How Method Acting It Can Skyrocket Your Success as an Actor or Performer!

Every actor has his or her own way of developing their character. There are some ways that require more practice and some that require embodiment. That’s what I want to share with you today and I want to focus on the idea of embodiment. At the New York Acting School for Film and Television, we understand the need for mastering different skills.

Today, I want to focus on what’s so great about method acting and why I believe you should master it. Does that mean you can only act using method acting? Not at all. But it’s proven itself to be a useful form and the more useful tools you’ve got in your box, the more likely you are to succeed, right? 

Method acting actually involves a series of approaches but its overall aim is to develop believable performances by teaching the actor to embody and replicate the emotional experience of the character through his or her own emotions.

So what are the key points to method acting? They’re pretty simple and once you read through them, I think you’ll get the picture and know if it’s right for you. 

Acting Using Emotional Memory As Your Fuel and Inspiration – The key to the method acting approach is the shift away from the actor’s portrayal of emotion toward the actor’s internalization of that emotion. The actor is expected to feel the emotion rather than simply pantomime it. This process is typically enabled by the memory of a past event within the actor’s own life that triggers the same emotion.

Character Framing - This is where you draw from and portray more lifelike and believable characters instead of just caricatures and exaggerations from theatrical inspiration. The method acting approach focuses on the portrayal of lifelike and “believable” characters rather than theatrical caricatures. The actor is expected to readjust the way s/he thinks and feels to fit the portrayal of the character.

Experience and Personal Motivation – With this perspective, the actor needs to ask a series of questions to determine motivation: how would the character react in the given situation? What situations would need to occur to motivate the character in a particular direction? What events would trigger particular emotions within the character.

Observation and Mimicking  – With this one, a very popular one, you want to make the most of your time people watching so that you can really observe how the character’s real life counterparts might move and operate in the world. Where do they go? Who do they interact with? How do they interact? Think of who they might be in real life, watch those people and consider the rippling dynamics and how you can embody them.

Of course, that’s just a summary, but I’m sure you can tell that it’s a useful skill to dive into and have at your disposal.  To learn more about Method Acting, and other forms of character development, please contact us at the New York Acting School for Film and Television today. We have many classes and coaches waiting for you to take the step toward bettering your career.