Some say it's a little extreme. James Franco completely isolated himself from his friends and family during the filming of his 2001 TV film "James Dean" in order to capture Dean's lonely and eccentric personality. Robert de Niro and even the late Heath Ledger have been known to use it as well. It's called method acting. And what's even more interesting is that there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to go about doing it. Associated with Russian actor Constantine Stanislavski, method acting requires an actor or actress to rely on sense and emotional memory to trigger a character's true emotions.
Sound a bit confusing? Don't worry. Let me explain the method through my own eyes. When I was taking my acting classes in college, I took a course that concentrated on Stanislavski acting techniques. It was during this class that my professor assigned me one of the most gut-wrenching assignments I had ever had. She wanted us to dig through our memories, find a significant one, sit in a chair in front of about 25 to30 people, close our eyes and describe the memory little by little until we felt as though we were literally in the moment all over again.
Now before I tell you how I did with the assignment, let me just say that taking acting classes really educated me on how willing actors have to be to be metaphorically and emotionally "naked" in front of hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people. It takes guts and courage to do these emotional exercises and force yourself to relive something that maybe you never wanted to talk about in the first place. But, alas, as mentioned before, that's the point of the method. It helps bring a person's emotions to the surface so that they may bring the personality of a character to life.
And so the day came when I had to sit in that awful chair and relive one of the most untalked about struggles I had been dealing with at the time. I closed my eyes and didn't dare move. My professor started to ask me questions. She started to ask where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. I was in a hotel room, a cold hotel room. I hadn't seen my brother in months. I was away at school and he was very ill. She started to ask me to describe what he looked like when I saw him that weekend. He was quiet, almost silent. His eyes were sunken in and he was afraid to eat anything. He'd wince in pain every few minutes. I had never seen him in such bad shape.
And as my professor was walking me through this painful memory, I was sitting in front of all those people. I coudn't see them, but I felt them staring at me. At one point I just lost it. I couldn't stop crying. I could barely answer the questions she was asking me anymore. She told me to open my eyes and take a few deep breaths. She smiled at me and told me I was brave. It was at that moment I realized how incredibly effective method acting can be. I wasn't even acting at that point. It was completely real.
But although it does help develop realistic acting skills, some might say the method can do some severe harm to a perosn's psyche. While I was relieving my brother's illness, I felt so emotionally drained. I was tired and felt very dark. Depending on the type of role an actor chooses to take on, constantly living through moments of severe negativity on and off set might possibly take a toll on a person. If an actor needed to portray someone who had been in a violent car crash, method acting might require watching car crash videos over and over again for months at a time so that the actor could engrain in their mind the harmful and frightening images that would trigger the necessary emotions for the role. It's enough to leave a person insane.
James Franco's isolation from his friends and family took a harsh toll on his personal relationships as well. It even almost cost him a relationship. He did however, receive a Golden Glove nomination for his work.
So what's the obvious conclusion? Well, there really isn't one particular answer. I personally think method acting is fascinating. Some of the best actors of today's day and age use it. My only concern would be for those who aren't capable of coming out of that dark place after their role is all over. Some say it might be part of the reason Heath Ledger isn't with us today. He threw himself into a role that will forever be synonymous with his career, but it also could have been a role that was so disturbing it was just too much for him to relieve himself from the character when it was all said and done. You be the judge.
But anyway, this post is dedicated to all you actors out there. It takes an incredibly brave person to do it. If you didn't do it, no one else would.
-CKB
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