Five interesting facts you may not know about Method Acting in Hollywood.
The art of Method Acting has long been the favourite technique of Hollywood actors honing their craft. Household names such as BRANDO, DE NIRO, HOFFMAN, JOLIE and STREEP all have one thing in common. Having learnt this prestigious technique from method practitioner himself, Lee Strasberg and his predecessors, they all have the need to immerse themselves in their characters.
Thanks to stars such as Daniel Day – Lewis, the method is fast becoming a household name too.
Hollywood actor Stephen Graham, who supports StandBy worked with Daniel Day-Lewis on Gangs of New York, he said that Daniel stayed in character for the entire shoot and could be heard sharpening knives in his trailer between takes. Daniel who is renowned for staying in character throughout filming asked all cast and crew to call him Bill when the shoot began right until the wrap. Daniel also began grabbing the attention of the press when they picked up on how immersed he became in his latest role Lincoln; he began to sign his text messages A Lincoln.
Whether it’s weight loss or embodying the characters’ quirky traits off screen, these actors show us just how far they are willing to go in the name of art.
For his role as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, De Niro became a taxi driver for 6 months. De Niro began to work 12 hours a day as taxi drivers do, to understand what it is really like to be a taxi driver; meeting the weird and wonderful, your everyday Joe Bloggs and understanding how the public treat taxi drivers. He was then able to use this real life experience in his role. De Niro gives a GREAT interpretation of Bickle.
In 1999, Jim Carrey delivered an award-winning performance as Andy Kaufmann in the biopic film Man on the Moon. He had stiff competition to get the part, even going up against famous Method actors like Edward Norton. Carrey won the part thanks to his over the top audition: He bought and performed with the actual bongo drums that Kaufman used in his own act. He was reportedly given the role on the spot.
Tom Cruise is another great example of how a Method actor prepares for their role. He is a great actor and has been a household name since the 80s, so you might think he doesn’t need to work so hard and can relax a little. Wrong! To keep on top of his game he must always be honing his craft and be bringing something fresh to his roles, most importantly real experiences. When he was cast as Vincent in Collateral, he was determined to get it right. To help prepare himself for that anonymous killer mindset, Cruise decided to pull an Assassin’s Creed and learn how to blend in. So he dressed up like a FedEx worker and delivered packages to a crowded LA marketplace. This might have been a tough feat considering he is a household name, but it worked. Whilst in character he sat down with a complete stranger and had a full conversation and nobody guessed it was Tom Cruise.
It’s not only actors who like to prepare for their roles and get into the psychological mind set, directors are also renowned for using this exciting technique. When working on Saving Private Ryan Speilberg wanted his cast to understand mentally what it is like to go through torture every day in the forces so they could bring this real experience to the screen. He made almost every cast member go through a 10 day boot camp with a retired Marine whose job was to wreck them. This gave the actors a new found appreciation for those in the forces and gave them the real experience they needed to bring the story to life.
Our own Method acting coach Louise O’Leary, also likes to prepare in the same way and will often take a day out in town in character or take on some experience of her characters that she isn’t familiar with. Louise is always very happy to share this in the studio with her students and explain how it helped her raise the bar with her craft.
