Weston-Smith Core Post #4: Dyer- Stars and Performance

There is often a lot of talk, interest, and criticism surrounding method acting in today's society. I found it very interesting to read Richard Dyer's definitions of different types of acting, including method acting, in Chapter 8: Stars and Performance. I think it is especially interesting to think about the modern day Marlon Brando's. Brando was famous for the way using the method effected him off screen, and despite that, there are still actors experiencing the same effects. What I also find intriguing is that a lot of the actors famous today for using the method are also some of the most critically acclaimed actors. Dyer writes that method acting "involved the performer feeling her/his way into a role from the inside, temporarily identifying with a character or, in a widespread distortion of the approach, actually becoming the character playing him/her" (Stars, p. 141).

One of the reasons there is so much talk surrounding the topic of method acting in society is because of the effect it has on a lot of famous actors who use the method. For instance, Shia Lebouf is constantly in and out of the news for his off screen antics and the trouble he gets into. Shia is confirmed to be a method actor, and many tabloids blame his inability to let go of a character off set as the reason he gets himself into such newsworthy situations. Another method actor is Daniel Day Lewis. When he accepted his Oscar for his lead role in "Lincoln," he thanked his wife for sticking by his side despite how hard it must have been to live with him when he was playing such a dark role. Lewis often talks about how lost he gets in a role.

Perhaps one of the most famous method actors, a part from Marlon Brando of course, was Heath Ledger. Most people, including his family, blame his method acting for his suicide. Soon after  wrapping as The Joker in the Batman trilogy--a particularly dark and messed up character--he killed himself. It was made public that he was on many anti-depressents at the time, and his family said Heath had an incredibly hard time shaking the twisted, self-hating mentality of The Joker. The conversation surrounding the effects of method acting reignited after his suicide.