Lee strasberg

Lee Strasberg

* Born in Austria-Hungary, 1901; * Took Stanislavsky’s “system” and created his “The Method” which he taught at the “Actors Studio”, where it was made famous; * Asks the actor to replace the play’s and character’s circumstances with his or her own, called “the substitution”; * Using “the Method”, the actor also recalls emotions or reactions from his or her own life and uses them to identify with the character being portrayed; * Often used the question "What would motivate me, the actor, to behave in the way the character does?"; * Depends on the actor’s consideration of the psychological motives of the character; * The actor would portray the character’s emotions by channeling his own from a memory either via the senses or affection; * Many Method actors continue to channel their characters even after performing or shooting, until the project is over (Daniel Day Lewis), even though this is not a taught part of the Method; * Has been described as having “revolutionized American theatre”; * Famous former students include: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and director Sidney Lumet; * “Method acting is what all actors have always done whenever they acted well.” –Lee Strasberg * Can be traced back as a method of acting to the ancient Greeks, and through the centuries has been called: Romantic Acting, Emotional Acting, Divine Inspiration, The Muses, Feeling the Role * These were all used as a way to move the audience, or in other words, make the audience relate in a very real way to what the character is