@coolioto There was a period when all theatre actors had something of an affected way of speaking. If you can get past your attitude about how someone speaks, you might pick up something about acting.
perfectly ridicullous, if she has studied this and is supposed to be such an expert, why does her assistant have to find her the correct page with the ibsen biography... lol
Very informative and helpful, thank you for posting. As for some cynical comments here, I understand the knee-jerk reaction if you swear by another teacher. I trained as Meisner actor for years and found it enormously helpful. But to judge and compare teachings works against you. There's valuable knowledge here to gain that can help you as an artist if you are open to it. And she did train Brando, De Niro, Beniciio Del Toro, and Christoph Waltz - all of whom swear by her. So show respect.
@Monkhead - Precisely! Just as Stella was the right teacher for Brando, Sandy Meisner was the right teacher for Robert Duvall (and me, for that matter0. I only wish I could have afforded to continue to study with Stella, too! Those who studied with both of them gained immeasurably from it. Stella & Sandy were titans, and we should be grateful for their legacy!
@therealplease - Honestly, I have no idea who the best teachers now. Stella Adler was unique. She was American theater royalty. Her father was the great Jacob Adler; her mother was the remarkable Sara Adler; her brother was the superb Luther Adler. She was the only American born acting teacher who actually studied with Stanislavski. Sandy Meisner loved her personally and always said he learned a lot from her. Where are the likes of Stella & Sandy today? How I wish I knew.
@legatofancier Meisner and Stella Adler were one of a kind. But there are some fine acting teachers around that are perhaps close to the level of genius that these two people were. William Esper is one that I had personal experience with while studying with Sandy Meisner. I'd trust any teacher that was personally trained by him and who taught with him.
@lemaxmas - Bill was Sandy's senior assistant when I studied at The Neighborhood Playhouse for two years. Bill Alderson & the late Fred Kareman were Sandy's other teaching assistants at that time. Fred was a remarkable teacher. However, I only had one class with Bill Alderson when he substituted for Bill Esper one day. Bill knows what he's doing, but he's gotten a reputation for harshness that doesn't do him credit. So, I'm cautious about recommending any teacher these days.
Stella's acting is too intellectual. It's great to know about the playwright's life, and why he might have written the play, but the actor's job is not to comment on what the playwright's message.
Rather, it is the actor's job to live truthfully, as the character, under the imaginary circumstances of the play. That's acting from the heart, with spontaneous reactions and real emotion. Not acting from the mind, with mechanical preconceptions.
@AtLastOnTheGround A fan of the wonderful genius known as Meisner are you? Me to. Sometimes Stella can get to rapt up in the great idea of the play and the actor needing to rise to the level of that great idea in order to bring it to life. Some of the ways she looks at things are very valueable to the actor and others in my opinion are just not necessary. One of them being needing to know the bio of the writer,
Meisner and Uta Hagen are my acting coaches of choice, I think both of them are incredible.
I appreciate Stella as well, but the very fact that she says that American actors are far superior to British actors throws me off (not because I'm American, either). British actors intellectualize about what their characters are feeling, what they would do. (That's what Meisner says, even.) American actors are taught to feel, not to think.
Well . . . she's dreadful . . . and she's an American.
The woman appears excessively and inflexibly pompous and self-absorbed.
She's heavily invested in being "Stella Adler" -- which is particularly dreadful precisely because such self-absorption is fundamentally at odds with the adaptability required of the acting craft.
Personally, I'd only ever her cast her for a role playing . . . an old, self-absorbed, histrionic, dreadful, American actress from New York.
@dreadnoramp -- Well, I guess we don't disagree then. Stella Adler is dreadful because she has to be . . . and if we need someone dreadful, she's perfect for the part. That's fair, I have to admit . . .
@greenrate - Marlon Brando would have set you straight on that score. Robert DeNiro could set you straight today. My teacher, Sandy Meisner loved Stella and said that he learned a lot from her. Together, they had an enormously positive effect on acting in America. Gary Oldman (no slouch!) called her "the great Stella Adler." If you learn what you're talking about, it has a way of also teaching you some humility. Educate yourself in both cases and you won't sound so foolish.
@therealplease Betsy Parrish.
catstaffo 2 months ago
Damn I wish this broad was still alive.
michaeloxavier 10 months ago 6
This comment has received too many negative votes show
What's with the pompous ass accent?
coolioto 1 year ago
@coolioto There was a period when all theatre actors had something of an affected way of speaking. If you can get past your attitude about how someone speaks, you might pick up something about acting.
miltonjustice 1 year ago 9
@miltonjustice Her accent is no barrier to me learning something. You have made an incorrect assumption.
coolioto 1 year ago
Do you even know who Stella Adler is.....?
3NV1R0NM3NT 1 year ago
perfectly ridicullous, if she has studied this and is supposed to be such an expert, why does her assistant have to find her the correct page with the ibsen biography... lol
larsgathe 1 year ago
Very informative and helpful, thank you for posting. As for some cynical comments here, I understand the knee-jerk reaction if you swear by another teacher. I trained as Meisner actor for years and found it enormously helpful. But to judge and compare teachings works against you. There's valuable knowledge here to gain that can help you as an artist if you are open to it. And she did train Brando, De Niro, Beniciio Del Toro, and Christoph Waltz - all of whom swear by her. So show respect.
Monkhead 2 years ago
@Monkhead - Precisely! Just as Stella was the right teacher for Brando, Sandy Meisner was the right teacher for Robert Duvall (and me, for that matter0. I only wish I could have afforded to continue to study with Stella, too! Those who studied with both of them gained immeasurably from it. Stella & Sandy were titans, and we should be grateful for their legacy!
legatofancier 1 year ago
@legatofancier so... who is the "Stella Adler" of today?
therealplease 10 months ago
Comment removed
legatofancier 10 months ago
@therealplease - Honestly, I have no idea who the best teachers now. Stella Adler was unique. She was American theater royalty. Her father was the great Jacob Adler; her mother was the remarkable Sara Adler; her brother was the superb Luther Adler. She was the only American born acting teacher who actually studied with Stanislavski. Sandy Meisner loved her personally and always said he learned a lot from her. Where are the likes of Stella & Sandy today? How I wish I knew.
legatofancier 10 months ago
@legatofancier Meisner and Stella Adler were one of a kind. But there are some fine acting teachers around that are perhaps close to the level of genius that these two people were. William Esper is one that I had personal experience with while studying with Sandy Meisner. I'd trust any teacher that was personally trained by him and who taught with him.
lemaxmas 2 days ago
@lemaxmas - Bill was Sandy's senior assistant when I studied at The Neighborhood Playhouse for two years. Bill Alderson & the late Fred Kareman were Sandy's other teaching assistants at that time. Fred was a remarkable teacher. However, I only had one class with Bill Alderson when he substituted for Bill Esper one day. Bill knows what he's doing, but he's gotten a reputation for harshness that doesn't do him credit. So, I'm cautious about recommending any teacher these days.
legatofancier 1 day ago
@legatofancier Sorry to hear that about Bill. He could be tough, but I'd never experienced him as harsh. That's a shame if he's changed.
I was there too studying with the same people except for Fred Kareman, whom I'd heard great things about.
lemaxmas 1 day ago
Stella's acting is too intellectual. It's great to know about the playwright's life, and why he might have written the play, but the actor's job is not to comment on what the playwright's message.
Rather, it is the actor's job to live truthfully, as the character, under the imaginary circumstances of the play. That's acting from the heart, with spontaneous reactions and real emotion. Not acting from the mind, with mechanical preconceptions.
AtLastOnTheGround 2 years ago
@AtLastOnTheGround A fan of the wonderful genius known as Meisner are you? Me to. Sometimes Stella can get to rapt up in the great idea of the play and the actor needing to rise to the level of that great idea in order to bring it to life. Some of the ways she looks at things are very valueable to the actor and others in my opinion are just not necessary. One of them being needing to know the bio of the writer,
TheGreatZurEnRaah 1 year ago
@TheGreatZurEnRaah
Meisner and Uta Hagen are my acting coaches of choice, I think both of them are incredible.
I appreciate Stella as well, but the very fact that she says that American actors are far superior to British actors throws me off (not because I'm American, either). British actors intellectualize about what their characters are feeling, what they would do. (That's what Meisner says, even.) American actors are taught to feel, not to think.
AtLastOnTheGround 1 year ago
Very interesting! These are good lessons for actors!
Vidadestiu 2 years ago
what a dreadful American.
richard193 2 years ago
How so?
tamclutcher 2 years ago
Well . . . she's dreadful . . . and she's an American.
The woman appears excessively and inflexibly pompous and self-absorbed.
She's heavily invested in being "Stella Adler" -- which is particularly dreadful precisely because such self-absorption is fundamentally at odds with the adaptability required of the acting craft.
Personally, I'd only ever her cast her for a role playing . . . an old, self-absorbed, histrionic, dreadful, American actress from New York.
greenrate 2 years ago
Oh. Well, regardless of her attitude in this video, I am very grateful for her teachings.
What does being American have to do with it?
tamclutcher 2 years ago
@greenrate thats what she gives us because she has to; Brando was great because he was detached
dreadnoramp 1 year ago
@dreadnoramp -- Well, I guess we don't disagree then. Stella Adler is dreadful because she has to be . . . and if we need someone dreadful, she's perfect for the part. That's fair, I have to admit . . .
greenrate 1 year ago
@greenrate - Marlon Brando would have set you straight on that score. Robert DeNiro could set you straight today. My teacher, Sandy Meisner loved Stella and said that he learned a lot from her. Together, they had an enormously positive effect on acting in America. Gary Oldman (no slouch!) called her "the great Stella Adler." If you learn what you're talking about, it has a way of also teaching you some humility. Educate yourself in both cases and you won't sound so foolish.
legatofancier 1 day ago
@legatofancier Well said. Stella was a great actress and teacher.
lemaxmas 1 day ago
now i can kind of understand why my drama teacher makes us memorize all that stuff about all those playwrights...
sillygerman 3 years ago
thank you very much for this!
AdArmand 3 years ago
A very analytical, interesting woman. You could easily call her the 'mother' of great acting!
VinnyMancini 3 years ago