Why is Method Acting so Controversial?

From Jeremy Strong’s performance as Kendall Roy in Succession to Jared Leto as the Joker in Suicide Squad to Daniel Day-Lewis in, well, anything really, commentary attacking actors' processes seem to abound. Today there is a lot of controversy around the Method and actors who utilize this process, regardless of whether they identify as being method actors or not. In this video essay I will take a look at the history behind method acting, its evolution from Stanislavsky to Strasberg to what it is today, and how it has led to intense scrutiny around actors' processes.

//CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
02:12 History of The Method
07:49 Critiques of method actors
08:43 Method acting today
09:40 Misconceptions about method acting
10:24 Increasing fascination with actors’ processes
12:01 The legacy of method acting
14:06 In defense of The Method

//SOURCES:
-FILMS, SHOWS, AND SOUNDBITES: Requiem for a Dream, The Suicide Squad, House of Gucci, There Will Be Blood, Succession, On the Waterfront, Black Swan, The Dark Knight, The Revenant, Rebel Without a Cause, The Pianist, The Bangville Police, The Adventurer, The Goat, The Graduate, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, The Dallas Buyers Club, The Crucible, Raging Bull, Sophie’s Choice, Silence, Hacksaw Ridge, The Machinist, Joker, Monster, The Power of the Dog, Under the Banner of Heaven, Elvis, Boys Don’t Cry, Arrival, Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond, Apocalypse Now, Gangs of New York, Lincoln, The Last of Us, American Masters documentary on Stella Adler, The Danny Kaye Show song, American Masters documentary on The Group Theater, Stanislavsky clips

-INTERVIEWS: Jared Leto interview with GQ, THR on Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Strong interview with Rolling Stone, Brian Cox on SiriusXM, Strong on The Late Show, DP/30 interview with Toni Collette, Variety Actors on Actors with Robert Pattinson, Paul Thomas Anderson on Jimmy Kimmel, Brian Cox on Late Night, Dennis Hopper Inside the Actors Studio, LA Times Actress Roundtable, Variety Actors on Actors with Lady Gaga, Adrien Brody interview with GQ, Robert De Niro interview (1981), ET interview with Meryl Streep, Joker behind the scenes, Daniel Day Lewis interview with Charlie Rose, Austin Butler Golden Globes, Leonardo Dicaprio interview for The Revenant, Film at Lincoln Center Interview, Time piece on Kim Gillingham, Variety Directors on Directors with Jane Campion, Variety Actors on Actors with Kirsten Dunst, Variety Actors on Actors with Laura Dern, THR interview with Sandra Seacat, THR Actors Roundtable, Backstage interview with Andrew Garfield, Variety Actors on Actors with Amy Adams, Bafta Guru interview with Kate Winslet, WTF with Marc Maron episode 1150, WTF with Marc Maron episode 1359, WTF with Marc Maron episode 1377, Scriptnotes episode 568

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