In early 2017, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the Sanford Meisner Center. Words cannot describe the journey that my classmates and I have been on these last few years. I have built strong bonds with like-minded, passionate, and diverse individuals who, like myself, aspire to affect people through their emotional command and love of the. About Sanford Meisner. Meisner left The Playhouse in 1958 to become director of the New Talent Division of Twentieth Century Fox. He moved to Los Angeles, where he was also able to cultivate his career as a film actor. He starred in Odets’ The Story on Page One (1959), Tender Is the Night (1962), and later Mikey and Nicky (1976).
The Meisner method of acting is named for its inventor, Sanford Meisner. This popular acting technique is based on a total understanding of yourself, your character and the surrounding of any given scene or play. The goal of Meisner method is to eliminate the actor on the stage, leaving a character that exists completely within the moment.Sanford Meisner was born in 1905 in New York to an immigrant family. As a professional actor, he was a founding member of the influential Group Theater, which is responsible for much of modern American acting theory. Starting from 1935, Meisner worked to develop his own approach to acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse where he headed the Drama Department.
The theories of Lee Strasberg, the Russian theater master Constantin Stanislovski, and the work of Stella Adler also influenced him.The founding principle of Meisner method is total commitment to the character’s objective. You must fully understand what the character wants and be committed to getting it, in order to truly become the character. This is combined with training in concentrated focus on the other characters in a scene, those who may provide help or obstacles on the path to achieving an objective.
Meisner method students go through a variety of exercises to help them refine these goals. Repetition exercises are usually the first thing done by Meisner students, although they can seem extremely disorienting to theater beginners. In the classic repetition form, a phrase is repeated between two partners to see if they can attain spontaneity between the two of them. For instance, one actor will say “You have a glass of water,” and the other will reply “I have a glass of water.” The phrase is then repeated over and over, with each partner building on the inflection and subtext the other is giving the phrase. This exercise removes the importance of complex memorization or unclear motives, and allows partners to just concentrate on one another.The key to Meisner is that you must personalize the character. The theory suggests that to do so, you must reflect to discover that if you were in the character’s situation, what circumstances would impel you to make the same choices that they make.
By identifying with the character and discovering how you would act as they do, you eliminate the barrier between actor and character. You are never supposed to “act” in Meisner method, you are only supposed to “be.”Although Meisner method seems incredibly rigid, Sanford Meisner was quick to point out that it was not the only way to achieve good acting, nor was it the best way for everyone. Studying Meisner technique is recommended for young actors, as it instills some valuable lessons of preparation and focus. While not many actors follow Meisner method exclusively, its principles are extremely valuable to actors, and are an excellent building block to help discover your own acting style. @Armas1313: Having worked in both the worlds of acting and business, it is my opinion that the most truly dangerous deceivers are to be found in the home, on the way to work and when you get there.Actors are constantly reminded there is a dichotomy between what happens on the stage or screen and what is “real” after the makeup has been removed. A manager, spouse or salesperson has “really important reasons” to reach their goals and their deception takes place in the world that they perceive as being the only real one.
In fact, at the workplace, it can be the mom or grand-mom from next door who ends up most reminding you of Hannibal Lecter. The higher you rise in a company (in politics, religion or national defense), the more individuals you will find who reached their positions by having developed the capacity to manipulate others in what they perceive to be the real world.There are a lot of psychos up there, next door, in the sales department trying to sell you a whatever, in the next room, but no one tells them “that’s a wrap”, has them take their bows and sends them home. They are perpetually trapped in the illusion with you. This state of self-contradiction is known by many under the moniker of “real life”.You’ve really got to watch those non-actors. They never know when the play is over.
I think the author has got meisner wrong. It's not about achieving your objective at any cost, Meisner is against that. That is Stanislavski and The Method.Meisner is about putting all your attention on the other actor/s and letting your objective be flexible and malleable in regards to what the other people on stage make you do.The method makes you become a character, and live like them as you use your own experiences to create the character, which I think is mentally exhausting. Meisner was against all that. You should know that you're acting and it's your imagination that take you to the places that the character goes, not your own experiences.I trained with Bill Esper who trained with Meisner as a teacher for 15 years.
Click to expand.I remember when Sam said that, and the backlash he got for not being politically correct. I think what he said had a lot of merit. Not saying that you have to have classical training to be a great actor, but Hollywood put marketing ahead of substance for a lot of films around the time Sam first made that criticism. There had been a lot of non-acting celebs crossing over to films (like OJ, Kris Kristofferson, Richard Pryor, and others), but the ones who didn't develop real acting talent were limited to certain types of roles, where you knew what to expect, and they weren't given roles in dramatic films or movies covering serious topics.Then you had a bunch of rappers and singers getting roles that weren't even related to their industry (like, a singer like Diana Ross got her breakout film role playing another singer, Billie Holiday, or rappers would usually get roles in hiphop-related films). Instead of having a Denzel, or a Wesley, or Sam, or a Richard Brooks, etc.
Playing the lead or sidekick in a film, you had DMX, Ice Cube, and other rappers competing for roles with actors whose didn't have a music, sports, or modeling career to fall back on. Click to expand.I think a lot of it is related to the lack of good roles. There was so much more variety in films in the previous decades, and there were more original ideas being put out there. Now it seems that all Hollywood makes are superhero films, celebrity biopics, and movie versions of popular books.When you look back at older actors' work, you can see that most of them have done a wide range of roles. Off the top of my head, I can think of Denzel Washington and Robert Redford.
Even Queen Latifah. I think the sign of true acting talent is the actor that has played all different types of characters despite their physical looks. Now we have people who get upset that an actor in a biopic doesn't look exactly like the person they're portraying, or people will say that so-and-so should play a particular person, just because they are physically similar, which speaks to the lack of talent in Hollywood these days.Acting now is seen more as a stepping stone to other things, or a method of marketing a brand. Like music videos used to be for marketing a song or an album, now film roles and TV show roles seem to be more for marketing a celebrity brand, specific products and companies, or a certain trend or style.
It's not really about the acting, the script, and the story anymore. Click to expand.Male actors do seem to get more work as they get older. Just think of all the actors whose careers didn't really take off until they were in their late 30s-early 40s (example: George Clooney, William H. Macy, Gabriel Byrne, Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Haysbert, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman).If no one else is being represented in Hollywood films and TV, old white men definitely are, and this has been going on for decades. I remember one year in the late 80s, Gene Hackman had set some sort of record for releasing the most films in the same year.
I think he was in 5 or 6 films that were all released in the same year, and at the time, he was in his late 50s.And if you watch British TV, you'll notice that most of the characters in a typical show are old men. So the British actors can always go back home if they can't get steady work here. My thing is that this is really nothing new. The Brits have a hand up when it comes to acting but Hollywood only cares about putting out eye candy. Charming potato went from a model, to step it up to big Hollywood star like wtf. Jennifer Lawrence is not Meryl Streep no matter how many movies they put her in, same with Bradley, he has 'training' but he's basic too.Look at how many Hollywood stars are doing television now, the work is in TV not movies. Everything coming out of Hollywood is action movies with a 1000 people in them.
Most American actors are one dimensional and forgettable, I can only name a handful of well known US actors who can deliver a performance worth viewing. America values looks above all else talent usually falls second, also these actors don't ever step outside of their comfort zone when playing different characters it's usually the same persona again and again. Can't stand Jesse Eisenberg and his awkward acting. Happy this is happening, nice to see foreign faces on my tv. Especially when they're second generation Africans.
Blavk people don't realize how this is going to negatively effect us. We aren't going to be cast in out own movies anymore.
Black brit's are already playing African American Civil rights leaders and everyone is just clapping and dancing like it's the best thing even not realizing that eventually we'll be replaced completly.Hell that new Loving bio pic coming out will have Ruth Nega as Mildred Loving.Mildred was African american,she was NOT light skin or racially ambiguous. Zoe Saldana ad Nina Simone,we already know that's foul as hell. There's talks of other roles coming up and the top of the list are black brits. But here's the thing.Dark skin British men and mixed brit women.I'm not here for it. I'm not a fan of it.I don't mind white brit's replacing american white actors because not only are white american actors sub par poorly trained actors they're basic and interchangeable. Like Channing Tatum and Jennifer Lawrence.But as far as African American actors?
Psh,most of us in the industry are well trained,aren't basic and dont need to be replaced because we have the 'it' factor and the talent to back it up.But we're being replaced anyways and a lot of black americans simply don't get it yet. They're going to have to see EVERY single black role go to a foreign born black and all the African American actors start complaining before they see that foreign blacks are gunning for your spot. White studio execs already believe that European blacks are somehow classier than us. It's a hot mess. Posted July 22 2002 12:00 AM EDTSamuel L. Jackson costarred with rapper Eve on the upcoming film XXX, but dont think he was too happy about it.
In fact, he tells the Sacramento Bee, he so resents acting alongside rappers that he wont even read scripts for movies where rappers are being considered for lead roles. To take people from the music world and give them the same kind of credibility and weight that you give me, Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker thats like an aberration to me; you just cant do that, he says. Its not my job to lend credibility to so-and-so rapper whos just coming into the business.Jackson especially loathes the idea that rappers are taking roles from theater-trained thespians like himself or lesser-known trained actors. I know theres some young actor sitting in New York or in L.A. Whos spent half of his life learning how to act and sacrificing to learn his craft but isnt going to get his opportunity because of some actor whos been created and you can use the word actor loosely, he says.Still, Jackson has appeared in movies where rappers held supporting roles, including Sphere (with Queen Latifah), Deep Blue Sea (with LL Cool J), and Shaft (with Busta Rhymes). And he even musters kind words for one rapper-turned-actor, Will Smith. Smiths role in Ali, for which he became the first rapper nominated for an acting Oscar, takes him out of that Fresh-Prince-is-saving-the-world-as-an-Air-Force-pilot thing and gives him some credibility as an actor, Jackson says.
Nonetheless, he says of rappers, They do what they do, we do what we do. I dont think you can take your average rapper and put him in my role in Changing Lanes and it would be the same movie.If its any consolation, some rappers feel the same way. On its new song, Playa Hata Degree, the duo MaddWest raps, I hate all these rappers in movies that shouldnt be actin/Except for Will Smith, and that cat shouldnt be rappin.. Blavk people don't realize how this is going to negatively effect us. We aren't going to be cast in out own movies anymore. Black brit's are already playing African American Civil rights leaders and everyone is just clapping and dancing like it's the best thing even not realizing that eventually we'll be replaced completly.Hell that new Loving bio pic coming out will have Ruth Nega as Mildred Loving.Mildred was African american,she was NOT light skin or racially ambiguous. Zoe Saldana ad Nina Simone,we already know that's foul as hell.
There's talks of other roles coming up and the top of the list are black brits. But here's the thing.Dark skin British men and mixed brit women.I'm not here for it. I'm not a fan of it.I don't mind white brit's replacing american white actors because not only are white american actors sub par poorly trained actors they're basic and interchangeable. Like Channing Tatum and Jennifer Lawrence.But as far as African American actors?
Psh,most of us in the industry are well trained,aren't basic and dont need to be replaced because we have the 'it' factor and the talent to back it up.But we're being replaced anyways and a lot of black americans simply don't get it yet. They're going to have to see EVERY single black role go to a foreign born black and all the African American actors start complaining before they see that foreign blacks are gunning for your spot. White studio execs already believe that European blacks are somehow classier than us. It's a hot mess. Click to expand.
I remember that. As far as I can tell David is very white identified. His mind isn't decolonized what so ever. Not saying IR marriage Is wrong I'm just saying he's just not WOKE and he's married to a yt woman. Americans don't respect the craft of acting; they only respect the fame and money that comes along with it.
That's why you hear these stories sometimes of American actors who don't have the support of their family while they are struggling to make it, and then when they 'make it' the family changes their tune. The Brits support the craft of acting and take it very seriously. They provide financial support and other means of support for those who study the craft.Our culture is so celebrity-obsessed and Hollywood continues to hire pretty faces with little to no talent, and I believe that is also why Americans don't take acting seriously because a lot of the talent is weak.Stage is serious business. It's like walking on a tight rope as Al Pacino put it.
When you think about all the actors who are considered great, 95% of them come from the baby boomer generation or the head of Generation X. That is because back then you had to do stage as a way of studying your craft. Now just hop in an on-camera class here in Los Angeles and you can call yourself an actor.