Sanford Meisner Research Paper

Sanford Meisner was an acting teacher who is highly influential for having created the Meisner Technique. Many notable actors have been trained using his technique, and, along with Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, he is typically considered one of the greatest American acting teachers. Modern acting theory draws heavily from his technique, which focused on an actor creating honest emotions in the moment. Although the Meisner Technique was highly unorthodox, many actors have found success from his teachings. Some of the most famous actors taught by Meisner are Robert Duvall, Grace Kelly, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Sydney Pollack, Tom Cruise, and many many more. Sanford Meisner was born on August 31st, 1905 in Brooklyn, NY. He was the eldest of

It really started to take off at age 19, when he convinced the Theatre Guild to give him the part of an extra in Sidney Howard’s They Knew What They Wanted. He continued to study at the Theatre Guild. Here he became friends with Strasberg and they formed the Group Theatre with Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and other dignified actors. He acted in many of the plays that the Group Theatre put on. The company became influential in American theatre for its early usage of “method acting” which had been derived from Russian theatre practitioner, Konstantin Stanislavski's system. This would inspire Meisner himself to develop his own acting philosophies. In 1941, Group Theatre disbanded, but Meisner was able to make good use of his acting methods as the head of the drama department of the Neighborhood Playhouse from 1936 to 1958 and then from 1964-1990. During the interlude between these two periods, he worked as the director of the New Talent Division of 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. Here he showed involvement in film acting outside of theatre. In the mid 1980’s, Sanford Meisner and James Carville opened the Meisner/Carville School of Acting on the Island of Bequia and in North Hollywood, respectively. This school eventually became the Sanford Meisner Center. He continued working until his death, even

When the Meisner trained actor/director, Sydney Pollack (who was an assistant to Meisner), worked with method actor Dustin Hoffman, conflict ensued, and this is at least partially attributable to the differences in favoured acting theory. Not all successful performances derive from the Meisner Technique. Meisner and Strasberg came from the same method based background in acting, but the focal point of Strasberg’s philosophy is recalling emotion. Meisner’s philosophy completely opposes this concept, but neither theory is proven to be completely superior. One may be skeptic of the Meisner Technique, given they are ill informed about the whole process and philosophy behind it, because the more improvisational approach to acting implies that the script is made less important. “What about plays with heightened or abnormal language?” one might ask, assuming that natural response to fellow actors will distract from the playwright’s intentions. Meisner’s philosophy did not, in fact, undermine the text of a play at all. It is about, as Meisner himself said, “introducing you to a way of making yourself one with the text and getting you to work off of the other fellow”. The process of organically creating emotions in a performance actually gives the actor a greater understanding of the text; it makes her more in touch with the character. At the end of the day, Sanford Meisner’s philosophy is not terribly flawed. It has already had a positive