Welcome to my report on The Secrets of Method Acting. As you may be aware, ‘The Method’ is used by many of the top creative actors of our time. In my own journey as an actor, I was intrigued by how these actors achieved such an exceptional standard of acting. This led me to study The Method with some of the leading method tutors in the world.

I am now considered to be the UK’s Leading Expert on Method Acting and I have been featured on the BBC, in The Sunday Express, The Metro and The Stage.

Let me take you through key areas of the technique.

Affective Memory

It was discovered by psychologists in the early part of the 20^th Century that the best way to stimulate an emotional response from a human being is through their senses in conjunction with their memories.

It is understood that we perceive the world through our senses. We see, we hear, we smell, we touch, we taste. This is what stimulates us as human beings. It is also understood that the memory of these senses can affect us. For example, we have all felt hungry, thought of our favorite food and started to salivate, or heard a song that has reminded us of a relationship we once had. Our memories are strongly linked to our senses.

In The Method, the actor is trained to use their personal memories through their senses to produce particular and real emotional responses. For example, if two characters in a scene are going through a break up, the actors involved may work on some sort of experience of loss in their own lives. This could be the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or the loss of an experience they enjoy.

Method Actors then fuse the real emotion that is produced with the event and character they are portraying.

Christopher Walken and Affective Memory

Christopher Walken was asked what he was thinking about when he shot the scene at the end of The Deer Hunter where he plays Russian roulette and kills himself. He said that when he was younger, his parents made him go to summer camp – he hated going – and the experience filled him with a sense of abandonment, loss and anger. He said that he felt his character was experiencing similar feelings, so he thought about that event during the scene. Christopher Walken understands that events from his own experience can expose the experiences of the character on a much deeper level.

Animal work

The animal exercise helps to recreate an external physicality separate from the actor’s own.

The actor picks an animal that they think reflects the character that they are playing. It must be a wild animal, not a domestic pet and not a reptile. The reason reptiles are not allowed is because they are cold blooded and we are warm blooded. The use of birds is also limited.

Once an animal is picked, the actor studies it at the zoo in intricate detail. They research the psychology of the animal, as it provides a great insight into its behaviour and thought processes. For example, Rhinos get a reputation for being an aggressive animal. But the reason Rhinos attack is because they are short sighted and cannot clearly see what is approaching, so they charge to protect themselves. This could be an interesting trait in a character.

The actor then recreates the animal’s physicality in detail. They get down on all fours or adopt whatever position necessary, and recreate how the animal moves, eats and sleeps. Once they have a strong sense of the animal’s physicality, the actor then stands up, starts to humanise the animal and says the character’s lines – incorporating the new physicality.

This exercise is used to great effect by Method Actors such as Marlon Brando, who played an ape in A Streetcar Named Desire, and a bulldog in The Godfather. It’s worth looking at these performances to see how the animal is manifested into human form.

Method Improvisation

Method improvisation techniques differ from the norm. Method Actors will use affective memory improvisation. This is when they change the affective memory they are thinking about and explore other memories to produce a different experience within the character.

They also use the ‘Where Am I Right Now?’ approach, which is where the actor tries to accurately understand how they are really feeling in the moment during a scene, and use it as a force within the scene.

For example, Dennis Hopper explains that if he becomes aware of external happenings during a scene, he incorporates them. He recounts a time when shooting a scene for a film, that he became aware that the continuity person was watching the length of his cigarette intently. The reason for this was that if the Director shouted ‘Cut’, the continuity person would have to make sure Dennis’ next cigarette was exactly the same length as the one in the previous scene. Hopper found this funny, and started to laugh in the scene, incorporating the external happening into his work.

These are just some of the techniques used by the world’s leading Method Actors. These exercises build unbelievable concentration and really stimulate real emotion, ultimately leading to emotionally charged and moving performances.

There is more to acting than is commonly realised, and the human body (the actor’s instrument) is capable of very much more than the conventional reality.

Best Regards

Brian Timoney

The UK’s Leading Method Acting Expert

www.briantimoneyacting.co.uk

020 8906 8247

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