Method Acting

Question 1

When was the Actors Studio founded?

Answer 1

1947

Question 2

Where was the Actors Studio?

Answer 2

USA 🇺🇸

Question 3

What was the aim of the Actors Studio?

Answer 3

To train especially selected actors on an interpretation of Stanislavsky’s system.

Question 4

Where did Lee Strasberg study?

Answer 4

Mascow Art School

Question 5

Which system did Lee Strasberg study and who was he a student of? 📖

Answer 5

He studied Stanislavsky’s system.

He was thought by Stanislavsky.

Question 6

What was Lee Strasberg’s nationality, and where was he studying?

Answer 6

He was American. 🇺🇸

Studying in Russia. 🇷🇺

Question 7

Where did Lee Strasberg teach when he went back to the USA after studying in Russia?

Answer 7

The Actors Studio

Question 8

What was Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio?

Answer 8

The most influential drama teacher.

Question 9

What did Strasberg do with Stanislavsky’s system?

Answer 9

He was inspired and motivated by it and adapted it into a different version of the method which he taught.

Question 10

What was the difference between Stanislavsky and Strasberg’s systems?

Answer 10

• Stanislavsky saw all the elements of his system as of equal importance for affective acting.
• Strasberg highlighted “emotional memory” as the most important step to achieve and it has to be achieved first.

Question 11

What did Strasberg rename “Emotional Memory”?

Answer 11

Affective memory

Question 12

What did Strasberg name his adaption of the system?

Answer 12

Method Acting

Question 13

How did admission to the Actors Studio take place?

Answer 13

Through audition

Question 14

How do we know that the actors attending the Actors Studio were very good?

Answer 14

Its very prestigious.

More than a thousand actors applied each year and the staff often only selected five or six.

Question 15

True or false:

Method acting was taught world wide.

Answer 15

False:

Taught exclusively at the Acting Studio.

Question 16

What does affective memory require?

Answer 16

Requires actors to call on the memory of details from a similar situation.

Question 17

What did Strasberg believe was the best way to achieve affective memory?

Answer 17

To make the actors relaxed so they could recall the memory more vividly.

Question 18

What was the question Strasberg used?

Answer 18

“What would motivate me, the actor, to behave in the way the character does?”

Question 19

What did Strasberg emphasise that the actors needed to uncover of their characters?

Answer 19

Their characters ‘inner truth’ and ‘psychology’. 🔮

Question 20

What did Strasberg say was more important when preparing for a role?
Not only delving into the character’s life in the play but…

Answer 20

Into the characters life before the curtain rises.

Question 21

What is discussed and even acted out in rehearsal with Strasberg?

Answer 21

The character’s pre-history, perhaps going back to childhood.

Question 22

How has the way method actors act been described?

Answer 22

“They act from the inside out.”

Question 23

What does acting from the inside out mean?

Answer 23

They communicate emotions they really feel. They give you a sense of life.

Question 24

Name some females who’ve used Strasberg’s method acting approach.

Answer 24

Scarlet Johansson
Barbara Streisand
Uma Thurman
Sienna Miller
Linda Hamilton
Laura Dern

Question 25

What role did Kate Winslet play in “The Reader”?

Answer 25

A former Nazi concentration camp guard.

Question 26

What did Kate Winslet have a difficulty doing?

Answer 26

Walking away from the part.

Question 27

How long did it take Kate Winslet to go back to normal?

Answer 27

Several months

Question 28

Who’s one of the most well known method actors?

Answer 28

Daniel Day-Lewis

Question 29

What awards has Daniel Day-Lewis won?

Answer 29

The Best Actor Oscar three times.

Question 30

Name two things Day-Lewis insisted on while rehearsing for ‘Lincoln’.

Answer 30

• No cast members speak to him with their British accents.

- He maintained his character even while texting his co-star.

Question 31

What were 3 things Day-Lewis did for his role in “The Last of the Mahicans”?

Answer 31

• Learned how to build a canoe.
• Only ate food he killed himself.
• Learned to track, hunt and skin the animals.

Question 32

What did Daniel insist on while filming “My Left Foot”?

Answer 32

• Refused to leave his wheelchair.
• Was carried around set.
• Spoon-fed all his meals.

Question 33

What did Daniel do for the entirety of shooting of the Crucible?

Answer 33

Didn’t bath.🛁

Question 34

What did Day-Lewis do for “In the Name of the Father”?

Answer 34

Spent nights locked in solitary confinement in the abandoned prison where they shot the movie.

Question 35

Name 5 praises for Method acting:

Answer 35

1. Has produced realistic, emotionally truthful acting based on actual, lived experiences.
2. Actors don’t “perform” in the sense that they put something on, rather they just “are”, in being their characters.
3. Has revolutionised the film industry.
4. Forces actors to concentrate on all of their senses and focus with immense attention to detail.
5. Promotes a strong commitment to deep, dimensional characterisation.

Question 36

Name 5 complaints about method acting:

Answer 36

1. Critics refer to it as the “mumble, scratch and slouch” approach because of the similar kind of portrayals Method produces.
2. Does not suit traditional, classics plays.
3. Does not emphasise vocal training and use of voice modulation.
4. Is potentially psychologically damaging for an actor to ‘lose’ themselves for the sake of their character.
5. Can bring up enormous emotional release that not every person can handle.