Acting/actor question...?

Question

I know there are method actors and character actors, is there any other kind of actors? Can you give some desscription and some example please?
(Not a project or anything, I'm just curious...)

Answer 1

Sure, OK. "Method" refers specifically to Lee Strasberg, the guru of the group theatre (1930s), who adapted some of the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavski. The idea in the "Strasberg Mehod " (or the "Stanislavski System") is to analyze your character's motivations and to try to use your own emotional memory to place yourself into the precise emotional state required in the role. In other words, when you display anger or love or fear onstage, you actually are feeling those emotions.

The diametric opposite is "technical" acting. In this style, you use a particular techique to display an emotion. One famous technique from the 19th century, the Dell'sarte technique, prescribed a specific physical posture and facial expression for every emotion--the actor simply had to strike the pose.

Then there are the approaches, like that taught by Robert Lewis, that combine both techniques--Lewis, for example, thought that emotional memory might be a fine technique for working yourself into a required emotional state prior to a scene, and that the relaxation and energizing exercises of the method were valuable, but that most of the time technical acting was what would create a fine performance. (If I've done violence to Lewis' ideas here I apologize, but I think that's a fair presentation given the restraints of a short answer.)

Answer 2

There are also many different methods out there besides the old Stanislavsky one as well as Meisner, the aforementioned Strasberg, don't forget Uta Hagen and of course all of the newest twists on techniques that have hit the market in the last few years. Many different people have their own twist on a method or claim to have their very own technique. They have all written books too.

There are also voice actors. Foley artists who give personality to the noises you hear on film.

When you talk about character actors being a type of actor, that leads into a different list in my opinion. A character actor usually plays a role that is not a lead. Therefore another type of actor on that list would be a lead, then maybe a supporting character, recurring, under 5, etc. Some roles are also referred to as bit parts, secondary leads, extras (also called background or atmosphere), etc.

Marianne

Answer 3

The term "character actor" has nothing to do with a technique, it refers to an actor who specializes in a certain type of character as opposed to a leading man or something more versitle. Example: A guy who plays an old,. grizzled cowboy in westerns would be a character actor.