Marian Seldes on The Method
"Every actor has a method, uniquely crafted from whatever they’ve studied or experienced."
In 1998 Marian was an Obie judge, and I was honored to be her date to see many of the productions. At one of the plays, during the intermission, someone seated behind us began to berate a performance as “so Method,” and I could feel Marian stiffen. Remarkably, the woman tapped Marian on the shoulder, and Marian turned to face her, smiling. “Don’t you agree?” the woman asked, assuming Marian had heard her comment. Marian smiled broadly, then said “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear your comment. I was sitting here lost in thought at how beautiful I thought the production was.” Marian turned back in her seat, and the conversation was over.
This was classic Marian.
During this time that I was escorting Marian to the theatre, Garson Kanin was ill and was staying home with Martha Wilson, the much loved assistant to both of them. So it was not until our next theatre night that I was able to ask Marian to comment on The Method.
Here is what she said:
Oh, I dislike this conversation. I mean, in general. Not with you. People become so angry, so territorial. Conversations about acting and acting teachers remind me of conversations about politics and religion. Either you’re a Democrat or you’re inferior, unfeeling, dumb. You’re a Republican—as my dear aunt was—or you’re prehensile, living in the mud. My aunt actually said that once—to my parents! Same with religion. If you’re not Catholic or Jewish, you’ve fallen for a faded copy of the ‘true’ religions. I don’t like those arguments, and now they’re applied to studies, to colleges.
Things are ranked. What’s the best college? What’s the best acting school? Who produces the best actors? When I was at Juilliard, people were upset when more surveys showed people preferring Yale or Carnegie-Mellon, or suggesting that it was better to just find a teacher in the city and follow them.
Every actor has a method. Is it THE Method? I don’t know. What is THE Method? I’ve known so many actors who studied with Lee Strasberg, and they describe their study and their work uniquely. The primary fact that connects all of the testimonials to Lee Strasberg is that the truth was sought. Well, that is true of all study. It’s what I learned from Sanford Meisner. It’s what others learned from Uta Hagen or Michael Chekhov. I spoke at length with Beatrice Straight one night, and her study with Michael Chekov could have been about life at the Neighborhood Playhouse or time at Juilliard.
I do not discount anything that brings an actor to the truth of the character, and I recognize—and I relish—that another actor has a truth that makes his Hamlet or Lear or her Cleopatra entirely different from others I’ve seen. That is not important. I can’t bring my prejudice to a play or a part or a career. What has the person in front of me, on that stage, done that night with that part? I don’t have to like it. I do have to respect it. And if it is different from what I’ve seen before, it’s often a gift for me. The great plays and the great parts are so vast that so many can dive into them and find new and surprising things. Look, any part in any play benefits from a fearless exploration of an actor.
If Lee Strasberg or Uta Hagen or Mira Rostova or Stella Adler allowed someone to have comfort in finding the work within them, then they were or are good teachers. I’ve seen so many extraordinary performances, and they emanate from people with vastly different backgrounds. That woman in the theatre the other night was responding to what we both thought was a deeply felt, dangerously intimate performance. To that woman—who is, shall I say, ignorant of acting—that was “method.” She angered me, and of course I heard her comment. She wanted it to be heard. I feigned deafness, a gift I recommend. I would never say something about a performance in public, even if I didn’t like it, but I have to tell you that I am approaching the age of seventy, and I’m aware of how much I don’t know or understand, so one of the reasons I don’t speak out is because I realize I could be wrong, dumb, angry.
The Method is a term that was applied to Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio. I left the Neighborhood Playhouse and began my professional career right as the Actors Studio exploded, and it was brilliant, exciting. I loved what actors from the Studio were doing. But there were great actors from other teachers as well. I will not dismiss any actor, any teacher. It’s not for me to do. It’s not for anyone to do. Every actor has a method, uniquely crafted from whatever they’ve studied or experienced.