Why Does Acting Feel So Different Now?

Some notes and a bibliography for my video on the Evolution of American Film Acting

If you watch the two Oscar-Winning performances in the 1934 Hollywood classic It Happened One Night, you will probably notice that the standard for what constitutes great acting as changed somewhat.

They are not bad performances by any means, they have a charming quality, are funny, at times emotionally vibrant, and they certainly fit the bill for what was expected from a performance in Hollywood at the time, but they also feel distantly different from the way most performances we consider good by today’s standards feel.

For years I’ve noticed this change and wondered: what exactly happened? How did we get from the theatricality of classic Hollywood in the 30s and 40s, that can sometimes feel over-the-top to modern audiences, the standard of naturalism and realism that is often expected today.

About 10 months ago I dove into trying to find the answer to this question, but really understanding the evolution of American Film Acting beyond the most surface level explanations proved to be more complicated than I thought it would be. 

My latest video: “Why Does Acting Feel So Different Now?” is my attempt to answer that question without over-simplifying things and without getting too lost in the weeds of esoteric acting theory.

This is one of my most thoroughly researched videos, so I wanted to provide my bibliography and references here, along with some notes about the sources incase anyone wants to dive deeper into this topic.

Notes and Bibliography:

Books:

The Method : How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act. By Issac Butler. New York, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022.
This was definitely a primary source. Butler goes much more in depth than I do (obviously) into exactly how Stanislavski filtered into American Cinema the specific politics and infighting of the different teachers (Strasberg and Adler especially) and the impact “The Method” has had on culture overall. It’s a great read if you want a really thorough exploration of this topic. If it has any faults, I think Butler might romanticize “The Method” more than it rightfully deserves.

The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods. Brestoff, Richard. Smith & Kraus, 1995.
This is a very nice intro to the significant influences in acting, and their different approaches. Gives a nice overview of key concepts and ideas, but you’re not going to get a deep understanding of how any of the techniques work in application.

Respect for Acting. Uta Hagen. 1973. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
This was the book recommended to me by my editor and collaborator for this video Ben From Canada. Ben studied acting at the Royal Conservatory of Scotland and has been an invaluable resource in making this video. Of all the acting teachers to transpose Stanislavski’s ideas for an American audience I think Hagen does the most balanced and reasonable job. She stays away from a lot of the dogma of Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler and is more digestible than reading Stanislavski himself.

Stella Adler - The Art of Acting. Kissel, H., & Adler, S. (2000).Hal Leonard Corporation
Stella Adler, the acting teacher who taught Brando and De Niro (two of the most influential actors of the 20th century) is certainly a significant force in the acting world. I think her work is valuable where it channels the best bits of Stanislavski in a practical way, but I find her aggressive and dogmatic attitude about acting to be a bit over the top.

Stanislavski : An Introduction. Benedetti, Jean. London, Methuen Drama, 1982.
If you want a quick but thorough overview of Stanislavski, this is the place to start. It’s a quick read and does a good job of touching on the main points of what is a dense and complex set of ideas.

An Actor’s Work : A Student’s Diary. Konstantin Stanislavsky, and Jean Benedetti. London ; New York, Routledge, 2010.
If you really want to do the Stanislavski deep dive. I definitely recommend this translation. An Actor’s Work : A Student’s Diary contains the contents of An Actor Prepares and Building a Character, the first two volumes of Stanislavski’s work that were translated into english. Benedetti’s translation is more clear and easier to read than the earlier translations, and having both volumes is necessary for a good overview of “The System.” It clocks in at 600 pages of dense reading though so it’s not for the faint of heart.

An Actor Prepares. Konstantin Stanislavski, et al. New York, Theatre Arts Books, 1948.
This is the original translation of the first book by Stanislavski that made it’s way to the United States. It’s what Lees Strasberg apparently based most of his “Method” on. If you really want to get into Stanislavski though I recommend skipping it for Jean Benedetti’s much better and more recent translation An Actor’s Work.

Brando, Songs My Mother Taught Me, Brando, Marlon. Random House, N.Y., 1994
I didn’t read this whole thing, although I image it’s a fascinating read. Pulled this in because I needed a specific reference about Lee Strasberg.

Key Films:

It Happened One Night (1934) - With two Oscar winning performances from the 30s, this film works as a great touchstone for introducing what was consider quality acting at the time. The performances are somewhat comedic which partially accounts for the style, but even the dramatic moments have the representational intensity that is more the norm in movies before 1950. It also happens to be the foundation for the romantic comedy. It presents very antiquated gender-norms but is an otherwise fairly charming film.

Four Daughters (1939) - Technically the first “Method” performance. You can clearly see a difference between John Garfield’s performance and the rest of the cast. Not a terribly good movie in my opinion, but worth the watch if you’re interested in the evolution of film acting.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) & On The Waterfront (1954) - The two big performances from Marlon Brando that are often consider a turning point in the history of film acting. I think Brando probably gets too much credit overall for shaping the trajectory of acting, but they’re performances that we can’t overlook. I think Brando’s influence ended up being more significant in terms of how other actors tried to re-create the presence he presented on screen, rather than spreading a specific technique.

Taxi Driver (1976) - This is a big part of the beginning of what we now consider to be “Method Acting.” De Niro decides to push preparation to great lengths.

The Social Network (2010) - I decide to use The Social Network as a way to illustrate some of Stanislavski’s system because Andrew Garfield is someone who has openly spoken about the influence of Stanislavski on his work, but who doesn’t “go method” in the sense that De Niro or Daniel Day Lewis does.

A Marriage Story (2019) - This is just a nice set of naturalistic performances that work as a good counterpoint to the performances we see in something like It Happened one Night.

Poor Things (2023) - Emma Stone’s performance here doesn’t feel like naturalism per-se, but there still seems to be a dedication to finding psychological realism. Is it possible to find Stanislavski’s elusive “truth” outside of the bounds of naturalism? Is this a kind of Metamodern performance style? The answer to those questions are beyond the scope of this video.

Articles Referenced:

Butler, Isaac. “Looking Back at a Half-Forgotten Pioneer of Method Acting.” The New Yorker, Condé Nast, 1 Nov. 2022. - Great article that gives an overview of John Garfield’s influence.

Lang, Brent. “Method or Madness: Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox’s “Succession” Drama Represents a Larger Clash of Acting Styles.” Variety, 6 Apr. 2023.

Marks, Andrea. “Much like a Honey Badger, Margot Robbie Don’t Care; Margot Robbie Don’t Give a Shit.” Rolling Stone, 2 Jan. 2023.

Michael, Simpkins. “Method Acting Can Go Too Far – Just Ask Dustin Hoffman” The Guardian, 31 Mar. 2016.

O’Toole, Fintan. “FILM; Step by Step toward Creating “My Left Foot.”” The New York Times, 5 Nov. 1989.

Parker, Ryan. “Brian Cox Concerned “Succession” Son Jeremy Strong’s Intense Method Acting Could Lead to Early Burnout.” The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Dec. 2021

“Psychological Effects of Method Acting.” Wikipedia, 8 July 2024,. Accessed 26 July 2024. Wikipedia is broadly not a very accurate source when it comes to The Method. I don’t cite it as an actual source here for my research. It is however a decent way of seeing what “popular knowledge” about “the method” is.

“Method Acting.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Jan. 2020 - See above.

“List of Acting Techniques.” Wikipedia, 30 Aug. 2019 - See above.

“‘Suicide Squad’ Star Jared Leto Says Infamous Joker Gifts Story Was Told ‘in Jest.’” EW.com. 

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of subtext. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved May 24, 2024.

Interviews with Actors:

“Getting Lost in the Work with Robert Pattinson.” 2019. Backstage.com.

The Off Camera Show “Don Cheadle Explains Where the Real Work Happens for an Actor.” YouTube 28 Mar. 2016

PowerfulJRE. “Joe Rogan Experience #1411 - Robert Downey Jr.” YouTube, 15 Jan. 2020,

SAG-AFTRA Foundation. “Paul Giamatti Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations.” YouTube, 15 Dec. 2023,

SAG-AFTRA Foundation “Sandra Hüller Q&a for “Anatomy of a Fall” YouTube, 12 Dec. 2023,

Variety “Steven Yeun & Riz Ahmed | Actors on Actors - Full Conversation.” YouTube, 28 Jan. 2021

The Hollywood Reporter. “THR Full Drama Actor Roundtable: Jeffrey Wright, John Lithgow, Ewan McGregor, Riz Ahmed & More!” YouTube, 10 July 2017,

Vanity Fair. “Keke Palmer & Angela Bassett Reunite after 16 Years | Vanity Fair.” YouTube, 2 Dec. 2022.

Variety. “Pedro Pascal & Steven Yeun | Actors on Actors.” YouTube, 12 June 2023,

Variety  “Timothee Chalamet & Daniel Kaluuya | Actors on Actors - Full Conversation.” YouTube, 1 Dec. 2017

Further Viewing:

Broey Deschanel. “The Problem of Method Acting.” YouTube, 7 June 2021
Maia’s video does a good job of delving into some of why the more contemporary style of “Going Method” might have caught on, and male actors specifically seem so drawn to “The Method.”