The GREAT Method Acting Lie
There is a lie about Method acting that Method acting teachers like to use to persuade you to train in their schools and part with your hard earned cash. Now I don’t know if these guys can teach you anything practical, but it’s not fair to lie to people that want to become actors.
The lie is that the highest percent of Best Actor Oscars have been won by Method Actors. The figure that they tout is 80%.
It’s a nice lie. Because it seems like it might be true. But it isn’t. It works on a technicality. It works on the reality that ‘Method’ has become a fluid term meaning very different things.
Let’s be very clear. To be a Method actor, you must: have studied, trained in, or use the techniques and tools of the Method, the approach created be Lee Strasberg, based on the work of the father of modern acting, Stanislavski.
The trouble is that unless you are familiar with these techniques, you may confuse it for the OTHER Method Acting.
What other Method Acting I hear you ask?
The Media’s version of the Method is when the actor goes to extreme lengths for the role.
Now with this as our benchmark.
How many of the actors that have won Best Actor Oscars since 2000 are Method Actors?
2013: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) — lost a lot of weight, that’s not Strasberg Method, that’s Dietary Method. Zero Strasberg Method Training. NO
2012: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) — Trained in a traditional British drama school, no Strasberg Method training, nor does he use any of the techniques. NO
2011: Jean Dujardin (The Artist) — mainly self-taught, no Method training. NO
2010: Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) — trained at Drama Centre, which does incorporate some Strasberg Method ideas into a British method called Character Analysis and Movement Psychology. A LITTLE
2009: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) — trained at the Herbert Berghof Studio - in Stanislavski-based techniques, but no Strasberg Method training. NO.
2008: Sean Penn (Milk) — trained with Peggy Feury, a former member of the Actors Studio – trained in the Strasberg Method! YES
2007: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) —as before, DDL, he does his own thing. NO
2006: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) — uses an immersive approach, I cannot find any data on whether he is Method trained or not. MAYBE?
2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) — trained at various places, may have had some Method acting training, but not officially. NOT REALLY.
2004: Jamie Foxx (Ray) — immersive but not Method. NO.
2003: Sean Penn (Mystic River) — Yes, definitely has some Method training. YES.
2002: Adrien Brody (The Pianist) — trained at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, would have almost certainly run into some Method training. YES PROBABLY.
2001: Denzel Washington (Training Day) — trained at the American Conservatory Theatre. Probably got Method training because of when he trained at A.C.T. coincided with popularity of Method. YES PROBABLY.
2000: Russell Crowe (Gladiator) — the New Zealander (yes he is!) didn’t officially train, so no, not a Method actor. NO.
At best, it’s 5 out of 14, about 35%. And that’s with giving several the benefit of the doubt.
So just more than 1/3 of best actor winners have used Method acting.
Not quite as impressive now is it?