Strasberg’s Method Acting Approach
A guide to the well-known acting technique, debunking common misconceptions
Lee Strasberg’s (1901 to 1982) take on the development of Stanislavski’s System (‘The Method’) focused on a more psychological element to acting — becoming the character from the inside out.
Although Strasberg is not as well known for his directing as he is for his work as a drama practitioner and acting coach, he directed many productions, most of them with the Group Theatre, which he co-founded in 1931.
In 1949 he assumed the Directorship of the Actor’s Studio, where he taught many of his students, and directed at least thirty-five productions — only two of them at the Actor’s Studio.
Strasberg was as much a perfectionist with his directing as he was with his actor training — Richard Schickel, said of Strasberg that:
“… he became a director more preoccupied with getting his actors to work in the ‘correct’ way than he was in shaping the overall presentation.”
Indeed, Strasberg did, as both a director and an acting coach, have a specific ideal as to how an actor should work:
“That is the actor’s job. He brings non-existent things alive onstage. He makes them real to himself in order to convey that reality to…
