5 Responses to “What is the difference between “method acting” and “character acting”?”

1. Skiqueen62 on May 28, 2010 @ 9:20 am

   well. . being a method actor I think means that you are being a type of person. . and not playing the role of a character. .
   with the other, you are filling some one else’s shoes and becoming some one in a script.
2. ArmsAndMan on May 28, 2010 @ 10:01 am

   Two of the most famous method actors in film are Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro. Meryl Streep falls in the same category.

   Character actors, by definition, are not in leading roles, but support the leading actors. Sometimes, it’s a big deal when an accomplished character actor like Paul Giamatti gets a leading role, such as “Sideways” or “Lady in the Water. “
3. Feetie on May 28, 2010 @ 10:43 am

   Method acting is when the actor truly in his/her mind becomes the character. Some of the more famous are Marlon Brando, Robert Deniro, Dustin Hoffman, Phillip Seymore Hoffman. They get so invloved they lose themselves in the role.

   A charater actor is a person who plays small roles but not really a lead. But so many times a character actor can truly make the film. Some of my favorites are John Malkovich, Gary Oldman, Ihan Holm, and interestingly enough Phillip Seymore Hoffman.
4. C_Bar on May 28, 2010 @ 10:53 am

   A method actor is an actor who, more or less, follows the teachings of Stanislavsky as popularized in the US by Lee Strasberg — it involves sense memory work, emotional recall work, in an effort to recreate in the actor the feelings that the character posesses. (Thats a real thumbnail sketch. )

   A character acting has to do not with a style of acting, but with the types of parts played: a character actor is someone who does not play leading roles. Often a character actor has more interesting parts, but often it simply means they aren’t the sexy beautiful and/or handsome type that plays the lead in most movies and many plays.
5. mrpeabody on May 28, 2010 @ 11:11 am

   Method Acting is a technique. Actors who use it – Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, etc.

   Character Acting is a type of actor – one that plays extreme personalities – the hippie, the bum, the old fart, the drunk, etc. They are usually secondary characters. Hardly ever the lead – although when lead actors get older they can become character actors. . Examples would be Ed Begley, Peter Boyle, Charles Durning, etc.