Constantin Stanislavski

Provide an example of someone who you know has used or a character you know that has used this method? How would/do they apply it.

What are the basic ideas on Stanislavski method? Why would an actor choose this method over another?

How could using this method make a negative impact on those who use it?

Method Acting to the Extreme Examples:
-Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight (Batman-Joker)
Heath Ledger died from a drug overdose following his portrayal of The Joker in "The Dark Knight." A source told FOX News: "Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character. If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you." Ledger reportedly locked himself in an apartment for a month before shooting and spoke of having difficulties sleeping while playing the part.
-Adrian Brody - The Pianist
To prepare for his role as concert pianist and Holocaust victim Wladyslaw Szpilman, Brody practiced for four hours a day in the run-up to shooting the film, eventually learning how to play passages by Frédéric Chopin. To further immerse himself in the role, Brody sold his car and apartment, stopped using phones and moved to Europe with only two bags and a keyboard. The 6'5" actor eventually dropped down to a weight of 130 pounds, and explained his method to the BBC:
There is an emptiness that comes with really starving that I hadn't experienced... I couldn't have acted that without knowing it. I've experienced loss, I've experienced sadness in my life, but I didn't know the desperation that comes with hunger.
-Daniel Day-Lewis texted as Abraham Lincoln.
-Kate Winslet spoke with a German accent at home.
-Shai Labeouf- reports having intercourse on camera in oder to totally immerse himself in the character

Stanislavski Quotes:
"In the creative process there is the father, the author of the play; the mother, the actor pregnant with the part; and the child, the role to be born."
"Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors."
"Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you."
"The greatest wisdom is to realize one's lack of it."
"Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it."

• Stanislavski was born Constantin Sergeyevich Alexeyev in Moscow on January 5, 1863, amidst the transition from the feudal serfdom of Czarist Russia under the rule of Peter the Great, to the free enterprise of the Industrial Revolution. More than one hundred years prior, Konstantin's ancestor Alexei Petrov had broken the chains of serfdom that bound the family and gained immediate status and wealth as a merchant. By the time Konstantin was born, the Alexeyev business of gold and silver thread production had made the family name well known throughout the world.
• While Constantin was still very young, the family organized a theatre group called the Alexeyev Circle. Throughout his ascent to a major role on the stage, Constantin maintained obligations to his family business, organizing shareholder meetings and keeping the accounts in order. However, his preoccupation with all aspects of theatrical production eventually made him a leading member of his family's theatre group.
• Using the Moscow Art Theatre as his conduit, Stanislavski developed his own unique system of training wherein actors would research the situation created by the script, break down the text according to their character's motivations and recall their own experiences, thereby causing actions and reactions according to these motivations. The actor would ideally make his motivations for acting identical to those of the character in the script. He could then replay these emotions and experiences in the role of the character in order to achieve a more genuine performance. The 17th Century melodrama "Tsar Fyodor" was the first production in which these techniques were showcased.
• Using this system, Stanislavski succeeded like no producer or director before him in translating the works of such renowned playwrights as Chekov and Gorki, whose writings were aptly suited to his method. With their social consciousness and emphasis on the importance of imagery and theme rather than plot, they were blank canvasses on which Stanislavski could exercise his artful hand.
• Stanislavski clearly could not separate the theatre from its social context. He viewed theatre as a medium with great social and educational significance. During the civil unrest leading up to the first Russian revolution in 1905, Stanislavski courageously reflected social issues on the stage. Twelve years later, during the Red October of 1917, Bolshevism had swept through Russia and the Soviet Union was established. In the violence of revolution, Lenin's personal protection saved Stanislavski from being eliminated along with the Czardom. The USSR maintained allegiance to Stanislavski and his socially conscious method of production and his theatre began to produce plays containing Soviet propaganda.
• In 1918 Stanislavski established the First Studio as a school for young actors and in his later years wrote several books such as My Life in Art, many of which were translated into more than 20 languages. (See more complete list in the left column). Through his earnest professional and educational leadership, Stanislavski spread his knowledge to numerous understudies, leaving a legacy that cannot be overstated.
• Just before World War II, Stanislavski died of a heart failure on August 7, 1938, in Moscow and was laid to rest in Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia. holding on to the ideal of a peaceful, socially responsible world. A world completely engulfed in the experiences and interchange of works of art that people of every nation would identify with and cherish.