or wrong; it´s your creative record and helps you open up your imagination

GETTING YOUR FOOT IN THE DOOR

1- Decide what actor you want to be to build your profile e.g. male lead, female lead, action, comedy actor. Where do you fit best?

2- Follow industry people on Twitter everyday

3- Engage in conversations on social media with your ideal agents, casting directors and other industry people you are interested in, but don´t stalk them

4- Get your acting vision clear by making a vision board full of all you want from your acting career. Do this by sticking pictures of everything you hope to achieve with you acting career & stick it somewhere prominent

5- Set monthly goals to fit in line with your vision board then go out and achieve them

6- Work out who your ideal agent is who can cater to you and your career needs 

7- Make a list of 10 agencies who cater to the type of work you´re after and focus on these

8- You will need a set of good quality, professional headshot. 

9- Choose 1 headshot that represents you and your casting type well to use as your main picture on CVs and casting sites

10- Have 5 different headshot that show your different looks for any casting sites you appear on e.g Spotlight

11- You will need a 3 minute show reel showcasing your best acting work and cast ability to use as a marketing tool when approaching casting directors and agents

12- Choose your three most important tasks to do each day then to them

13-  When you have enough content, set up a Facebook page to showcase your latest projects & build a fan base