My approach is now completely technical/creative, especially when performing Shakespeare. How many actors that have played Hamlet can say that in real life their uncle murdered their father and married their mother? If you use a Method approach to Hamlet, most likely anything that has happened to you in your life just cannot compare to Hamlet's and to correlate it is disrespectful and insulting to Shakespeare and his work. Hamlet is not an everyday Joe like you and me and should not be played at our level. Of course, contemporary film and theatre is closer to our everyday existence, but it will never be the same. Actors don't play themselves anyway, and everyday life does not make compelling art. Therefore, I question whether or not the Method is even capable of working.

When I was 18 and just beginning my formal acting training, I was very pro-Method. I have become less and less so through the years to the point that I am almost anti-Method. I understand that many well-known, talented and well-respected actors are Method actors. I acknowledge that every actor has their own personal approach to creating a character and what works for some does not work for others. My technique varies from character to character anyway. What I do oppose is using the Method with young children. I also worry about the impact the Method can have on actors when playing certain types of characters. It's a technique that needs to be used with caution, and sparingly, or else you could end up like Heath Ledger.

I'm interested in what the other actors who read this have to say. I am in no way attacking Method actors; I'm very interested in comparing the structures of post-Stanislavskian acting methodologies. I'd also be interested in hearing from Method actors: How do you keep your work separate from your life? How do you make different characters distinct? These were issues I struggled with when I used the Method and found solutions in other techniques.

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"The only thing an actor owes his public is not to bore them."

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