History Main / MethodActing

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, Creator/ChadwickBoseman spoke in his character's African accent in between takes and during bloopers so he wouldn't lose it.

* In ''Fanfic/HiccupTheUseless'', Stoick left Hiccup out of his plan to paint Snotlout as the Hero of Berk to draw attention away from Hiccup because he wanted to sell it that Hiccup's reputation has not changed since the Meathead's last visit. Unfortunately, this [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]], as everyone overcompensates to the point where [[spoiler:Hiccup is driven to an attempted suicide]].

[[/folder]]

See EnforcedMethodActing, when ''outside'' influences craft an environment appropriate to the performance, and ActingInTheDark for when the production puts the actors in a blind spot. There's also some overlap with [[{{Kayfabe}}]], when the line between reality and "the act" becomes blurred.

See EnforcedMethodActing, when ''outside'' influences craft an environment appropriate to the performance, and ActingInTheDark for when the production puts the actors in a blind spot. There's also overlap with [[Kayfabe]], where the line between reality and "the act" becomes blurred.

See EnforcedMethodActing, when ''outside'' influences craft an environment appropriate to the performance, and ActingInTheDark for when the production puts the actors in a blind spot. There's also overlap with Kayfabe, where the line between reality and "the act" becomes blurred.

See EnforcedMethodActing, when ''outside'' influences craft an environment appropriate to the performance, and ActingInTheDark for when the production puts the actors in a blind spot.

->'''Donkey Kong''': Uh, what's method acting?
->'''Candy Kong''': It's simple. If you're the bad guy in the movie, you think like a bad guy. You ''talk'' like a bad guy. You '''become''' a bad guy!

!!!'''Real-Life Examples''':

!!!'''In-Universe Examples''':

* Kirk Lazarus from ''Film/TropicThunder'' is famous for taking method acting to ridiculous extremes, having gotten plastic surgery to play a black man for his role in the [[ShowWithinAShow Movie Within the Movie]]. And for all of his roles, he always stays in character 24/7 until he is done recording the DVDCommentary. In the actual DVDCommentary for ''Film/TropicThunder'', Creator/RobertDowneyJr stayed true to his character's word and did it entirely in-character as Kirk Lazarus ''in-character as Lincoln Osiris''. When he gets to the "I don't break character until after the DVD commentary" line in the movie, he continues as Kirk Lazarus. When Lazarus finally breaks character near the end of the movie, so does Robert Downey Jr. in the commentary.
* In the webcomic ''Superosity'', one actor acting [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Jar Jar Binks]] went for this to an extreme point: having his brain moved to an actual bioengineered body of Jar Jar Binks.

* The story "Type Cast" in issue #24 of ''Creepy'' featured Roland Bryce, who, forced into horror roles despite hating them, gets in-character by actually mutilating corpses, sacrificing animals and so on. He eventually snaps from guilt and pressure and strangles his agent, ending up in an asylum, which he's mistakenly released from some time later. The asylum director, calling to check on him, is informed that he has a job at another studio. The picture he's appearing in? ''The Story of Jack the Ripper''...
* In ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'', Natalie Rhodes is preparing to play Nikki Heat. To do so, she shadows Kate Beckett, the detective who inspired the character, imitating and analyzing everything she does. HilarityEnsues.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', Kirk Kirkkendall is an actor trying to land the job as the lumberjack character in a TV commercial for Paul's Bunion Foot Cream (which has the "soothing formula to make the bunions head for the hills"). When Kirk is told that he's landed the spot, the director instructs him to go out into the forest and cut down an actual tree, emphasizing, "Don't ''act'' like a woodsman, ''be'' a woodsman." Kirk's first attempts to cut a tree down are unsuccessful due to his [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket spectacular incompetence at holding an axe]], though he improves once he comes upon a copy of the book ''[[ParodiesForDummies Chopping for]] [[SelfDeprecation Actors]]''. It all goes well until he comes to a giant redwood tree. It becomes almost FatalMethodActing, since after Kirk has managed to cut away a large "bite" that leaves the tree balancing very precariously, it gives way and falls on top of him. He ends up on top of the trunk as it rolls down a hill, and when it hits a pair of small trees at the bottom, he is catapulted into the window of Granny Puckett's cottage, where by ContrivedCoincidence, a domestic disturbance is happening.
* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk and the Actor," Stanley Tucci plays David Ruskin, a renowned film and stage actor who is to portray Monk in an upcoming film adaptation of the Steve Wagner case ("Mr. Monk and the Astronaut"). To get into the part of Monk, he shadows Monk for a couple of days to learn more about Monk's different mannerisms, and his investigative processes, even being allowed into two different homicide scenes to observe. However, during the second crime scene investigation at a pawnshop, Natalie excuses herself to the back alleyway as Monk coaches Ruskin on how to say his catchphrase "It's a gift and a curse". Monk finds her out back:
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' There you are! What are you doing?
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' Just getting some air.
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' There's a lot of air inside. Everybody's in there breathing away.
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' Yeah, it's a little stuffy for me in there. "It's a gift! And a curse! It's a gift and a curse, it's a gift and a curse!"
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' Okay?
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' Okay Mr. Monk, don't you see? It's already happening!
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' What is?
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' Okay, I've been doing a little research on your new "pal". Two years ago, David Ruskin played an alcoholic in a TV movie. He got so into it, he had to check himself into rehab for three months!
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' A lot of people check themselves into rehab.
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' He doesn't drink! That's the thing! He had all the symptoms of an alcoholic without drinking! He's had at least two other breakdowns! Mr. Monk, I think this man is dangerous! I think he's dangerous to you.
-->'''Adrian Monk:''' Maybe he's just dedicated. Did you ever think of that? ''[Natalie sighs]'' Natalie, they're making a movie about me! Now this is something I might actually come close to, almost, enjoying!
** Natalie's warning does come true. When Stottlemeyer and Disher sit in on a rehearsal of one of the scenes in the TV movie (specifically, the producers' version of the scene at Joanne Raphelson's house), everything goes well (minus the fact that [[GenderFlip Randy is played by a woman]] and is Stottlemeyer's romantic partner, which clearly does not go over well with the real Stottlemeyer or Disher) until Ruskin starts performing his lines. He suddenly breaks character in the middle of the take and storms off frustrated due to the mishmash of the crewmen's hats. Things get downhill from there when he ends up basically shooing Monk out of his own apartment. Later, Ruskin is so into the part of Monk that he even goes to the parking garage where Trudy was killed while wearing a wig that could easily allow him to look like Creator/TonyShalhoub, and when the police identify the double homicide's culprit as a car salesman named Jack Leverett, Ruskin misinterprets the news brought to "him" by a parking attendant as being that they've found Trudy's killer. Hence, a simple arrest doesn't work because Ruskin actually takes Leverett hostage with a revolver. The real Monk arrives shortly thereafter and has to talk Ruskin down before he does something outright dangerous.
* A ''Series/MrShow'' features a (fictional) documentary about a method actor named Borden Grote (played by Creator/DavidCross) who did research (about doctors and . . . crowds) for roles in which he appeared for seconds. The documentary features him after he's removed the frontal lobe of his brain to prepare for a role involving abuses at a mental institution. The interviewer and his staff talk about his lifestyle seemingly unaware of something being wrong with him. Cross revealed that he was influenced to make this sketch after hearing about Creator/MerylStreep supposedly laying on a block of ice to play herself dead in a film.
* In the Creator/RobertAHeinlein novel ''Literature/DoubleStar'', Lorenzo Smythe uses some amount of this to get into his characters, and even used the psychotic aspect of one character as a crutch when he had to [[spoiler:chop up a body]].
* ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' satirizes the concept in the person of Dillon, a CampGay actor who claims to take the Method very seriously -- and who seems to get a lot of cross-dressing roles.
* In ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'', Mike Shiner is an extreme proponent of this. He drinks real gin on stage during a preview performance, nearly rapes Leslie while on stage, and demands that Riggan get a more realistic looking gun, all in an effort to be "more real."
* In one episode of the animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'', the eponymous character ends up playing the role of Captain Ahab in a production of ''Literature/MobyDick'' and gets so into it he starts thinking he really is Ahab. When informed of this, the whale playing Moby just rolls his eyes and makes a disparaging comment about method actors.
* The Creator/KurtVonnegut short story "Who Am I This Time?", the main character is very nondescript but completely immerses himself in every character he plays in the local community theater. When an attractive woman meets him while he's playing a role, she starts falling in love with him, which worries other town residents because his personality is completely and solely the role he plays.
* "All the Sounds of Fear" by Creator/HarlanEllison gives this a really disturbing spin-- the actor ultimately gets LostInCharacter and in his final breakdown [[spoiler:is revealed to be a [[TheBlank faceless]] shapeshifter.]]
* One Season 4 episode of ''Series/GilmoreGirls'' has Kirk attempting to get in character when he was cast as Jesus in ''Art/TheLastSupper'' for the festival of living pictures. He went overboard with it by eating lentil, wearing robes, preaching to the crowd and despising one of his neighbors who is cast as Judas Iscariot that it nearly led into a brawl between them.
* In ''VideoGame/DontStarve: Reign of Giants'', Wigfrid the Viking Warrior is actually just an actress, dedicated to living out her latest role despite the circumstances.
* ''Literature/FoxAndOHare'': Recurring accomplice Boyd Capwell lives and breathes it, to the point where he's willing to go days without brushing his teeth for a mouthwash commercial.
* ''Manga/ActAge'' has two distinct examples:
** Kei is utterly unable to act a scene unless she can vividly feel the same emotions as her character, so either she recalls those emotions from her past experiences, or she finds a way to recreate them indirectly.
** Myoujin Araya, introduced in chapter 23, outright experiences the living conditions of his characters. [[spoiler:That can include holing up in the mountains for a month and hunting bears. And he ''does'' kill one.]]

* In ''Fanfic/HiccupTheUseless'', Stoick left Hiccup out of his plan to paint Snotlout as the Hero of Berk to draw attention away from Hiccup because he wanted to sell it that Hiccup's reputation has not changed since the Meathead's last visit. Unfortunately, this [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]], as everyone overcompensates to the point where [[spoiler: Hiccup is driven to an attempted suicide]].
* In ''Series/TheCryOfMann'', Sam, Taylor and Casper all admitted to getting very deep into their roles. Sam spent three months acting as a mail man and even continued to stay in-character while on set. Taylor spent her days reading real-world missing-persons reports and gave her very minor character some deep, dark backstory. Casper...checks his mail and his email daily.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': The season one finale has [[HippieTeacher Sikowitz]] teaching his class about method acting. This involves a contest in which his students must adopt personas and stay in character as long as possible. The last person to stay in character is considered the winner.

* ''Fanfic/PersonalitySwapAU'' starts with the entirety of Class 1A trying to act as one of their classmates, though the only two with any success are Izuku and Katsuki, who are playing each other. Aizawa, impressed by Izuku's perfect portrayal of Katsuki, sends him several other such assignments. Every time, Izuku stays completely in character the entire day, including using their fighting styles and finding a way to imitate their Quirks. Given that Izuku will share information that only his characters should know and seamlessly switch places/work with them[[note]]Toshinori finds Izuku-as-Snipe sharing a story that only Toshinori himself and Snipe know and Mei and Izuku-as-Mei perfectly work together on various gadgets, even passing each other needed tools without speaking a word[[/note]], several note that it's almost as though he's been possessed by his role.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': The emotionless android Data discusses how he'd like to reverse the process of method acting, using his performance to gain a better understanding of emotions instead of vice versa. Later, his interest in method acting gets a ContinuityNod when he watches Barclay's BadBadActing and grouses that it is certainly not method acting.
* One episode of ''Series/DixPourCent'' involves one of Andréa's actors ([[AdamWesting Jean Dujardin]]) getting stuck in-character as a World War I deserter, resulting him building a shelter out of sticks and continuing to hunt rabbits, not shaving or showering, in his own yard. The other agents reference Daniel Day-Lewis and how he got out of it by learning Italian shoemaking--or the cheaper, more efficient method of getting him drunk. Andréa and Dujardin's wife opt for the latter.
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' had an episode where Creator/NaomiWatts was playing the role of Diane in a movie. She got "into" the role in a very creepy way that Diane found very offputting.
--> '''Naomi Watts''': Hey, so I guess now that the movie's all about Diane, I really need to dig deep and get to know the real you. So let's talk and talk and talk until I am you and you are nothing but a hollowed-out husk of your former self and every thought and every feeling you ever had belongs to me and me alone. So do we like Sprite, or are we more of a 7-Up girl?

-->'''Lloyd:''' You carry them into the study because it's slightly after midnight and we're not going to be finished before we open tomorrow. Correction: '''BEFORE WE OPEN ''TONIGHT!!!'''''
* Parodied by Creator/RyanReynolds in [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V3_LgIDqOwo&feature=youtu.be this video]] promoting ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'', where immediately upon being informed that he has gotten the lead role, he starts attempting to actually ''become'' Pikachu, which leads him to do things like abandon his kids in the middle of the street because "Pikachu doesn't know who they are" and attempting to lose 187 pounds "until doctors intervened".
* ''Film/ShadowOfTheVampire''. The director explains to the cast that Max Schreck is a dedicated actor of the Method school who keeps his makeup on and always stays in character. In truth he's a real vampire. Incidentally the real-life Max Schreck wasn't a Method actor--he kept his makeup on while filming ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' because it was too much trouble to remove.

* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Natalie Rhodes is preparing to play Nikki Heat. To do so, she shadows Kate Beckett, the detective who inspired the character, imitating and analyzing everything she does. HilarityEnsues.

* Creator/JeremyStrong has become infamous for his method acting, bringing to every one of his roles an intensity and commitment that would make Creator/DanielDayLewis proud (and, given that Strong worked with Day-Lewis as a crew member on ''Theatre/TheCrucible'', probably has). This has frequently led to him getting injured or nearly injured on set: during a scene in season one of ''Series/{{Succession}}'' where Kendall has to run through the streets of New York to get to an important board meeting on time, Strong insisted on running as far and fast as he could in dress shoes, leading to him fracturing his foot, and was doused in actual buckets of ice water to simulate Kendall coming out of an icy-cold lake in the season one finale. While filming a protest scene in ''Film/TheTrialOfTheChicago7'', he asked to be sprayed with actual tear gas, only for Creator/AaronSorkin to refuse because he didn't want to harm anyone, least of all the dozens of extras that Strong would be surrounded with in that scene.

* Creator/JeremyStrong has become infamous for his method acting, bringing to every one of his roles an intensity and commitment that would make Creator/DanielDayLewis proud (and, given that Strong worked with Day-Lewis as a crew member on ''Theatre/TheCrucible'', probably has). This has frequently led to him getting injured or nearly injured on set: during a scene in season one of ''Series/{{Succession}}'' where Kendall has to run through the streets of New York to get to an important board meeting on time, Strong insisted on running as far and fast as he could in dress shoes, leading to him fracturing his foot, and was doused in actual buckets of ice water to simulate Kendall coming out of an icy-cold lake in the season one finale. While filming a protest scene in ''Film/TheTrialOfTheChicago7'', he asked to be sprayed with actual tear gas, only for Creator/AaronSorkin to refuse because he didn't want to harm anyone.

* An OlderThanFeudalism example: In a production of Sophocles' ''{{Theatre/Electra}}'', an actor named Polus, in order to convincingly play the part of the grief-stricken heroine mourning her brother, came on stage carrying an urn containing the ashes of his own son.

Though Method Acting has produced powerful and affecting performances, it is increasingly finding itself coming under fire for its inherent limitations. Method actors are pretty notorious as being hard to work with because of their involvement with their roles. When all's said and done, method acting is a search for perfection in performance, so method actors sometimes have confrontations with cast and crew over the direction his character takes. Also, well, it's hard to give directions to an actor when he's in-character even off-camera (note that not all Method Actors do this, although they do have a reputation for it). Nonetheless, many of the greatest performances in movie history have resulted from an actor who completely immersed himself in the role..

* Creator/ForestWhitaker's method acting finally earned him the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland''.

* Creator/AndyKaufman was a method actor who took the technique far beyond stage and screen. With certain characters, he absolutely refused to break because there were always people around from whom he could get a reaction. His dedication was such that his gags could last days or weeks. He exaggerated it with his "Tony Clifton" persona. In real life, Kaufman was a quiet and shy teetotaling vegetarian. As Clifton, he'd drink, smoke, eat meat, hit on every woman in sight and engage in casual sex. Sometimes he'd end up staying in character for days at a time. It was so all-consuming that Tony was treated as a separate entity, even getting separate contracts from Andy.

* Creator/MarlonBrando is arguably the first great method actor. Given a role and script that interest him, like ''Film/LastTangoInParis'' and he proves to be super-efficient and competent and a darling to the crew.

[[folder:Real Life Examples]]
!!!'''Real Life Examples''':
* OlderThanFeudalism : In one of the most moving scene of the play Theatre/Electra by Creator/Sophocles, the heroine is devastated when she discovers an urn containing (or so she thinks) the ashes of her long-lost brother Orestes. In order to create a gripping performance, a Greek actor named Polus took with him on stage the urn containing his late son's ashes.

* Judging by the bloopers of the ''Madea'' movies, Creator/TylerPerry stays 100% in character.
* Probably no actor has been associated with method acting quite as prominently as Creator/DanielDayLewis. He simply IS his character for the duration of his role and gets so deep that he, in certain cases, even refuses to learn his lines because he feels that doing so will add an element of artifice to his performances[[note]]This led to a humorous incident when he met an actor he greatly admired only to be horrified to learn that a figure he lionized ''didn't'' do any great preparation and, instead, tried different line readings on set to figure out what worked best[[/note]]. For his UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winning performance in ''My Left Foot'', he did not leave his wheelchair, speak coherently, or even feed himself for the entire filming. For ''Film/LastOfTheMohicans'' he became a survivalist living off the land. For his role in ''Film/InTheNameOfTheFather'', he lived in a prison cell, basically starved himself and asked the cast and crew to constantly verbally abuse him. While this definitely does result in amazing and spontaneous performances, it also made him one of the most notoriously picky and difficult actors to work with in all of Hollywood[[note]]Many actors, including Creator/LiamNeeson, flat out refuse to work with him because his approach creates uncomfortable tension on set. During filming of ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'', Neeson infamously shouted at Day-Lewis "Jesus Christ, man! Why don't you just try '''acting''' instead?!"[[/note]]. His immersion in his roles is often [[CreatorBreakdown just as damaging to himself as it is to his coworkers]]; he had to quit stage acting after becoming so involved in playing ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' that he had an actual mental breakdown on-stage, hallucinating that his deceased father's angry spirit had appeared to torment him during the scene with the King's ghost. Whatever one's opinion of him and his method, though, there's no debating that he is one of the most admired and critically acclaimed actors working today. With his win for ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' in 2013, he became the first man to win three Best Actor Oscars.
* Creator/ChristianBale is associated with method acting and known for preparing intensely into every role and [[http://i.imgur.com/IYA2t.jpg transforming his body]] rather than relying of makeup and prosthetics where possible. Bale disputes the "method actor" label, however, especially because he doesn't have formal training in the technique. Instead, he says he maintains accents and mannerisms on set because he struggles to get into character and likes to giggle and wants to avoid causing shoot days to drag by corpsing take after take. He's also famous for keeping a character's accent even when doing promotional interviews[[note]]apparently because he rarely plays British characters and people would be shocked and distracted by the English-Welsh blended accent he naturally speaks with[[/note]], although he's eased off on this habit as he'd started to find it silly. Like Creator/DanielDayLewis, he'd developed a reputation as someone difficult to work with but seems to be easing up. Behind-the-scenes photos and videos of his more-recent movies show him occasionally breaking character and goofing off.