LOSING SELVES IN ROLES

Losing Selves in Roles : A Perilous Transformation

" Acting touches nerves you have absolutely no control over" -

                                                   Alan Rickman

The screens before us play hard to get caught by their naughty tricks. We are so moved by

them that we never care what's actually going on behind. Have we ever thought of what the

actors go through to lay before us a visual treat? It is here that we have to widely examine the

art of acting or precisely, the method of acting. To be frank, this is not going to be that usual

article on the prettiest side of method acting but instead unveiling its darker side.

Method acting by term, might be strange and odd for an average film lover. But if it is to be

defined with an example like the one of Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight, a literal

definition finds no room. Because that's the way how an actor himself travels through the whole

process of method acting, taming both his mind and body, in certain cases for months, to live on

the screen.

Hollywood's contribution in the field of cinema is irreplaceable. And there is no doubt that

starting from Marlon Brando and still counting through actors like Joaquin Phoenix, we have

been witnesses for a lot of them blowing life to their characters. But the fact is that we hardly

care for the reality behind the visually appealing reels.

Brought to light by developing on the Russian theatre practitioner, Konstantin Stanislavsky's

system was further aided by Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and Sanford Meissner. Simply, method

acting is nothing but the actors giving life to the characters with sincere and emotionally

appealing performances. You will never see the actor on the stage, instead he is hidden under

the character's apparel. In certain cases, especially when the actor is someone with a darker

past or someone who often fails to sort out the emotions and experiences between himself and

that of the character, this method of acting can be really dangerous. That was sadly the case

with the accidental death of Heath Ledger, taking an overdose of sleeping pills, who had been

suffering from insomnia as a part of practicing himself to live as the psychic character of Joker.

Though we have a list of top method actors, it is impossible to think of method acting without

mentioning one of the greatest actors of all time, Marlon Brando. "Magnetic, vivid and

penetrating" best define Brando's performances, after whom the whole thing of method acting

became popular, particularly through his character Terry in On the Waterfront. Fallen out at an

early age of 28, Ledger was of course a young and unique actor, creating an indefinable

position in the film industry that remained just a dream for youngsters of his age, but media

couldn't help it but to shout out a posthumous Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actor in

2008 won by Heath Ledger.

Psychologically exploring the premises of method acting, we have to see a few all-time act

pieces of great actors like Heath Ledger, Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron etc. It's

been found out that Ledger locked himself in an apartment for a month and practiced laughs

and scribbled Joker like lamblings into a book. It's been said that he also avoided anyone who

didn't address him as a Joker, reflecting how serious he took up his role and how sincerely he

worked to perfectly portray it. He is also said to have a strange demeanour on the set.

Hilary Swank as Brandon Tremain in 'Boys Don't Cry ' played a transgender male and for that

she kept apart one month living as a boy. During this period, she lost a ton of weight, wrapped

her chest and stuffed socks in her pants in order to look like a boy. Robert De Niro, one of the

greatest actors of all time, playing as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, worked 12 hour shifts picking

passengers in New York City during the breaks on the set. Another fine example of method

acting is Charlize Theron's character Aileen Wournos in Monster for which she wore prosthetic

teeth and gained around 30 pounds to best portray the mentally ill character. She even has

admitted that method acting is an exhausting one.

We can't end the list just with this. We have a lot more including Daniel Day Lewis, Shia

LaBeouf , Jake Gyllenhaal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix etc.

Method acting has for sure that expected ramifications. Usually employed in dramatic

situations associated with negative emotions and experiences, actors though not all of them, will

have to depend on the residues of their dark pasts to produce something evergreen to the entire

film world.

And for this, they are compelled to get under the skin of the characters assigned, to

know the very subtle manner of the character, physically and emotionally, completely forgetting

themselves, and remaining as the character throughout and even after the shoot is over. This is

much like a placebo. Though it's easy to replace our normal behaviour with that of the character,

these negative emotions can take hold over our normal persona, becoming an automatic

response. In many cases, this disruption of mood and emotions or this entangled situation

between reality and imagination can lead to sleep deprivation which in turn causes psychosis.

Although taking into account the mental imbalance that method acting can cause at least in

some persons, we need to be aware that for those passionate actors of past , present and still

looking for a bright future, dedication and hard work were, are and will be the only aids to take

them to greater heights. And in this journey, we wish not to witness any more Ledgers; we want

them living on reels and real.

-Anjali Paul