The Stella Adler Acting Method
Do you want to become a successful actor like Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Benicio Del Toro, Naomi Watts and Salma Hayek just to name a few? If you do, then you might want to study the Stella Adler acting technique. The famous actors mentioned are only among the many Hollywood stars who studies the Stella Adler method in order to improve their acting skills. Stella Adler was an experienced film and theater actress before she started teaching. Although she trained under the renowned Stanislavsky, Adler did not necessarily agree with all his principles. For instance, although Adler believes that imagination is key to becoming a successful actor, she doesn’t think that it’s necessary for the actor to go back to his own experiences to be able to convey realistic emotions.
Look For Actions
According to Stella Adler, a good actor knows how to translate his imagination into actions. She says that it’s important for the actor to be constantly doing something while onstage. This doesn’t mean that you should always be moving around the stage. It means that you should focus on the emotions of your character and translate them to the equivalent actions. For instance, is your character trying to plead, to help, to teach, to demean, to avoid, etc.? It’s important that you know the motivation behind every line your character says and every move he makes.
How to Develop the Imagination
Being a good observant is necessary for developing the imagination. You should always be observing the world around you, making sure that you focus even in the slightest details. You can then imagine these specific details and use them onstage as though you are really seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting these details. Once you have done this effectively, the audience will be able to see the scene through your eyes.
It’s also important to use your imagination and intellect when studying the play or the script. Of course, it’s not enough that you know your scenes and have memorized your lines, you should also understand the entire story of the play and the motivation behind it. It also helps if you imagine the social situation of the play. What is the story’s milieu and how does this milieu affect your character?
Some Acting Exercises
The Stella Adler Acting method requires acting students to perform a lot of exercises. One good acting exercise that you can do is selecting a single line from a play that you haven’t read or watched before. Now, try to imagine the motivation behind the character saying that particular line. What are the circumstances? What is the character trying to achieve? Make sure that the situation you choose is something that you feel passionately about so you can live the lines, instead of just memorizing and saying them.
The Stella Adler acting method is an ideal acting technique for aspiring stage actors. If you feel that your acting skills are still down to “role-playing”, then the Stella Adler method can also train you to hone your imagination so you make the circumstances of the play as real as possible.