Stella Adler on Actors' Size

[hsjhutty]

very poetic, wish their was a studio based on her technique here in england

[vincenzoattingenti]

grande, grandissima!

[pukeachu]

@Plentydelight

Amen!!!!

[srdeleon92]

She is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

[chickiesgrettagirl]

@srdeleon92 totally agree!!

[oscarumanzor]

great knowledge

[oscarumanzor]

excellet video

[strawberrylaralara]

why does stella have a british accent when she is american?????

[miltonjustice]

@strawberrylaralara There was a time in the history of acting when actors developed "stage speech." Having grown up in Russian-Jewish household on the lower east side of New York, I can only imagine what her real native accent sounded like. She often told the story on herself. "I was buying something at Tiffany and the sales girl asked me, 'Are you British?' 'No, darling. Just affected.'"

[legatofancier]

@strawberrylaralara - It was called "standard stage speech" back in the day. Stella was fluent in Yiddish and Russian, as well as several other languages. She was a remarkably cultivated person.

[tirayi]

@Plentydelight So so true

[ActorInPanic]

Stella was certainly not bashing "realistic" acting. I think two things are at work here. First, a frustration that there is a tendency to play things naturalistically ... "real," intimate ... as if the only thing important is that it makes sense. "Yes, I understand what the actor is saying." If you look at John Malkovich's performance in "Death of a Salesman," it makes sense ... but it has no inner size. There is no relationship with the size of the idea.. which was Stella's 2nd pt. Inner size.

[AtLastOnTheGround]

I don't understand --

Is she bashing realistic acting in the theater, or is she encouraging it?

[phipsmorton]

Stella was one of the only American actors that had actually worked with Stanislasky ( sp) what she is saying is

you must be real in an unreal environment

be real in the character. stage is actually

bigger than real life but is real in its own dimenson. that is the reality that you are in. stage or film it comes down to being realistic "Acting" is not reality per se', so what do you do? Act as if it is real to you in da emotional sense of dae character U R playing entendez Mendez not 2 wory

[atgny]

That is very close to Mesiner's def of acting , I think they had diff ways of putting the same statement.

[legatofancier]

@atgny - Sandy Meisner & Stella Adler were close friends and allies all their adult lives. When Sandy spoke of Stella in class at The Neighborhood Playhouse, he spoke of her with great affection. Even after Harold Clurman & Stella were divorced, they remained great friends. The three of them - Sandy, Stella, & Harold - were remarkable people!

[atgny]

@legatofancier I am aware thanks, I am making an observation, nothing said was ment to be taken as negative or disreguard them as remarkable people. Simply an observation !!!

[LittleImpaler]

In Uta Hagen's book, If I remember right. She said British actors were good with their outter techinques where Americans were better with their inner techinque. As both Uta and Adler both saying in their own ways. That most actors who do stage, do not project their voices where you can't hear them, since they have microphones now. Which kills the art of acting on stage.

[gregdance1]

What a load of rubbish!

[MrLippman]

@gregdance1: British much?

[budbrando]

y'move - y'talk - y'talk 'n' move - y'stand - y'talk. what's the problem?

[ArtsyPhilosophyGuy]

preach it, stella!

[aprtri]

hey why not in england... lol

[miltonjustice]

This comment was made in the late 70's or early 80's. It was during a period when everyone thought that the British actors had it all. They could do no wrong. Stella's point was that they had the outer size ... the voice, the mannerisms ... but not the ability to play the inner depth (inner size) necessary for modern characters.

[aprtri]

it was just a joke

i know what she was saying but its the other way aroubd now

you have big american shows where the acting is crap but d actors get paid loads but when u watch english shows we have more depth now

she was right in her era but it is irrelevent now

still what an amazing teacher i wish she could have taught me

[Knoxvicious]

You're missing the point.

Why are you comparing English actors to the actors in American TV shows??? Acting in TV is different from movies and stage. She is really not irrelevent now. There are loads of people who still think the British acting is superior, but can't really support it.

[aprtri]

to tell you the truth its a matter of opinion and i don't really care anymore cus everyone is entiled to their opinions and i was just stating mine. im not saying that being from a certain country makes you a better actor, as that would be ignorant, just that there ar more oppurtunities in america and more connections hence you get more crap actors slippping into parts that a great actor should have. on stage, tv, film whatever. its just my observation didnt mean to offend

[Knoxvicious]

The thing you need to really know is that in Stella Adler's novel "The Art of Acting." I can't TELL you how many times she critizes American actors and phrases English ones. Americans may have more chances at getting known like you said, but that's always why so many young ones suck and don't know the true art of it, but as a passionate actress, I can't do anything about it, can I?

[aprtri]

well you'll just have to change that wont you

any way good luck with your acting

at least you have the passion for it unlike many of today's actors

[lolagraceful]

@miltonjustice I'm english and this is still pretty true now

[mitchhoover17]

wow, why is everyone worrying about what technique is better? we're all actors here, and no two actors will ever have the same method, there will always be differences, minute differences, but differences. so whether your a follower of the Method, Meisner, or Adler techniques or whatever other technique you have, just embrace the fact that what you do, no matter how close you follow their stuff is YOUR technique....anyway, this video is really great, i might be in the summer conservatory!

[LittleImpaler]

@Mitchoover17 I agree with that Why argue over technique. In the long run Acting is acting. Why categorize an actor by their skills. It how you use the technique you have learn to bring the character alive.

[Pansy1980]

She is wonderful- I wish I could have been in one of her classes.

[miltonjustice]

I think you're missing the point of Stella's comments. What she is saying is that American actors don't have size. And by size she's not talking about big voices or big presentations. She's talking about inner size. The British comment came out of a time (early 80's) when everyone assumed that British actors were better than American actors. She was answering a question before it was asked. As to Meisner and Adler. They were close friends. Believed much the same about acting. Different approach.

[GeorgeWTush]

I studied with Stella Adler and knew her quite well. I don't know what you mean by "inner size" and I don't know how anyone else could know what that means. But I can tell you what Stella means by "size." She means an actor must hold the stage and fill the theater and do it all absolutely truthfully. Stage acting is not film or television acting. It is not small, but it must be truthful. Listen to her use the word "epic" again and again. She demands living,dynamic work, nothing small.

[LittleImpaler]

@GeorgeWTush that is what many of my acting teachers say about theatre. Stage you are filling up an area, where as in film you are acting on that small screen the camera sees. In Stage, just because you are filling up an area doesn't mean your acting becomes FAKE, you must stay real, same with carma, you must stay real. Either on Stage or film you must own your part of the stag, own character and be real.

[bakanbi]

Where did you get these tapes?

[legatofancier]

@miltonjustice - As one Sandy Meisner's students, I can vouch for the fact that Sandy & Stella were great friends and allies all their adult lives. It was pleasure to work with Stella's students, they were such well schooled actors! I usually learned something from them. They might even have learned something from me. Just as Sandy, Stella, & Harold Clurman all probably learned from each other.

[anthrobserver]

So, Meisner is real training you say? You're a fucking idiot. Stella Adler was one of the original members of the Group Theater! She worked with Stanislavsky himself. Her training is basically the SAME as Meisners, all the very SAME exercises. Meisner focuses on repetition, WHOOPIE!

The difference is that Stella was THE NUMBER ONE ACTING COACH ON THIS EARTH while she was alive.

Meisner was a good coach, yes, but certainly not better than Stella!

What a stupid comment.

[Dous88]

meisner does not focus on repetition. repetition is a tool used for the beginning stages, to provoke honest and truthful reactions. but not focused. anyway, the reason that is the main focus is because a lot of "meisner technique teachers" use it and never expand beyond it, giving it a bad name. in truth, though repetition can be used no matter what stage of your training, it is generally only used in the beginning. and thats it.

[Dous88]

who said ANYTHING about meisner being better than stella? dont read what you want to read to provoke some petty internet arguement. i wouldnt every say anything so stupid. they were both fantastic, and yeah meisner and stella were very similar. in fact she taught him some stuff. i would be the first to say so. so no need for all the insults buddy.

[legatofancier]

@Dous88 - As a student of Sandy Meisner's, I respected and admired all of Stella's students with whom I eventually worked. Their work spoke well for her. We were not rivals, but part of an extended artistic family. I only wish that i could have afforded to study with Stella as well. Of course, Sandy was a wonderful teacher for me and I had great affection for him. This is a case were a comparison is truly odious.

[Dous88]

@legatofancier agreed?

[legatofancier]

@anthrobserver - Most people would not want to live on the difference between Stella & Sandy. They were great friends and allies all their lives, even though their teaching methods differed somewhat. Sandy always said that he learned a lot from Stella. The essential differences were that Sandy was more technically precise; Stella was more involved with style and script interpretation.

[legatofancier]

@anthrobserver - Both Stella & Sandy were both founding members of The Group Theatre. The were close and devoted friends all their lives. They shared virtually the same set of artistic principles. However, their teaching styles were different. Sandy was more technically precise. Stella's great specialties were characterization, style, & script interpretation. Their friend Robert Lewis emphasized working by intention. As much as I loved Sandy, I only wish I could have studied with Stella, too!

[BoiLight]

Yea thats tru

everyone has great methods

and what they choose from

[strataone]

She cam at a time of rivalry. She was arguing a dead argument. I love some of the was the English act. It's just different, but I think it depends on the individual and his or her passion that shines through, the the method in which they get there.

[maximillion17]

poor form stella, england has produced sum of the best theater actors in the world.

look up 'sanford miesner'...now that is actor training.

[swannavon]

I don't think her perception of British actors is accurate. Or perhaps is just dated. I've seen plenty of actors with beautiful size on stage in England.

[Dous88]

she wasn't knocking them, just saying it was different. she said some good stuff about the brits